In the early 15th century, the Arabs settled on the islands, each of which was ruled by separate sultanates. The islands were ceded to the French in 1841. They became a French protectorate in 1886 before being formally adopted as colonial possessions in 1912. The Comoros were then governed as part of Madagascar until 1947 when they became a separate French Overseas Territory.
Internal self-government was granted in 1961, although full independence was not achieved until 1975, despite consistent pressure on the French from the islands’ Government. The main reason was the position of
Mayotte, one of the original Comoros island group, which insisted upon retaining its links with France. With Mayotte going its own way, the Comoros joined the United Nations as the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros, comprising three islands: Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli. Ahmed Abdallah was elected as the first president. Within months, the instability which has characterized post-independence politics on the islands took effect as Abdallah was overthrown by a coup led by Ali Soilih. In 1978, with the assistance of French mercenaries, Abdallah regained his position with another coup, but his success was short-lived as he was assassinated the following year.
Abdallah’s successor, Said Mohamed Djohar, managed to hold onto power in the face of both coup attempts and domestic political crises before the return in 1995 of the Comoros Islands’ nemesis, Bob Denard, the leader of the mercenary group that had installed Abdallah in 1978. Although Denard’s latest effort was suppressed a week later by French troops dispatched from Réunion, Djohar was killed. By 1996, the situation had calmed sufficiently for scheduled elections to take place. The new Government of Abdulkarim Taki was determined to introduce Islamic law to the islands. This was fiercely resisted in many quarters, especially on the outlying islands of Anjouan and Moheli, which now sought independence from the Comoros group. The pair seceded in August 1997 but have since returned to the national fold. President Taki died in 1998, and was replaced by Ben Said Massounde. The new government proved unable to settle the ongoing political crisis and in May 1999 was overthrown in a military coup led by the Chief of the Army General Staff, Colonel Azzali Assoumani. During the next two years, the military government laid plans for a new constitution that would maintain the group as a single country, but with much greater autonomy afforded to the individual islands. In December 2001, it was approved in a national referendum. In May 2002, after several weeks’ delay, Assoumani was declared President of the newly entitled Union of Comoros – which includes Anjouan and Moheli – after a disputed election. By mid-2003, the new government had faced just a single coup plot.
GovernmentFollowing the military coup of May 1999, the existing 1996 constitution and the Federal Assembly were suspended. A new constitution allowing for greater autonomy and individual elected administrations on each of the islands was introduced in 2002. Executive power is in the hands of the President, who is elected for a 6-year term. Under the new constitutional arrangements, each island Governor may appoint eight Ministers to deal with local affairs, whilst the Union authorities will control foreign affairs, finance, defense, justice and religious matters. However, there remained areas where the division of authority was unclear, resulting in the signature of an agreement in 2003 to resolve the crisis. As a result, parliamentary elections were held in 2004. The majority of seats were won by island rather than state candidates.
EconomyThe bulk of the working population is employed in agriculture, which produces vanilla and cloves (the main exports), basil, ylang-ylang (an essence extracted from trees) and copra. There is a small fishing industry and a minimal industrial base devoted mainly to processing vanilla. The tourism industry has grown rapidly during the last 10 years to the extent that the service sector as a whole now accounts for almost 60 per cent of total domestic output: chronic political instability on the islands has, however, probably prevented the industry from reaching its full potential. Moreover, the agricultural economy is vulnerable to low world commodity prices. Substantial French aid remains essential. France is also the country’s major trading partner, providing almost half of the Comoros’ imports and taking two-thirds of its exports. China, Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar are the other major importers into the islands. Per capita income is estimated at US$450 (World Bank, 2003). The economy grew slowly at 2.5 per cent (est. 2002).
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