Last chance 2009 classes at Quilt University

One thing I didn’t expect when I started writing posts about the countries of the world was that there would be countries I haven’t heard of. But here we are with Comoros, an independent archipelago made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, which I had never heard of before it showed up on my list. So let’s see what we can learn about Comoros!

Comoros Basics

Comoros, or Union of the Comoros, is located in the Indian Ocean and is 641 square miles, or 1,659 square kilometers, making it the third-smallest African nation by area (there are other island groups that are smaller). 

The population is around 900,000, and the capital and largest city is Moroni. 

Comoros declared independence from France in 1975. One island that is considered part of the Comoro Islands voted against independence and is still an overseas department of France. 

The official state religion is Sunni Islam, and the official languages are Comorian, French and Arabic. It’s the only country that’s part of the Arab League that is completely in the Southern Hemisphere.

The islands were originally settled by Asian, Arab and African peoples before becoming part of the French empire. It’s a place of great political instability, which has had more than 20 coups or attempted coups. It is a presidential republic with a legislature. 

Here’s one the kids will like: legend has it the largest island was formed by a volcano that developed because a jinn dropped a jewel in the ocean. 

Comoros National Symbols

The Comoros flag bears four horizontal stripes in yellow, white, red and blue, with a green triangle on the left side featuring a white crescent moon and four stars. The four stripes and four stars represent the four main islands (including that one that voted against independence), while the green, star and crescent symbolize Islam. 

The national anthem is “Udzima wa ya Masiwa” (sometimes spelled different ways, but I’m following Wikipedia on this one), which means “Union of the Great Islands.” It was adopted in 1978 and also mentions that wayward island of Mayotte still claimed by the French. 

The national seal includes the same crescent and stars as on the flag, rotated on their side. This is on top of a stylized sun and surrounded by a pair of olive branches. The name of the country is written in French and Arabic, and the national motto (Unité, Solidarité, Développement, or Unity, Solidarity, Development) is written at the bottom. 

There’s not a lot of information available about the country, but the CIA Handbook tells me they do a lot of fishing, and the top agricultural products are bananas, coconuts, cassava, yams and maize. Perfume production is also a top industry. 

One website I found shows a picture of a Malagasy bulbul as the national bird. This songbird has a bright orange beak and is found on Madagascar and on some other nearby islands. It also suggests the Nectaropetalum zuluense, a small, five petaled white flower is the national flower. 

Another video says the national flower is the ylang-ylang and the national animal is the mongoose lemur. It also says the national bird is the blue pigeon, but I couldn’t find any official word on any of this. The same video said the national fruit is the bungo fruit, which is sort of like a combination of an orange and pineapple with a hard orange shell. 

Mount Karthala

Moheli national park

langouste a la vanille

mikatra siniya

https://adorecomores.com/history_of_comoros/