Comoros

total:

0.01 cu km/yr (48%/5%/47%)

per capita:

16.86 cu m/yr (1999)

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Comoran(s)

adjective:

Comoran

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

0.94 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.9 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.94 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.92 male(s)/female

total population:

0.94 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

improved:

rural:

96.7% of population

unimproved:

rural:

3.3% of population (2012 est.)

total number:

39,550

percentage:

27 % (2000 est.)

conventional long form:

Union of the Comoros

conventional short form:

Comoros

local long form:

• Udzima wa Komori (Comorian);
• Union des Comores (French);
• Jumhuriyat al Qamar al Muttahidah (Arabic)

local short form:

• Komori (Comorian);
• Comores (French);
• Juzur al Qamar (Arabic)

name:

Moroni

geographic coordinates:

11 42 S, 43 14 E

time difference:

UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

chief of state:

President Ikililou DHOININE (since 26 May 2011)

head of government:

President Ikililou DHOININE (since 26 May 2011)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the president; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• as defined by the 2001 constitution, the presidency rotates every four years among the elected presidents from the three main islands in the Union;
• election last held on 7 November and 26 December 2010 (next to be held in 2015)

election results:

Ikililou DHOININE elected president; percent of vote - Ikililou DHOININE 61.1%, Mohamed Said FAZUL 32.7%, Abdou DJABIR 6.2%

highest court(s):

Supreme Court or Cour Supreme (consists of 7 judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 8 members)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court judges selected - 2 by the president of the Union, 2 by the Assembly of the Union, and 1 each by the 3 island councils;
• judges appointed for life;
• Constitutional Court members appointed - 1 by the president, 1 each by the 3 vice presidents, 1 by the Assembly, and 1 each by the island executives;
• all members serve 6-year renewable terms

subordinate courts:

• Court of Appeals (in Moroni);
• Tribunal de premiere;
• island village (community) courts;
• religious courts

• Camp of the Autonomous Islands or CdIA (a coalition of parties organized by the islands' presidents in opposition to the Union President)
• Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros or CRC [AZALI Assowmani]
• Front National pour la Justice or FNJ [Ahmed RACHID] (Islamic party in opposition)
• Mouvement pour la Democratie et le Progress or MDP-NGDC [Abbas DJOUSSOUF]
• Parti Comorien pour la Democratie et le Progress or PCDP [Ali MROUDJAE]
• Rassemblement National pour le Development or RND [Omar TAMOU, Abdoulhamid AFFRAITANE]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Roubani KAAMBI (since 6 September 2012); note - also serves as Permanent Representative to the UN

chancery:

Mission to the US, 866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 418, New York, NY 10017

telephone:

[1] (212) 750-1637

FAX:

[1] (212) 750-1657

• four equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), white, red, and blue, with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist;
• centered within the triangle is a white crescent with the convex side facing the hoist and four white, five-pointed stars placed vertically in a line between the points of the crescent;
• the horizontal bands and the four stars represent the four main islands of the archipelago - Mwali, N'gazidja, Ndzuwani, and Mahore (Mayotte - department of France, but claimed by Comoros)

note: the crescent, stars, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam

agriculture:

80%

industry and services:

20% (1996 est.)

lowest 10%:

0.9%

highest 10%:

55.2% (2004)

general assessment:

sparse system of microwave radio relay and HF radiotelephone communication stations

domestic:

fixed-line connections only about 3 per 100 persons; mobile cellular usage about 30 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 269;
• landing point for the EASSy fiber-optic submarine cable system connecting East Africa with Europe and North America;
• HF radiotelephone communications to Madagascar and Reunion (2010)

• national state-owned TV station and a TV station run by Anjouan regional government;
• national state-owned radio;
• regional governments on the islands of Grande Comore and Anjouan each operate a radio station;
• a few independent and small community radio stations operate on the islands of Grande Comore and Moheli, and these two islands have access to Mayotte Radio and French TV (2007)

total:

880 km

country comparison to the world: 186

paved:

673 km

unpaved:

207 km (2002)

• 18 years of age for 2-year voluntary military service;
• no conscription;
• women first inducted into the Army in 2004 (2012)

males age 16-49:

184,236

females age 16-49:

183,363 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

134,562

females age 16-49:

145,797 (2010 est.)

male:

8,831

female:

8,809 (2010 est.)

• claims French-administered Mayotte and challenges France's and Madagascar's claims to Banc du Geyser, a drying reef in the Mozambique Channel;
• in May 2008, African Union forces were called in to assist the Comoros military recapture Anjouan Island from rebels who seized it in 2001

current situation:

• Comoros is a source country for children subjected to forced labor and reportedly sex trafficking;
• Comoran children are forced to labor within the country in domestic service, roadside and street vending, baking, agriculture, and sometimes criminal activities;
• some Comoran students at Koranic schools are exploited for forced agricultural or domestic labor, sometimes being subjected to physical and sexual abuse;
• Comoros may be particularly vulnerable to transnational trafficking because of inadequate border controls, government corruption, and the presence of criminal networks

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Comoros does not comply fully with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
• however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
• although the government provided some funding to UNICEF-supported, NGO-run centers, victim protection provisions remained very modest;
• the government relies on donor funding and international organization partners for the majority of its anti-trafficking efforts;
• a new law was passed prohibiting child trafficking and the penal code was revised to include prohibitions against and penalties for human trafficking, but these modifications await parliamentary adoption (2013)