Heritage · c. 6th century
First settlers sailed from East Africa.
Did you know that the Comoros were probably first settled by about the 6th century AD by Bantu-speaking farmers and fishers from the East African coast, whose speech evolved into Shikomori, a close cousin of Swahili?
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Heritage · c. 1st millennium AD
Southeast Asian sailors passed through.
Did you know that Austronesian seafarers from Southeast Asia, the ancestors of the Malagasy, very likely passed through the Comoros on their way to Madagascar, leaving traces such as outrigger canoes and crops like bananas and rice?
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Science · 9th–10th century
Chinese stoneware reached Mayotte by 900 AD.
Did you know that excavations at Dembeni on Mayotte uncovered a 9th–10th-century trading settlement whose inhabitants used imported Islamic glazed pottery and Chinese stoneware, proving the islands were linked to Indian Ocean trade over a thousand years ago?
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Myth or fact · c. 11th century
A legend dates Islam to the Prophet.
Did you know that Comorian tradition claims Islam reached the islands during the Prophet Muhammad's lifetime through Comorians who travelled to Arabia, although archaeology suggests the first mosques appeared only around the 11th century?
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Heritage · c. 11th century
Sima's mosque may be a millennium old.
Did you know that the town of Sima on Anjouan claims one of the oldest mosques in the Comoros, a building that local tradition dates to the early centuries of Islam on the islands, around the 11th century?
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Heritage · 15th century
Domoni was Anjouan's first royal seat.
Did you know that Domoni on Anjouan was an early royal capital of the island, a stone-built Swahili-style town whose old quarter of narrow alleys and carved wooden doors still recalls its medieval trading heyday?
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Heritage · 1427
Moroni's mosque dates from 1427.
Did you know that Moroni's Old Friday Mosque, standing on the waterfront of the capital, is traditionally dated to 1427, making it one of the oldest surviving buildings in the Comoros?
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Myth or fact · c. 15th century
Persian royal roots may be legend.
Did you know that many Comorian ruling clans traced their ancestry to 'Shirazi' immigrants from Persia, a prestigious origin story shared along the Swahili coast that historians now regard as largely legendary rather than literal?
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Firsts · c. 1505
Portuguese charted the islands around 1505.
Did you know that Portuguese navigators reached the Comoros around 1505, shortly after Vasco da Gama opened the sea route to India, and the islands soon appeared on European charts of the Mozambique Channel?
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Society · 16th–19th century
Rival sultans fought for one title.
Did you know that Grande Comore was long split among rival sultanates whose rulers competed for the supreme title of sultan 'tibe', a contest that kept the island divided until the French protectorate?
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Society · 1695
A notorious pirate resupplied on Anjouan.
Did you know that the pirate Henry Every stopped at Anjouan, then known to sailors as Johanna, in 1695 to take on supplies shortly before seizing the Mughal treasure ship Ganj-i-Sawai in one of history's richest pirate raids?
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Heritage · late 18th century
A citadel guarded against Malagasy raiders.
Did you know that the hilltop citadel of Mutsamudu on Anjouan was built in the late 18th century to defend the town against devastating slave raids by fleets of outrigger canoes from Madagascar?
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Myth or fact · c. 1800
Iconi's women chose the cliff over capture.
Did you know that, according to legend, women of Iconi on Grande Comore threw themselves from a cliff rather than be captured by Malagasy raiders, and the town is still remembered for that tragic episode?
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Society · c. 1830
A Malagasy prince became Mohéli's sultan.
Did you know that Mohéli's royal line was founded around 1830 by Ramanetaka, a Merina prince from Madagascar who seized the island, converted to Islam and took the name Abderemane?
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Society · c. 1832
An exiled Malagasy king ruled Mayotte.
Did you know that Mayotte was taken over around 1832 by Andriantsoly, an exiled Sakalava king from northwestern Madagascar, the same ruler who later sold the island to France?
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Records · 1841
Mayotte became French before Nice.
Did you know that France bought Mayotte from its ruler Andriantsoly in 1841 in exchange for an annual pension, which means Mayotte has been French longer than Nice and Savoy, annexed in 1860?
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Firsts · 1842
A child queen ruled Mohéli.
Did you know that Djoumbe Fatima became queen of Mohéli as a small child in 1842 and went on to rule for decades, one of the very few women to reign over a Comorian sultanate?
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Firsts · 1846
Mayotte freed slaves before the empire.
Did you know that slavery was abolished on Mayotte in 1846, two years before France abolished it throughout the rest of its colonial empire in 1848?
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Nature · 1885
A plant collector came to own an island.
Did you know that French naturalist Léon Humblot came to Grande Comore to collect plants and birds, yet won a concession over a vast share of the island, and the endemic Humblot's flycatcher still bears his name?
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Society · 1886
1886 put all four islands under France.
Did you know that Sultan Said Ali of Grande Comore accepted a French protectorate in 1886, the same year France extended protection over Anjouan and Mohéli, bringing all four islands under French influence?
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Society · 1912
Comoros were ruled from Antananarivo.
Did you know that in 1912 the Comoros were formally annexed and attached to the colony of Madagascar, so for more than three decades the islands were governed from Antananarivo rather than from Moroni?
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Nature · 1918
Karthala's lava flowed in 1918.
Did you know that Mount Karthala erupted in 1918, one of a long series of 20th-century eruptions that have sent lava flows down the flanks of Grande Comore toward coastal villages?
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Society · 1942
British troops landed on Mayotte in 1942.
Did you know that during the Second World War British forces occupied Mayotte in 1942 as part of the campaign to wrest Madagascar and its dependencies from Vichy France?
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Society · 1946
1946 split the Comoros from Madagascar.
Did you know that the Comoros became a separate French overseas territory in 1946, ending their administrative attachment to Madagascar and giving the islands their own representation in Paris?
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Science · 1952
A fisherman's catch summoned a military plane.
Did you know that in December 1952 an Anjouan fisherman caught a coelacanth, and South African ichthyologist J. L. B. Smith persuaded his prime minister to lend a military plane to fetch the 'living fossil'?
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Society · 1958–1966
Moving the capital cost the Comoros Mayotte.
Did you know that the capital of the Comoros was moved from Dzaoudzi on Mayotte to Moroni on Grande Comore in the 1960s, a decision that deeply angered Mahorais and fuelled Mayotte's later choice to stay French?
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Society · late 1960s
Mayotte's 'ticklers' chased off politicians.
Did you know that in the late 1960s pro-French women on Mayotte, nicknamed the 'chatouilleuses' or ticklers, mobbed pro-independence politicians and tickled them mercilessly until they left the island?
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Records · 1974
Mayotte voted no as others voted yes.
Did you know that in the December 1974 independence referendum about 95% of Comorians voted yes, but on Mayotte roughly 63% voted to remain French, splitting the archipelago?
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Society · 6 July 1975
Independence came without Mayotte.
Did you know that the Comoros became independent on 6 July 1975 by a unilateral declaration from Ahmed Abdallah, yet Mayotte stayed under French rule, a dispute that remains unresolved half a century later?
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Records · August 1975
Denard's first coup came within a month.
Did you know that less than a month after independence, French mercenary Bob Denard helped overthrow President Ahmed Abdallah in August 1975, the first of several Comorian coups he would take part in?
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Society · 1976
Ali Soilih let 14-year-olds vote.
Did you know that revolutionary leader Ali Soilih lowered the voting age in the Comoros to 14 and campaigned against costly traditions such as the grand marriage and women's veils?
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Nature · 1977
Lava overran Singani in 1977.
Did you know that a 1977 eruption of Mount Karthala sent lava through the village of Singani on Grande Comore, destroying much of it and forcing its residents to flee?
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Society · 1978
A French mercenary ruled from the shadows.
Did you know that after his 1978 coup Bob Denard converted to Islam, took the name Said Mustapha Mahdjoub and ran the presidential guard, making him the islands' real power for over a decade?
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Society · November 1989
A president was killed by his own guards.
Did you know that President Ahmed Abdallah was shot dead in his own residence in November 1989 in a night attack involving Bob Denard's presidential guard, which finally led France and South Africa to force Denard out?
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Language · 1993
A Bantu-speaking nation joined the Arab League.
Did you know that the Comoros joined the Arab League in 1993, even though most Comorians speak Shikomori, a Bantu language, as their mother tongue rather than Arabic?
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Records · September 1995
Denard's final coup came at 66.
Did you know that Bob Denard staged his last Comorian coup in September 1995 at the age of 66, landing with a small band of mercenaries before French troops ended it within a week?
Sources
Records · November 1996
A hijacked jet ditched beside a beach.
Did you know that hijacked Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 ran out of fuel and ditched in the sea off Grande Comore in November 1996, a crash filmed by a tourist on the beach in which 50 people survived?
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Society · 1997
Anjouan asked to rejoin France.
Did you know that when Anjouan and Mohéli declared secession in 1997, Anjouan's separatists asked to become French again, a request France turned down?
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Records · 1999
Azali has dominated since 1999.
Did you know that army chief Azali Assoumani seized power in a coup in April 1999 and has led the country for most of the time since, winning elections in 2002, 2016, 2019 and 2024?
Sources
Society · 2001
The presidency rotates between islands.
Did you know that the 2001 constitution renamed the country the Union of the Comoros and created a presidency that rotates among Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli to keep the islands together?
Sources
Nature · 2001
Villagers co-manage Mohéli's marine park.
Did you know that Mohéli Marine Park, created in 2001 as the country's first national park, was co-managed with local villages that agreed to protect the reefs and turtle beaches off their own shores?
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Nature · 2005
Karthala's ash forced mass evacuations.
Did you know that Mount Karthala erupted in 2005 and spread a thick blanket of ash over Grande Comore, contaminating water cisterns and forcing tens of thousands of people to leave their homes?
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Society · 2006
A president nicknamed 'the Ayatollah'.
Did you know that President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, elected in 2006, was nicknamed the 'Ayatollah' because he had studied religion in Iran and wore a turban?
Sources
Society · 2008
Comorian passports went to Gulf stateless people.
Did you know that from 2008 the Comoros sold 'economic citizenship' to thousands of stateless Bidoon from the Gulf, mostly paid for by the United Arab Emirates, giving people passports to a country they had never seen?
Sources
Society · March 2008
Anjouan's strongman escaped by speedboat.
Did you know that in March 2008 Comorian and African Union troops invaded Anjouan to oust its defiant leader Mohamed Bacar, who fled by speedboat to French-ruled Mayotte?
Sources
Records · 2009
One girl survived a crash at sea.
Did you know that 12-year-old Bahia Bakari was the sole survivor of the 2009 Yemenia Flight 626 crash off Grande Comore, clinging to wreckage in the sea until rescuers found her about twelve hours after the crash?
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Geography · 2011
Mayotte joined the EU as a French department.
Did you know that Mayotte became France's 101st department in 2011, so a lagoon island claimed by the Comoros now sits inside the European Union as an outermost region?
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Sport · January 2022
A left-back kept goal at AFCON.
Did you know that at their debut Africa Cup of Nations in 2022, the Comoros reached the last 16 and, with no fit goalkeeper, played Cameroon with left-back Chaker Alhadhur in goal?
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Firsts · 2023
A tiny state chaired the African Union.
Did you know that President Azali Assoumani became the first Comorian to chair the African Union in February 2023, leading a 55-member body from one of its smallest member states?
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Economy · 21 August 2024
Comoros became the WTO's 165th member.
Did you know that the Comoros became the World Trade Organization's 165th member in August 2024, the first new member in eight years and the first least-developed country to join since 2016?
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Nature · December 2024
Chido was Mayotte's worst storm in 90 years.
Did you know that Cyclone Chido, which struck Mayotte in December 2024, was described as the island's worst storm in about 90 years, flattening shanty towns largely home to migrants from the Comoros?
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Society · 6 July 2025
Comoros marked fifty years of independence.
Did you know that the Comoros celebrated 50 years of independence on 6 July 2025 with a parade in Moroni attended by foreign leaders, including Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan?
Sources
Sport · December 2025
Comoros opened AFCON 2025 against the hosts.
Did you know that the Comoros, nicknamed the Coelacanths, played hosts Morocco in the opening match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Rabat in December 2025?
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Nature ·
The 'extinct' coelacanth lives off Comoros.
Did you know that the coelacanth, a fish thought extinct for 66 million years, survives in deep volcanic caves off Grande Comore and Anjouan, home to the world's best-known population of the 'living fossil'?
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Nature ·
A giant bat lives on just two islands.
Did you know that Livingstone's fruit bat, found only on Anjouan and Mohéli, is one of the world's largest bats, with a wingspan of up to about 1.4 metres, and fewer than a few thousand survive?
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Geography ·
Karthala is a giant active volcano.
Did you know that Mount Karthala on Grande Comore, the country's highest point at about 2,360 metres, is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world and has erupted more than 20 times since the 19th century?
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Economy ·
Comorian flowers scent famous perfumes.
Did you know that the Comoros, nicknamed the 'perfume islands', supply a large share of the world's ylang-ylang essential oil, a flower extract prized by luxury perfumers including for Chanel No. 5?
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Economy ·
Comorian vanilla is pollinated by hand.
Did you know that the Comoros has long ranked among the world's leading vanilla producers, with orchids on the islands still pollinated by hand because their natural pollinating bees do not live there?
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Culture ·
A lavish wedding buys village status.
Did you know that the Comorian 'grand marriage', or anda, can cost a family the savings of a lifetime, yet completing it grants a man the status of a notable entitled to speak in village councils?
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Language ·
Each island has its own Comorian dialect.
Did you know that Shikomori, the Comorian language, has a distinct dialect on each island and was long written in Arabic script before Latin spelling became common?
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Language ·
Comoros means 'islands of the moon'.
Did you know that the name Comoros comes from the Arabic Juzur al-Qamar, meaning 'islands of the moon', a name medieval Arab geographers gave the archipelago?
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Nature ·
Turtles nest on Mohéli nearly every night.
Did you know that the beaches of Itsamia on Mohéli are one of the most important nesting sites for green sea turtles in the western Indian Ocean, with females coming ashore almost every night of the year?
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Nature ·
Humpbacks calve in Comorian waters.
Did you know that humpback whales migrate thousands of kilometres from Antarctic feeding grounds to give birth and breed in the warm waters around the Comoros between about July and October?
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Geography ·
Mayotte has a rare double barrier reef.
Did you know that Mayotte's lagoon, among the largest in the world, is enclosed by a rare double barrier reef, one of only a handful of such formations on the planet?
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Culture ·
Women paint faces with sandalwood paste.
Did you know that Comorian women often wear msindzano, a pale paste of ground sandalwood and coral painted on the face as a beauty mask and sun protection?
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Heritage ·
The flag counts Mayotte as Comorian.
Did you know that the Comorian flag has four coloured stripes and four stars, one for each island including Mayotte, which the Comoros still claims although it is governed by France?
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