The Comoros which is known as the Union of Comoros is located on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel of the eastern coast of Africa. The capital of the country is Moroni and it covers an area of 2235 km2.
It shares its borders with Mozambique, Tanzania, Madagascar, and Seychelles and considered as the third and the sixth smallest nation of Africa by area and population.
Etymology of Comoros:-
The name Comoros is derived from the Arabic word Djazair al Qamar which means the “island of the moon”.
History of Comoros:-
Polynesian, Melanesian, Malays, and Indonesians are the first people who come to the country Comoros. In ninth to tenth centuries each island has its own one central village and from eleventh to fifteenth century smaller villages established, existing towns expanded and the trade with the islands started.
The Islam religion was established by the Middle Eastern merchants due to whom mosques were constructed. As Comoros lies on the sea coast of Kilwa and Mozambique, it is the main stoppage for the Islamic trade route. In nineteenth century the Persians from the Shiraz and Iran rule the islands and established the colonies. After that under the Arab Omani rule the Arab influence was reflected in the Comoros architecture and religion.
In 1505 Portuguese visited the islands. In 1841 the Colonial rule was established by the France and also a treaty was signed according to which the islands Mayotte come under the rule of France. The islands Moheli was also ruled by the French in 1886. As all the islands are under the French government, the Comoros is officially known as the French colony in 1912 and ruled by the French governor in 1914.
When a unilateral resolution was passed by the Comorian Parliament on July 1975 the country declared independent and Ahmed Abdallah became its first president. After independence from French the political crisis occur in the country. Ahmed Abdallah was removed by the Bob Denard and Said Mohammad Jaffer became the new president. In 1978 under the rule of Soilih various policies were formed but he was forcibly removed from the office and has been killed.
After Soilih Ahmed again became the president but he was also killed by the military officer in his office. Year after Year new presidents came but the country has to face the defeats all the time since it got independence. In total more than 20 defeats are faced by the country since 1975.
Politics and government in Comoros:-
The President of the country is the head of the state, head of the government, and of the multi party system. The constitution was established in 2001 and the members are
Elected after that. In this country the executive power was headed by the government whereas the legislative powers are headed by both the government and the parliament.
The legal system depends on the Islamic law and the judiciary doesn’t depend on the executive as well as on the legislative powers. The Supreme Court is responsible for the presidential elections and for solving the constitutional problems. The members of the Supreme Court are selected by the president, Federal Assembly and the council of each island.
Comoros is regarded as the 143rd member of the United Nations on November 1975 and is also the member of African union, Arab league, World Bank and African Development Bank.
Geography of Comoros:-
The country is situated between the 11 degrees 41 minutes south latitude and 43 degree 16 minutes east longitude. It mainly consists of four islands namely Ngazidja, Mwali, Nzwani, and Mahore and also many other small islands. These islands are situated on the Indian Ocean whereas the capital Moroni on Ngazidja.
Tropical and mild climate is found in this country and the cyclones occur during the rainy season which had a strong effect on the infrastructure of the country. Out of the four islands Ngazidja is the largest and Mwali is the smallest island. Also Nzwani is surrounded by three mountains namely Sima, Jimilime, and Nioumakele.
Currency in Comoros:-
Comorian Franc. is the currency which is basically used by the people of Comoros.
Economy of Comoros:-
The economic growth of the country is very poor as the illiteracy rate is very high. Most of the population is employed in the primary sector and the GDP was continuously decreases because of the continuous decrease in investment and increase in the inflation.
Due to the unemployment agriculture is the only major source for the economic growth. As a result of which Comoros produces vanilla and ylang-ylang in large quantity.
Demographics of Comoros:-
About million people are residing in the Comoros and as the Arabic culture is popular in this country the people follow the Islam religion. Comorian is the common language which is usually spoken by the people but the other languages like Arabic and French are also spoken. Arabic is mainly used in Quranic teaching whereas French is used for all formal teaching.
Culture of Comoros:-
Mostly the students attend the Quranic schools before the regular schools. In the Quranic schools the teacher taught the students about the Qurans. Al-Watwan is the regional paper of the country as there is no national newspaper.
The national flag of the Comoros consists of four bands and crescent with the four white stars inside a green triangle. The white stars and the four bands which are yellow, white, red, and blue in color represents the islands of the country whereas the crescent represents the religion of the country i.e. Islam.
The Comorian version of the Zanzibar’s taarab music called twarab and Sega music from Mauritius is very popular in the country. The Abou Chihabi who had written the Comorian national anthem and the Nawal who is a song writer, singer as well as the instrumentalist are the popular musicians of the country. Violin and gasubi are the instruments which are mostly in every type of music.
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