History UsefulNotes / Comoros

The '''Union of the Comoros''' (Comorian: ''Udzima wa Komori'', French: ''Union des Comores'', Arabic: ''الاتحاد القمري al-Ittiḥād al-Qumurī/Qamarī'') is a small East African country composed of a few islands between UsefulNotes/{{Mozambique}} and UsefulNotes/{{Madagascar}}, the largest three of which are, arranged in a northwest-southeast orientation, Grande Comore (Njazidja), Mohéli (Mwali), and Anjouan (Nzwani). There is one other large island, '''UsefulNotes/{{Mayotte}} (Maore)''', which is ''de facto'' controlled by France but claimed by Comoros.

The '''Union of the Comoros''' ('''Comorian:''' ''Udzima wa Komori'', '''French:''' ''Union des Comores'', '''Arabic:''' ''الاتحاد القمري al-Ittiḥād al-Qumurī/Qamarī'') is a small East African country composed of a few islands between UsefulNotes/{{Mozambique}} and UsefulNotes/{{Madagascar}}, the largest three of which are, arranged in a northwest-southeast orientation, Grande Comore (Njazidja), Mohéli (Mwali), and Anjouan (Nzwani). There is one other large island, '''UsefulNotes/{{Mayotte}} (Maore)''', which is ''de facto'' controlled by France but claimed by Comoros.

The '''Union of the Comoros''' ('''Comorian:''' ''Udzima wa Komori'', '''French:''' ''Union des Comores'', '''Arabic:''' ''الاتحاد القمري al-Ittiḥād al-Qumurī/Qamarī'') is a small East African country composed of a few islands between UsefulNotes/{{Mozambique}} and UsefulNotes/{{Madagascar}}, the largest three of which are, arranged in a northwest-southeast orientation: Grande Comore (Njazidja), Mohéli (Mwali), and Anjouan (Nzwani). There is one other large island, '''UsefulNotes/{{Mayotte}} (Maore)''', which is ''de facto'' controlled by France but claimed by Comoros.

The islands' first settlers were probably Malagasy people from Madagascar, before they were assimilated by Bantu-speaking people from mainland Africa. To this day, the people of Comoros speak Comorian, a Bantu language that is closely related to Swahili, with a minority speaking Malagasy. In the 16th century, a [[UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} Muslim]] people known as the Shirazi arrived to the region, infusing their culture to the local population. According to folk beliefs, they are descended from Persians of Shiraz, UsefulNotes/{{Iran}}, though given the negligible amount of Persian loanwords and customs in modern-day Comorians, it is more likely that they are actually Swahilis who adopted the ethnic name "Shirazi" as a result of their admiration of Persian traders.

The first Europeans who came, the Portuguese, weren't interested and passed on, so the islands remained independent until the 18th century, when Madagascar (then an independent kingdom) started attacking the islands in search of slaves. In the late 19th century, France swooped in, wanting to halt British foothold in the region following their loss of UsefulNotes/{{Mauritius}} and UsefulNotes/{{Seychelles}} during UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars. They conquered Mayotte in 1841, then Grande Comore, Moheli, and Anjouan in 1886. Initially administrated as protectorates ruled by local sultans, France annexed the islands in 1912 and ruled them as a province of Madagascar.

Independence wasn't a happy ending for the Comorians, however. Since 1975, the country has experienced more than ''twenty'' coups or coup attempts, probably the most among all African countries. The first president, Ahmed Abdallah, from the right-wing Comorian Democratic Union, ruled for only a month before he was deposed by leftists, including Ali Soilih, who attempted to emulate Maoist governance, including the creation of a militia modeled after the [[UsefulNotes/CulturalRevolution Red Guards]]. In 1978, Soilih was deposed and assassinated by French mercenaries who helped him into power, and Abdallah was restored as president. The mercenaries were led by the infamous Bob Denard, who essentially served as the shadow dictator of Comoros from 1975 to 1989. Denard had close contacts with the white-dominated governments of [[UsefulNotes/{{Zimbabwe}} Rhodesia]] and UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica, and enabled the islands to serve as safe havens for the Rhodesian and South African-backed RENAMO who participated in the Mozambican Civil War. He also provided South Africa with a lifeline as it was increasingly isolated by the world thanks to [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra Apartheid]]. In the process, the economy of Comoros was squandered, and the people remained in poverty by the time Abdallah's government fell.

In 1989, Abdallah was assassinated by unknown assailants connected to Denard's mercenaries. Abdallah had wanted to expel Denard, who no longer had the support of France (which had been losing interest in maintaining its influence in Africa since the early 1980s), Rhodesia (whose white minority rule ended in 1979), and South Africa (which was fighting a doomed war in preserving white minority rule). France subsequently stepped in and took Denard away. In 1995, Denard made one last attempt to rule Comoros by launching a waterborne invasion, briefly occupying the country and forcing President Said Mohamed Djohar to flee to [[UsefulNotes/ReunionIsland Réunion]]. French troops assisted Comoros in launching Operation Azalee, which dislodged Denard. He was taken to France and sentenced to four years in jail, though he never served them before dying in 2007.

Despite Denard being out of the picture, instability still reigns in Comorian politics. A military junta under Colonel Azali Assoumani ruled Comoros from 1999 to 2002, and Assoumani continued to rule as civilian president until 2006, when Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi was elected as president in the country's first free and fair elections. Assoumani, who regained the presidency in 2016, briefly left the position to an interim president in 2019 for three months before taking office again, and has also modified the constitution to allow presidents to run for two consecutive terms, leading the opposition to accuse him of wanting to extend his terms until 2029. There was also a crisis in Anjouan in 2008, when the sitting regional president refused to step down from power, causing the Comorian army to invade the island to restore order.

Since the islands were formed from volcanic activity, you can guess there are still lots of it going around here. And considering how small the islands are, every time there’s an eruption, their population have to be evacuated.

It produces a lot of vanilla and is the world’s biggest exporter of ylang-ylang (used to make essential oil).

The '''Union of the Comoros''' ('''Comorian:''' ''Udzima wa Komori'', '''French:''' ''Union des Comores'', '''Arabic:''' ''الاتحاد القمري al-Ittiḥād al-Qumurī/Qamarī'') is a small East African country composed of a few islands between Mozambique and Madagascar, the largest three of which are, arranged in a northwest-southeast orientation: Grande Comore (Njazidja), Mohéli (Mwali), and Anjouan (Nzwani). There is one other large island, '''UsefulNotes/{{Mayotte}} (Maore)''', a point of contention and a definite BerserkButton for the Comorians, detailed below.

The islands were first settled by the Bantu peoples from mainland Africa, who mixed in with the Malagasy people from neighboring Madagascar. To this day, the people here mainly speak a Swahili dialect known as Comorian, with a minority speaking Malagasy. These two communities were joined by the Arab traders from Yemen who brought their culture and religion with them, resulting in the islands becoming ruled by sultans by the time the Europeans first arrived in the 16th century.

The first Europeans who came, the Portuguese, weren't interested and passed on, so the islands remained independent until Madagascar (then an independent kingdom) annexed the entire archipelago. France purchased Mayotte in 1841, then the rest of the islands in the 1870s, forming "Mayotte and the dependencies" included within their wider Madagascar colony.

The islands, along with Madagascar, fell control to Vichy France for three years during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, but were taken by the British, who held them until 1946. Afterward, France upgraded the status of the colony to overseas territory.

Riding along the winds of change, the French were pressured, both by the Comorian and the international community, to give Comoros independence as soon as possible. The French tried to hold out for as long as they could until they gave in, promising to restore independence on 1978, but were preceded by the Comorian unilaterally declaring independence. The French recognized the declaration as valid on all islands except for Mayotte. They held a few more referendums which showed that all of the islands voted for independence...[[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers except for Mayotte]]. [[EtTuBrute You can guess]] [[UnstoppableRage what happened afterwards]].

Independence, however, wasn't a real happy ending for the Comorians. Shortly after the first president (Ahmed Abdallah), who was a staunch right-wing, came in power, he was deposed by Ali Soilih, an extreme left-wing ''Maoist'' (in a country where observing your faith - Islam, who is considered anything but compatible with communism, much less Maoist - is practically a part of your body and soul). He was deposed not long afterward with the help of a French mercenary known as Bob Denard (who actually already helped with Soilih's coup), who took control and installed the first president again as a figurehead. For almost 20 years, the country became a sort of a mini Apartheid-era South Africa by having its black population ruled by a white minority; in fact, Denard allowed South Africa to bypass their sanctions from the international community through the archipelago and also install listening posts on Tanzania and Zambia. Their rule became so bad that the Comorians eventually kicked Denard out, but he returned with a vengeance years later, ''even when the French already talked him not to intervene''. The French assisted the Comorian government to detain and imprison him personally back in France.

Even after all of these, [[CrapsackWorld situations didn't improve much better]]. Mohéli and Anjouan had said enough and seceded from the union, apparently because of mistreatment and because they wanted to follow in Mayotte's footsteps and rejoin France. [[YankTheDogsChain Their attempts were suppressed viciously]]. All this to add the still-troubled central government, which witnessed many generals attempting to stage coups to [[ItsAllAboutMe take power for themselves, unaware of the plight of the people they supposedly represent]].

Now, we move on to the whole mess that is Mayotte. So, the French keeps a sliver of the Comorian territory, but it was ''after'' referendums; unlike Algeria, the Mahorians, as the French call them, really did want to become a part of France (though completely confirming it might steer this a bit into YMMV). Reasons vary, but it was probably because the island was annexed a good 30 years before the others did, not to mention becoming the center of the colony for the first few years of colonization. Regardless, the Comorians were not happy, and neither was the United Nations, who voted on a resolution for France to give in. (Un)luckily, France realized that it is a permanent member of the Security Council, and [[SarcasmMode warmingly]] vetoed the resolution (to this day, the question of Mayotte's sovereignty is the only time when France exercised its right to veto as a permanent member of the UN Security Council). Since then, the Mahorians have carved a different path of life from their Comorian brethren; they still speak Comorian, adopt their fishing culture, and are (mostly) Muslims, but they are more likely to identify themselves as French nowadays, even more when one accounts that their standard of living, while still below that of the Metropolitan French, are ''way'' higher than the ordinary Comorian. With the promotion of the territory into a department, the French language is also enforced in all aspects of society, so the elderly and not-so-few Comorians are wary that the French are trying to further erode the Mahorians' culture and distance their claims...maybe. Take this with a grain of salt.

Since the islands were formed from volcanic activity, you can guess there are still lots of it going around here. And considering how small the islands are, every time there’s an eruption, the population of the whole island has to be evacuated.

It produces a lot of vanilla and is the world’s biggest exporter of [[InherentlyFunnyWords ylang-ylang]] (used to make essential oil).

By the way, as noted above, it is a Muslim country, something you wouldn't expect considering how far south the islands are (its closest neighbours are Christian-majority Mozambique and Madagascar). Indeed, it is the southernmost Muslim majority country. In addition, as the country is a member of the Arab League, it is also technically an Arab country, if only nominally: Arabic is only really used in religious schools and discourses, even though being a part of the League necessitates its use as an official language ; DNA studies have shown that Comorians also have [[http://watwan.over-blog.com/article-genetiquement-parlant-nous-sommes-bantous-arabo-perses-et-austronesiens-47716286.html Arab DNA - And also Persian, Austronesian]] and [[http://actu-comores.over-blog.com/article-etudes-adn-les-comores-et-madagascar-peuples-par-des-indonesiens-voici-1200-ans-102142792.html Indonesian]] - , but not that much. On top of that, most Comorians nowadays speaks Shikomori, the Comorian native language, instead of Arabic.

Now, we move on to the whole mess that is Mayotte. So, the French keeps a sliver of the Comorian territory, but it was ''after'' referendums; unlike Algeria, the Mahorians, as the French call them, really did want to become a part of France (though completely confirming it might steer this a bit into YMMV). Reasons vary, but it was probably because the island was annexed a good 30 years before the others did, not to mention becoming the center of the colony for the first few years of colonization. Regardless, the Comorians were not happy, and so did the UN, who voted on a resolution for France to give in. (Un)luckily, France realized that it is a permanent member of the Security Council, and [[SarcasmMode warmingly]] vetoed the resolution (to this day, the question of Mayotte's sovereignty is the only time when France exercised its right to veto as a permanent member of the UN Security Council). Since then, the Mahorians have carved a different path of life from their Comorian brethren; they still speak Comorian, adopt their fishing culture, and are (mostly) Muslims, but they are more likely to identify themselves as French nowadays, even more when one accounts that their standard of living, while still below that of the Metropolitan French, are ''way'' higher than the ordinary Comorian. With the promotion of the territory into a department, the French language is also enforced in all aspects of society, so the elderly and not-so-few Comorians are wary that the French are trying to further erode the Mahorians' culture and distance their claims...maybe. Take this with a grain of salt.

* '''Highest point:''' Mount Karthala (2360 m/7,743 ft) (121st)

The '''Union of the Comoros''' ('''Comorian:''' ''Udzima wa Komori'', '''French:''' ''Union des Comores'', '''Arabic:''' ''الاتحاد القمري al-Ittiḥād al-Qumurī'') is a small East African country composed of a few islands between Mozambique and Madagascar, the largest three of which are, arranged in a northwest-southeast orientation: Grande Comore (Njazidja), Mohéli (Mwali), and Anjouan (Nzwani). There is one other large island, '''UsefulNotes/{{Mayotte}} (Maore)''', a point of contention and a definite BerserkButton for the Comorians, detailed below.

* '''Highest point:''' Mount Karthala (2360 m/7,743 ft) (106th)