The
Comoros Islands are an archipelago of four islands and several
islets located in the western Indian Ocean about ten to twelve
degrees south of the Equator and less than 200 miles off the East
African coast. They lie approximately halfway between the island of
Madagascar and northern Mozambique at the northern end of the
Mozambique Channel. The archipelago is the result of volcanic action
along a fissure in the seabed running west-northwest to
east-southeast. The total area of the four islands is 785 square
miles (2,034 square kilometers).
The islands possess a variety of animal life with several species
unique to the Comoros or rarely found elsewhere. The famous
Coelacanth, a fish once thought to be extinct for millions of years,
is found very much alive in Comorian waters. There is an abundance
of life in the sea around the islands and one can see everything
from giant whales to tiny shrimp. There are several coral reefs,
miles of sandy beaches, and fresh water sources that provide a rich
habitat for shallow water life forms. The islands' mountainous
terrains also offer a variety of habitats for land species.
Livingstone's flying fox, a giant fruit bat with a wing span over
four feet, is found nowhere else in the world. Several varieties of
insects and over a dozen species of birds are unique to the islands.
Many of these animals are now being threatened with extinction.
The inhabitants are a blend of various peoples of the Indian Ocean
littoral. African, Malagasy, and Arabic features are clearly
evident. Maritime commerce before entry of Europeans into the Indian
Ocean brought Comorians into contact with peoples from southern
Africa to southeast Asia. Since the end of the fifteenth century
European influence has also impacted upon Comorian life. The
dominant religion in the islands is Islam. Outside of Mayotte, where
there are a number of Catholics, islanders are predominantly Sunni
Muslims conforming to the Shafii rite.
The official languages of The Union of the Comoros are French and
Arabic. French is the language of government while Arabic is the
language of Islam, the major religion in the Republic. French is
used as the official language on the island of Mayotte. In daily
life, most people speak one or more varieties of Comorian, the
language group indigenous to the Islands. It is closely related to
the Swahili of the East African coast. Comorian is typical of a
Bantu language with a large number of noun classes and an elaborate
set of verb tenses and aspects. For centuries, people have used
Arabic script to write Comorian and there is an attempt presently to
normalize an orthography for writing the varieties of the language
in Roman script. There are four varieties of Comorian spoken in the
Islands: Shingazidja, Shimwali, Shinzwani, and Shimaore, each one
named for the primary island on which it is spoken.
Traditionally, seaborne trade played an important role in the
Islands' economy. Today, agriculture is the principal economic
activity with crops grown both for domestic consumption and export.
The major food crops are cassava, coconut, bananas, rice, sweet
potatoes, pulses, and corn. Vanilla, ylang-ylang, cloves, and copra
have been the major export crops.