Africa | Politics
Africa: The Union of the Comoros
Comoros is an independent country made up of three islands, a fourth island is being ruled by France. These islands are off the coast of Mozambique, near Madagascar. Comoros was given the nickname of the ‘perfumed islands’ because of fragrant plant life as well as beautiful scenery.
The country has little known early history but was French ruled in 1886–87, then became a territory of France until 1947. The country is said to have gained full independence in 1975.
Although the early history of the islands is uncertain, they are thought to have been explored by Arab and Persian traders in antiquity and, like Madagascar, settled by small numbers of Malayo-Indonesian peoples, gaining a sizable population only when Bantu-speaking peoples from the African mainland settled there. Shīrāzi Persians are thought to have arrived later, establishing Sunni Islam as the dominant religion. The ensuing Shīrāzi sultanates established trade relations with other countries along the Indian Ocean and developed a thriving economy based on the sale of spices and slaves. The opening of the Suez Canal substantially lessened the islands’ importance as an entrepôt, though not their strategic value.
