Eastern Africa · COM
Comoros
The story · 9 chapters
How it was drawn
Four volcanic islands of Swahili towns and rival sultans came under France; three became independent in 1975, while Mayotte stayed French, a split the Comoros still contest.
Play the story Take the first lessonThrough the ages
Rivals in history
The kingdoms, empires and states Comoros fought or stood against, from the first to today.
- Malagasy raiders1790 to 1820
Sakalava and Betsimisaraka fleets of outrigger canoes from Madagascar raided the islands for captives for about three decades, emptying villages and forcing towns to build walls and hilltop forts.
- France1841 to 1975
France bought Mayotte in 1841, imposed protectorates on the other three islands in 1886 and ruled them as an appendage of Madagascar until 1946. Its colonial companies took much of the best land for plantations of vanilla and perfume plants.
The Comoros claim Mayotte as their fourth island, and UN General Assembly resolutions agree. France has kept it, made it a department in 2011, and polices the strait against the small boats that carry migrants from Anjouan.
- Bob Denard's mercenaries1975 to 1995
The French mercenary Bob Denard took part in coups in 1975, 1978 and 1995, and from 1978 to 1989 his men ran the presidential guard. French troops finally arrested him in Operation Azalée in October 1995.
- Separatist Anjouan1997 to 2008
Anjouan broke away in 1997 and defeated a federal landing that September. It rejoined under the 2001 constitution, but its leader Mohamed Bacar defied the union until African Union and Comorian troops took the island in 2008.
Today
Comoros now
For centuries prior to colonization in the 19th century, the Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean served as a key node in maritime trade networks that connected the Middle East, India, and eastern African regions. Composed of the islands of Anjouan, Mayotte, Moheli, and Grande Comore, Comoros spent most of the 20th century as a colonial outpost until it declared independence from France on 6 July 1975.
- Capital
- Moroni
- Government
- federal presidential republic
- Head of government
- Azali Assoumani
- Languages
- Comorian, Arabic, French
- Area
- 1,870 km²
Through time
Then and now
- Population850,4002023 · 162,000 in 1950
- Life expectancy66.8 years2023 · 37.4 years in 1950
- GDP per person$1,9002022 · $534 in 1950
- Living in cities34%2025 · 7% in 1950
- Literacy76%2021 · 23% in 1950
- Political regimeElectoral autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
- Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
- War deathsNone2025
Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.
Relations
Close partners and tensions
Close partners
- France
- Russian Federation
- China
Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.