Comoros

The islands were settled by Bantu-speaking peoples from the East African coast and by Austronesian voyagers, and from around the tenth century were drawn into the Swahili trading world of the Indian Ocean, with Arab and Persian merchants and, later, Shirazi dynasties founding a patchwork of small sultanates. Islam took root early and has defined the islands ever since.

France established a protectorate in the nineteenth century and made the archipelago a colony administered from Madagascar. In a 1974 referendum, three of the four islands voted for independence, which they declared in 1975; the fourth, Mayotte, voted to remain French and still does, an arrangement the Comoros government continues to reject as an illegal occupation.

Independent Comoros became a byword for instability, with around twenty coups or attempted coups — several involving the French mercenary Bob Denard — and a period in which the islands of Anjouan and Mohéli declared their own secession. A 2001 constitution created a rotating union presidency. Azali Assoumani, who first took power in a 1999 coup, has dominated politics since, winning a disputed election in 2024 amid opposition protests.

Comorian society is Sunni Muslim and conservative, and Islam structures the day, the week, and the year; Friday prayers, Ramadan, and the two Eids are the fixed points, and Quranic schooling is near-universal. Dress is modest, and visitors, especially women, are expected to cover shoulders and knees away from beaches.

The islands keep a distinctive marriage custom, the grand mariage (anda), a lavish, expensive village wedding that a man is expected to hold once in his life to gain full social standing and the right to speak in community affairs; families save for years, and it drives much of the flow of remittances from abroad.

Culture blends African, Arab, Malagasy, and French elements — in the twarab music played at celebrations, the carved doors and coral-stone houses of the old towns, and the everyday use of French alongside Comorian. The perfume trade is woven into the landscape: Comoros is one of the world's main producers of ylang-ylang essence, and clove and vanilla are also grown.

Most of the roughly 850,000 people live on Grande Comore (Ngazidja), the largest island, and around the capital, Moroni. Anjouan (Ndzuani) is the most crowded and mountainous, and Mohéli (Mwali) the smallest and least developed.

Comoros is among the poorest countries in the world, with few resources, little industry, and farmland under pressure. The economy depends heavily on subsistence agriculture and fishing, on exports of ylang-ylang, cloves, and vanilla, and above all on money sent home by the large Comorian diaspora in France, especially around Marseille — remittances are the country's economic lifeline.

Daily life is rural and slow, organised around the mosque, the family compound, the market, and the farming and fishing calendar. Power and water supply are patchy, and inter-island travel is a real obstacle to ordinary life.

Comorian cooking reflects the islands' Swahili and Indian Ocean setting: rice as the staple, coconut, plentiful spices, and fresh fish. Langouste à la vanille, lobster in a vanilla sauce, is the celebratory dish, and grilled or curried fish, octopus, and pweza wa nazi (octopus in coconut) are everyday fare on the coast.

Cassava, breadfruit, green banana, and mataba (pounded cassava leaves cooked with coconut) fill out meals, and mkatra breads and rice cakes accompany them. Cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, and vanilla — the islands' own crops — flavour both savoury dishes and sweets.

There is little alcohol, given the Muslim majority; fresh coconut water, fruit juices, and spiced tea and coffee are the usual drinks.

Comoros is a destination for people who want empty beaches and volcanoes without crowds. On Grande Comore, Mount Karthala is one of the world's largest active volcanoes, with a vast summit caldera reached by a long, guided two-day trek; Moroni's old medina, with its coral-stone alleys and waterfront Friday mosque, is the most atmospheric townscape in the country.

Mohéli, the smallest island, has the best-protected nature: the Mohéli Marine Park, where green turtles nest on the beaches at Itsamia, dolphins and — in season — humpback whales pass offshore, and a scatter of tiny uninhabited islets offer snorkelling and seabird colonies.

Anjouan is green and steep, with waterfalls, the old sultan's town of Mutsamudu beneath its citadel, ylang-ylang and clove plantations, and the crater lake of Dzialandzé. Diving and snorkelling on reefs around all three islands, and the chance of seeing the coelacanth's home waters, round out the appeal.