Economic summary:GDP/PPP: (2002 est.)
$441 million; per capita $600. Real growth rate: 3%.
Inflation: 3% (2005 est.). Unemployment: 20% (1996
est.). Arable land: 36%. Agriculture: vanilla, cloves,
perfume essences, copra, coconuts, bananas, cassava (tapioca).
Labor force: 144,500 (1996 est.): agriculture 80%, industry and
services 20%. Industries: tourism, perfume distillation.
Natural resources: negl. Exports: $34 million f.o.b.
(2004 est.): vanilla, ylang-ylang (perfume essence), cloves, copra.
Imports: $115 million f.o.b. (2004 est.): rice and other
foodstuffs, consumer goods, petroleum products, cement, transport
equipment. Major trading partners: U.S., France, Singapore,
Turkey, Germany, South Africa, Kenya, UAE, Italy, Pakistan, Mauritius
(2004).
Communications: Telephones:
main lines in use: 16,900 (2005); mobile cellular: 16,100 (2005).
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 1 (2001).
Television broadcast stations: n.a. Internet hosts: 5
(2006). Internet users: 20,000 (2005).
Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways:
total: 880 km; paved: 673 km; unpaved: 207 km (1999 est.).
Ports and harbors: Mayotte, Moutsamoudou. Airports: 4
(2004 est.).
International disputes:
claims French-administered Mayotte.
The Comoros Islands—Grande Comoro (Ngazidja), Anjouan,
Mohéli, and Mayotte (which is not part of the country and retains
ties to France)—constitute an archipelago of volcanic origin in the
Indian Ocean, 190 mi off the coast of Mozambique.
Government
Emerging republic.
History
Comoros was frequented by travelers from Africa, Madagascar, Indonesia,
and Arabia before the first Europeans encountered the islands. Arabic
influence has been the strongest.
France colonized Mayotte in 1843 and by 1904 had annexed the remainder
of the archipelago. In a 1974 referendum, 95% of the population voted for
independence. The exception was Mayotte, which, with its Christian
majority, voted against joining the other mainly Islamic islands in
independence. Today it remains a French overseas territory.
The remaining Comoros Islands declared themselves independent on July
6, 1975, with Ahmed Abdallah as president. A month after independence, he
was overthrown by Justice Minister Ali Soilih. This was only the beginning
of Comoros's chronic instability: the country has gone through more than
20 coups since independence and has experienced several attempts at
secession. Orchestrating at least four of these coups was a group of white
mercenaries known as Les Affreux (The Terrible Ones), and their notorious
leader, Frenchman “Colonel” Bob Denard. Denard fled Comoros in
1989, when 3,000 French soldiers were sent after him.
The island of Anjouan declared independence on Aug. 3, 1997, after
months of protests and clashes with security forces. The secessionists
wanted a return to French rule, contending that independence from France
has brought economic disaster and political chaos. Mohéli, the
smallest island, also seceded. But France refused to support the secession
of either island. In Sept. 1997, President Mohamed Taki's forces attempted
to retake Anjouan but failed.
In 1999, Col. Azali Assoumani led a coup, overthrowing interim
president Tadjidine. He promised interim military rule would end in a
year, a pledge the Organization of African Unity would continue to remind
him of. After years of aborted peace talks, a new constitution was
approved in March 2002, and the three islands were reunited. Each island
elected its own president, and in May a federal president was elected from
Grande Comoro, former military coup leader Azali. In Feb. 2003, a coup
against Azali was thwarted.
A power-sharing agreement signed in Dec. 2003 gave the individual
islands semiautonomous status and led to elections for a national assembly
in 2004. In 2006, Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, an Islamic religious leader, was
elected federal president.
The African Union sent troops to Anjouan in May 2007 ahead of June's
elections, which were held despite an order against them by the central
government. Mohamed Bacar won the election and declared himself president,
a move called illegal by the central government. The AU called for new
elections in October and froze the assets of Bacar and other government
officials. In March 2008, troops from the African Union and the Comoran
army invaded Ajouan and deposed Bacar.
