Located in a strategic position at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, the archipelago of the Comoro Islands arose from the seabed of the western Indian Ocean as the result of volcanic activity. The islands: Ngazidja (Grande Comore), Mwali (Moheli), Nzwani (Anjouan), and Maore (Mayotte), have distinct topograhical characteristics due to their different ages. Mayotte, the oldest of the islands, is highly eroded with slow, meandering streams. Ngazidja, the youngest of the islands is dominated by a massive, active volcano. Volcanic experts are concerned that a very violent eruption may occur in the near future. The other two islands are mountainous but have no active volcanic activity. The Comoro Islands once played a major role in the world economy of the western Indian Ocean. For centuries, they were a major stopover along the mercantile routes of the Indian Ocean from Africa to the Orient.

Maritime trade in the Comoros is mentioned in ancient documents. The town of Domoni, located on the eastern shore of the island of Nzwani (Anjouan), for example, was a major trading center in the fifteenth century when Arabian, African, Indian, and Persian sailing vessels traveling between Africa and Asia stopped there. From archaeological evidence, we know that trade existed between the community and places as far away as Japan. During the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries, European and American ships also visited the islands. These included whalers, merchants, and pirates, such as the infamous Captain Kidd. Sailors liked the island of Nzwani, in particular, for reprovisioning food and water. But after the opening of the Suez Canal, the Comoros ceased to be on the main route of trade and, except for an occasional historical incident, they virtually disappeared from outsiders' awareness. Today, the Comoros have become the "Forgotten Islands."

The mountainous terrain found on several of the islands offers a variety of habitats home to diverse animal and plant species. Several species of animals are unique to the Comoros. The bat pictured below is one of the species of rare animals found on the islands. The Livingstone's flying fox is a fruit bat unique to the Comoros with a wing span that exceeds four feet. WOW! Several different kinds of insects and over a dozen bird species are also unique to the islands. Many of these animals are now being threatened with extinction.

In the waters around the islands, lives the famous coelacanth. It is a unique fish once thought by western scientists to have been extinct for millions of years. But in the second half of the last century, an ichthyologist learned that Comorian fishermen regularly caught coelacanths in the deep waters surrounding the islands of Ngazidja and Nzwani. Several specimens have since been preserved and can be seen today in museums around the world.

There is an abundance of life in the sea around the Comoros. One can find everything from giant whales, large sharks, big manta rays, sailfish, sunfish, to lobsters, crabs and tiny shrimp. Deep water close to the islands, coral reefs, miles of sandy beaches, plus fresh water streams and shoreline springs provide multiple habitats for the marine life.

The islands became a French colony following the Berlin conference of 1886-7 and remained under French political control until 1975. Three of the islands: Ngazidja, Mwali, and Nzwani, declared themselves independent from France in 1975 and became the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoro Islands. The fourth major island of the archipelago, Mayotte (Maore), continued to be administered by France although it's status has been continuously challenged by the Comorian government. The claim that Mayotte belongs within the sphere of the independent nation of the comoros has been recognized by the United Nations General Assembly. Separatists on the islands of Nzwani and Mwali declared their islands to be independent from the Republic in 1997. This led to the breakup of the Republic and a reformation of the government of the Comoro Islands as a Union in 2002 with each of the three islands given considerable autonomy.

Presidential elections are held every four years with the office rotating between the three islands. In 2006, Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi from the island of Nzwani (Anjouan) was elected President. He replaced Azali Assoumani from Ngazidja (Grande Comore). The next election will take place in 2010 with the presidential office scheduled to be filled by a candidate from the island of Mwali (Moheli).

The Islands

Ngazidja (Grande Comore)

Referred to by the French as Grande Comore, Ngazidja is the site of Moroni, the capital city of the Republic, and is the largest of the islands in the Comoro archipelago. It has an area of 442 square miles (1,146 square kilometers). The northern two-thirds of the island are dominated by a rocky plain known as La Grille. The southern third of the island is dominated by an active volcano, Karthala, which stands over 7700 feet (2361 meters) high. Karthala's crater is nearly a mile in diameter, making it the largest active crater in the world. Since 1857 there have been over a dozen eruptions with lava flows; the most extensive was that of 1918. The most recent serious eruption was in 1977.

The island's over 200,000 inhabitants are predominantly descended from Arab and African ancestors. Agriculture on the island is generally limited to areas lower than 2,000 feet in altitude. Above this altitude is the remnants of a dense tropical forest (in the south) and an area of grassy plain (in the center and north).

European sailing ships stopped for provisions at Ngazidja as early as 1570 when the island was ruled by 12 sultans. Although each was independent of the others, they generally recognized a principal sultan, whose rights and responsibilities were primarily conciliatory in inter-regional disputes, and accorded him or her the title of Sultan Thibe. There was frequent conflict over the right to use this title, especially after the Europeans appeared on the scene, as these latter generally assumed that the title indicated sovereignty over the entire island.

The best documented of the conflicts between sultans is the long and complicated struggle between the rulers of the towns of Bambao and Itsandra during the nineteenth century. This eventually led to the establishment of a French protectorate over the island and the ceding of Ngazidja to France.

Mwali (Moheli)

Mwali is the smallest of the islands in the Comoro archipelago. Referred to by the French as Moheli, it has an area of 81 square miles (211 square kilometers). The island has rich soil, magnificent forests and fine pasture lands. The valleys and slopes of the island are covered with coconut trees, coffee trees, cacao and ylang-ylang trees, and a wide variety of crops. Three small islets on the south side of the island near the harbor of Nioumachoua provide a natural sheltering place for sailing ships during inclement weather. In the past, one of these islands--Shisiwa Unefu--was used as a leper colony. With a population of approximately 30,000, Mwali is the least densely populated (370 inhabitants per square mile) of the four islands. In September 1997, a group of secessionists declared the island independent of the Comoro Republic but this claim was rejected and Mwali has now agreed to join the Union of the Comoro Islands.

Nzwani (Anjouan)

Referred to by the French as Anjouan and by early English visitors as Johanna, Nzwani has been called the "pearl" of the Indian Ocean. With forested hillsides and rivers tumbling to the sea it is a beautiful island. It is essentially a triangle with approximately 50 kilometers on each side and a total area of 164 square miles (424 square kilometers).

With a population of more than 210,000 people it is the most densely populated island in the Comoro archipelago (over 1,280 persons per square mile). Most live in small communities found throughout the island. The major towns are Mutsamudu on the western side of the island and Domoni on the eastern shore. Mutsamudu is the present capital and site of the seaport for the island. Domoni is an ancient capital and seaport. Other ancient communities are Sima and Ouani.

Its volcanic peak, Mount Ntingi, 1,575 meters high, is covered with vegetation, including large ferns, tropical mahoganies, and wild orchids, in contrast with the three points of the triangle, which are less luxuriant due to centuries of cultivation. Nzwani is the premiere producer of essential oils including ylang-ylang, jasmine, cassis, basilic, palmarosa, and orange flower.

Arabic-style sultanates developed in Nzwani as early as the sixteenth century with different areas of the island first ruled by chiefs known as Fani. Later, the chiefs were involved in conflicts and appealed to Europeans to intercede on their behalf. Eventually, in 1886, the island became a French protectorate and was formally annexed by France to its possessions in 1909.

In 1975, Nzwani was one of the three islands to make up the newly formed independent republic of the Comoro Islands. The first president of the independent country, Ahmed Abdallah, was from Nzwani and his shrine is in his hometown of Domoni, the ancient walled community on the east coast of the island. The third president, Said Mohamed Djohar, was also a resident of Domoni and a schoolmate of Ahmed Abdallah. There is an active secessionist movement on the island that declared, in 1997, the Island's independence from the Comoro Republic and hoped to reattach the island to France, like Mayotte. Presently, the island has agreed to be a part of the Union of the Comoro Islands.

Maore (Mayotte)

Mayotte, also known by its Comorian name, Maore (or Mahore), is closest to the island of Madagascar and is geologically the oldest of the Comoro Islands. It is the most eroded and has slow moving, muddy streams. The island, along with several satellite islets, is surounded by a coral reef which is about a mile wide. Only two passages permit the entrance of large ships, thus providing a secure harbor. With an overall size of 144 square miles (374 square kilometers), it has a population of more than 35,000 inhabitants. Largely agricultural, the island produces more than 3,000 hectares (8,000 acres) of sugar cane. Vanilla, ylang-ylang, cloves, copra, and cinnamon are also produced. In recent years, Mayotte has produced the majority of the archipelago's cinnamon. A particular variety of fragrant dry rice is also grown and cattle production is an important part of its economy.

Mayotte's towns are quite different from those of the other islands. There are few of the walled cities with narrow, winding streets between multistoried stone houses found commonly on the other islands. Instead, towns are primarily comprised of wattle-and-daub or tressed coconut-frond huts ranged along wide, open streets. The architecture is more reminiscent of Madagascar than the other Comoro islands, testimony to the historical relationships between the island and Madagascar.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to see Mayotte, having sailed to the island in the early years of the sixteenth century. Soon after, in 1595, an Englishman landed on the island, but it was the French who became the dominant European influence. Mayotte was the first of the Comoro islands to become a protectorate of France. In 1841 the Sakalava king Andriantsouli, who had declared himself Sultan of Mayotte, ceded it to the French in exchange for an annual rent of 5,000 francs and the French education of his two sons. It is an administrative territory of France today.

Martin Ottenheimer is a Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, Kansas State University. More information on the Comoros Islands can be found on the KSU website.