Comoros

agricultural land:

84.4%;

• arable land 46.7%;
• permanent crops 29.6%;
• permanent pasture 8.1%

forest:

1.4%

other:

14.2% (2011 est.)

• the capital city of Maroni, located on the western side of the island of Grande Comore, is the country's largest city;
• however, of the three islands that comprise Comoros, it is Anjouan that is the most densely populated

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

• the capital city of Maroni, located on the western side of the island of Grande Comore, is the country's largest city;
• however, of the three islands that comprise Comoros, it is Anjouan that is the most densely populated

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:

0.8 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.88 male(s)/female

total population:

0.94 male(s)/female (2016 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)

etymology:

name derives from the Arabic designation "Juzur al Qamar" meaning "Islands of the Moon"

name:

Moroni

geographic coordinates:

11 42 S, 43 14 E

time difference:

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

history:

previous 1996; latest ratified 23 December 2001

amendments:

• proposed by the president of the union or supported by at least one-third of the Assembly of the Union membership;
• passage requires approval by at least two-thirds majority of the total Assembly membership and approval by at least two-thirds of the membership of the Island Councils, or approval in a referendum;
• amended 2009, 2014 (2017)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of the Comoros

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

10 years

chief of state:

President AZALI Assoumani(since 26 May 2016); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President AZALI Assoumani (since 26 May 2016)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the president

elections/appointments:

the Union presidency rotates among the 3 islands; president directly elected by simple majority popular vote in 2 rounds for a single nonrenewable 5-year term (in the first round or primary, 3 candidates with the highest vote count by voters on the island concerned compete in the second round; second round winner determined by simple majority vote by voters on all 3 islands; election last held on 21 February 2016 and second round held 10 April 2016 (next to be held in 2021); note - in addition to the Union president, each island elects its own president

election results:

• AZALI Assoumani elected president in the second round of voting by a plurality;
• percent of vote in first round - Mohamed Ali SOILIHI 17.6%, Mouigni BARAKA 15.1%, AZALI Assoumani 15.0%, Fahmi Said IBRAHIM 14.5%;
• percent of vote in second round - AZALI Assoumani 41.0%, Mohamed Ali SOILIHI 39.9%;
• Mouigni BARAKA 19.1%

description:

unicameral Assembly of the Union (33 seats; 24 members directly elected by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed and 9 members indirectly elected by the 3 island assemblies; members serve 5-year terms)

elections:

last held on 25 January 2015 with a runoff on 22 February 2015 (next to be held in 2020)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - UPDC 29.1%, PJ 20.5%, RDC 21.3%, other 29.1%;
• seats by party - UPDC 8, PJ 7, RDC 2, CRC 2, RADHI 1, PEC 1, independents 3;
• note - in addition 9 seats will be filled by nominations from the 3 island assemblies

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 - 2 selected 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 instance;
• island village (community) courts;
• religious courts

• Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros or CRC [AZALI Assoumani]
• Democratic Rally of the Comoros or RDC [Mouigni BARAKA]
• Juwa Party or PJ [Ahmed Abdallah SAMBI]
• Party for the Comorian Agreement (Partie Pour l'Entente Commorienne) or PEC [Fahmi Said IBRAHIM]
• Rally for an Alternative of Harmonious and Integrated Development or RADHI [Abdou SOEFO]
• Rally with a Development Intiiative for Enlightened Youth or RIDJA [Said LARIFOU]
• Union for the Development of the Comoros or UPDC [Mohamed HALIFA]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Soilihi Mohamed SOILIHI (since 18 November 2014)

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

name:

"Udzima wa ya Masiwa" (The Union of the Great Islands)

lyrics/music:

Said Hachim SIDI ABDEREMANE/Said Hachim SIDI ABDEREMANE and Kamildine ABDALLAH

note: adopted 1978

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 2 per 100 persons;
• mobile cellular usage over 55 per 100 persons;
• two companies, Comoros Telecom and Telma, provide domestic and international mobile service and wireless data.

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 (2017)

• 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

paved:

673 km

unpaved:

207 km (2002)

country comparison to the world: 188

• 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 assisted 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 domestically, and women and children are subjected to forced labor in Mayotte;
• it is possibly a transit and destination country for Malagasy women and girls and a transit country for East African women and girls exploited in domestic service in the Middle East;
• Comoran children are forced to labor in domestic service, roadside and street vending, baking, fishing, and agriculture;
• 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 international criminal networks

tier rating:

• Tier 3 – Comoros does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and was placed on Tier 3 after being on the Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years without making progress;
• Parliament passed revisions to the penal code in 2014, including anti-trafficking provisions and enforcement guidelines, but these amendments have not yet been passed approved by the President and put into effect;
• a new child labor law was passed in 2015 prohibiting child trafficking, but existing laws do not criminalize the forced prostitution of adults;
• authorities did not investigate, prosecute, or convict alleged trafficking offenders, including complicit officials;
• the government lacked victim identification and care referral procedures, did not assist any victims during 2014, and provided minimal support to NGOs offering victims psychosocial services (2015)