The Probert Encyclopaedia of Places of the World

COMOROS

The federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros is an archipelago of four inhabited islands (Great Comoro, Mohilla, Johanna, and Mayotte) in the Indian Ocean with no natural resources, but excellent agricultural land. The Comoros have a total area of 2,170 km2 The climate is tropical marine with a rainy season from November to May. The terrain comprises fertile volcanic islands, the interiors vary from steep mountains to low hills. The religion is 86% Sunni Muslim, 14% Roman Catholic. The language is Shaafi Islam (a Swahili dialect), Malagasy and French. The Comoros were controlled by Muslim sultans until being acquired by France in 1841, the first island taken over by the French being Mayotte, the remaining islands becoming French posessions in 1886 and becoming a French colony in 1912. From 1914 to 1947 the Comoros were attached to Madagascar for administrative purposes, and then made a French overseas territory, being granted internal autonomy in 1961, three of the islands becoming independent in 1975 the fourth, Mayotte voting to remain a French dependancy.
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