Comoros

Capital: Moroni Population: 798,000 Official Languages: Comorian Arabic French Time Zone: +3 Dialing Code: +269

Government: Federal republic Area: 2,235 km2 largest city: Moroni Currency : Comorian franc ISO 3166 code: KM

Basic Info

The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros is a sovereign archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel off the eastern coast of Africa, between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar. Other countries near the Comoros are Tanzania to the northwest and the Seychelles to the northeast. Its capital is Moroni, on Grande Comore.

Geography

The Comoros is formed by Ngazidja (Grande Comore), Mwali (Mohéli), Nzwani (Anjouan), and Maore (Mayotte), the major islands in the Comoros Archipelago, as well as many minor islets. The islands are officially known by their Comorian language names, though international sources still use their French names (given in parentheses above). The capital and largest city, Moroni, is located on Ngazidja. The archipelago is situated in the Indian Ocean, in the Mozambique Channel, between the African coast (nearest to Mozambique and Tanzania) and Madagascar, with no land borders.

Climate

The climate is marine tropical, with two seasons: hot and humid from November to April, the result of the northeastern monsoon, and a cooler, drier season the rest of the year. Average monthly temperatures range from 23 to 28 °C (73.4 to 82.4 °F) along the coasts. Although the average annual precipitation is 2,000 millimeters (78.7 in), water is a scarce commodity in many parts of Comoros. Mohéli and Mayotte possess streams and other natural sources of water, but Grande Comore and Anjouan, whose mountainous landscapes retain water poorly, are almost devoid of naturally occurring running water. Cyclones, occurring during the hot and wet season, can cause extensive damage, especially in coastal areas. On the average, at least twice each decade houses, farms, and harbor facilities are devastated by these great storms.

Religion

98% of the population of the Comoros is muslim Sunni, 2% are Catholic, and evangelical believers represent only 0.1% of the population (Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk, Operation World. Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, 2005, pg. 193).

Administrative divisions

The constitution gives Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli the right to govern most of their own affairs with their own presidents, except the activities assigned to the Union of the Comoros like Foreign Policy, Defense, Nationality, Banking and others. Comoros considers Mayotte, an overseas collectivity of France, to be part of its territory, with an autonomous status

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