The Comoros,officially the Union of the Comoros,is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa,located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni. The religion of the majority of the population,and the official state religion,is Sunni Islam. Comoros proclaimed its independence from France on 6 July 1975. A member of the Arab League,it is the only country in the Arab world which is entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. It is a member state of the African Union,the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie,the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation,and the Indian Ocean Commission. The country has three official languages:Shikomori,French and Arabic.
The Union of the Comoros consists of the three islands Njazidja,Mwali (Moheli) and Nzwani (Anjouan) while the island of Mayotte remains under French administration. The Politics of the Union of the Comoros take place in a framework of a federal presidential republic,whereby the President of the Comoros is both head of state and head of government,and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The precolonial legacies of the sultanates linger while the political situation in Comoros has been extremely fluid since the country's independence in 1975,subject to the volatility of coups and political insurrection.
Anjouan is an autonomous volcanic island in the Comoro Islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean,part of the Union of the Comoros. It is known in Shikomori as Ndzuani,Ndzuwani or Nzwani,and,until the early twentieth century when the name fell out of general use,in English as Johanna. Historically it was also called Hinzuan or Hanzoan.
Azali Assoumani is a Comorian politician and military officer who has served as President of the Comoros from 2002 to 2006 and again since 2016,except for a brief period in 2019. He became head of state after staging a coup d'état in 1999 and was elected president in 2002,2016,April 2019 and 2024. He has also served as Chairperson of the African Union since February 2023.
Mohamed El-Amine Souef is a Comorian diplomat and former foreign minister,ambassador to Egypt,and Permanent Representative to the Arab League (1995–1998). He has been appointed deputy Foreign Minister in charge of the Arab World by president Mohamed Taki Abdulkarim in 1998. He first became foreign minister in 1999,following the military coup of Azali Assoumani. He resigned briefly in January 2002,along with Azali Assoumani,to make way for a transitional government,but he was reappointed a few months later when Assoumani won elections and regained power. He lost his post again in July 2005 during a cabinet reshuffle. After the reshuffle,Mr. Souef was named Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Comoros to the United Nations in New York. Previously,in government,He served as Parliamentarian,Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation,State Minister in charge of Cooperation,Ambassador to Egypt and Permanent Representative to the Arab League States and,Adviser to the President of the Comoros. Mr. Souef is currently serving DPKO after a long carrier within the Government of the Comoros.
Mohéli,also known as Mwali,is an autonomous island that forms part of the Union of the Comoros. It is the smallest of the three major islands in the country. It is located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa and it is the smallest of the four major Comoro Islands. Its capital and largest city is Fomboni.
Colonel Mohamed Bacar is a Comorian former politician who was President of Anjouan,one of the three autonomous islands that make up the Union of the Comoros,from 2001 to 2008. He is a former chief of police on Anjouan and has studied extensively in France and the United States. He was part of a military coup on Anjouan in August 2001 and soon became President. It is alleged he rigged the elections to become the first president of Anjouan in March 2002,in part due to his leading role in the separatist movement. He was ousted by the combined forces of the Government of the Union of Comoros and the African Union in the March 2008 invasion of Anjouan.
The unicameral Assembly of the Union of the Comoros is the country's legislative body. It was established in 2004.
Sayyid Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi is a Comorian Islamic leader and politician,and former President of Comoros. He is popularly known as 'Ayatollah'. After easily winning the 14 May 2006 presidential election with 58.02% of the national vote,Sambi was inaugurated as President of the Union of the Comoros on 26 May 2006. It was the first peaceful transfer of power in the history of the Comoros.
Prince Said Ibrahim Ben Sultan Said Ali El Maceli Al Ba'alawi was a Comorian politician. He served as a member of the French National Assembly from 1959 until 1970,and as Prime Minister of the Comoros from 2 April 1970 until 16 July 1972. He was the son of Sultan Said Ali Bin Sultan Said Omar,Sultan of Grande Comore.
The invasion of Anjouan,on March 25,2008,was an amphibious assault led by the Comoros,backed by African Union (AU) forces,including troops from Sudan,Tanzania,Senegal,along with logistical support from Libya and France. The objective of the invasion was to topple Colonel Mohamed Bacar's leadership in Anjouan,an island in the Union of Comoros,when he refused to step down after a disputed 2007 election,in defiance of the federal government and the AU. The Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean has had a fractious history since its independence from France in 1975,experiencing more than 20 coups or attempted coups.
Ikililou Dhoinine is a Comorian politician who was the President of the Comoros from 2011 to 2016;he was a Vice-President of Comoros from 2006 to 2011.
The Juwa Party is a political party in the Comoros. The party was established by former president Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi in 2013 and became the main opposition party in 2015. After boycotting the 2020 elections,it currently has no representation in parliament.
Siti Kassim is a Comorian politician.
Bahia Massoundi is a Comorian politician and government minister.
Parliamentary elections were held in the Comoros on 19 January 2020;in constituencies where no candidate received a majority,a second round was held alongside local elections on 23 February. The elections were boycotted by the main opposition parties,including the two largest parties in the outgoing Assembly,the Union for the Development of the Comoros and Juwa Party,in protest at constitutional reform and political repression,The result was a landslide victory for President Azali Assoumani's Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros,which won 20 of the 24 elected seats.
Said Ali Kemal was a Comorian politician. He was the son of Prince Saïd Ibrahim Ben Ali and the grandson of Sultan Said Ali bin Said Omar of Grande Comore.
Loub Yakout Zaïdou is a Comorian midwife,administrator and politician serving as the current Minister for Health,Solidarity,Social Protection and Gender Promotion.
Hadjira Oumouri is a Comorian politician and midwife. She served from 2015 to 2020 in the Assembly of the Union of the Comoros,becoming the second woman elected to the body in the country's history.
Mohamed Ali Soilihi is a Comorian politician from Grande Comore who served as Vice-President of Union of the Comoros for Ministry of Finance,Budget,Foreign Trade and Economy of Comoros. He served in the cabinet of Ikililou Dhoinine from May 2011 to May 2016.
