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 Hahaya International Airport, Comoros
Ouani Anjouan, Comoros
Dzaoudzi / Pamanzi Mayotte, Comoros
Location: Southern Africa, group of islands in the Mozambique
Channel, about two-thirds of the way between northern Madagascar
and northern Mozambique
Geographic coordinates: 12 10 S, 44 15 E
Map references: Africa
Area:
total: 2,170 sq km
land: 2,170 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly more than 12 times the size
of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 340 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical marine; rainy season (November to May)
Terrain: volcanic islands, interiors vary from steep mountains
to low hills
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Le Kartala 2,360 m
Natural resources: NEGL
Land use:
arable land: 35%
permanent crops: 10%
permanent pastures: 7%
forests and woodland: 18%
other: 30% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: cyclones possible during rainy season (December
to April); Le Kartala on Grand Comore is an active volcano
Environment - current issues: soil degradation and erosion
results from crop cultivation on slopes without proper terracing;
deforestation
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer
Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: important location at northern end of
Mozambique Channel
GEOGRAPHY
Size: Variously given as 1,862 to 2,170 square
kilometers.
Topography: Archipelago consists of four main
islands, all of volcanic origin. Njazidja (Grande Comore), the largest,
has two volcanoes with a plateau connecting them; its thin soil
cannot hold water. Nzwani (Anjouan) has three mountain chains and
deeper soil cover. Mwali (Mohéli), the smallest, has central mountain
chain and some rain forest. Mahoré (Mayotte) continues its relationship
with France and is not included as part of Comoros.
Climate: Marine tropical, with two seasons: hot
and humid from November to April, with northeastern monsoon and
possible cyclones; rest of year cooler and dryer. Average annual
rainfall 2,000 millimeters.
Data as of August 1994
Comoros
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
The Comoros archipelago consists of four main islands aligned along
a northwest-southeast axis at the north end of the Mozambique Channel,
between Mozambique and the island of Madagascar (see
fig. 6). Still widely known by their French names, the islands
officially have been called by their Swahili names by the Comoran
government. They are Njazidja (Grande Comore), Mwali (Mohéli), Nzwani
(Anjouan), and Mahoré (Mayotte). The islands' distance from each
other--Njazidja is some 200 kilometers from Mahoré, forty kilometers
from Mwali, and eighty kilometers from Nzwani--along with a lack
of good harbor facilities, make transportation and communication
difficult. The islands have a total land area of 2,236 square kilometers
(including Mahoré), and claim territorial waters of 320 kilometers.
Njazidja is the largest island, sixty-seven kilometers long and
twenty-seven kilometers wide, with a total area of 1,146 square
kilometers. The most recently formed of the four islands in the
archipelago, it is also of volcanic origin. Two volcanoes form the
island's most prominent topographic features: La Grille in the north,
with an elevation of 1,000 meters, is extinct and largely eroded;
Kartala in the south, rising to a height of 2,361 meters, last erupted
in 1977. A plateau averaging 600 to 700 meters high connects the
two mountains. Because Njazidja is geologically a relatively new
island, its soil is thin and rocky and cannot hold water. As a result,
water from the island's heavy rainfall must be stored in catchment
tanks. There are no coral reefs along the coast, and the island
lacks a good harbor for ships. One of the largest remnants of Comoros'
once-extensive rain forests is on the slopes of Kartala. The national
capital has been at Moroni since 1962.
Nzwani, triangular shaped and forty kilometers from apex to base,
has an area of 424 square kilometers. Three mountain chains--Sima,
Nioumakele, and Jimilime--emanate from a central peak, Mtingui (1,575
meters), giving the island its distinctive shape. Older than Njazidja,
Nzwani has deeper soil cover, but overcultivation has caused serious
erosion. A coral reef lies close to shore; the island's capital
of Mutsamudu is also its main port.
Mwali is thirty kilometers long and twelve kilometers wide, with
an area of 290 square kilometers. It is the smallest of the four
islands and has a central mountain chain reaching 860 meters at
its highest. Like Njazidja, it retains stands of rain forest. Mwali's
capital is Fomboni.
Mahoré, geologically the oldest of the four islands, is thirty-nine
kilometers long and twenty-two kilometers wide, totaling 375 square
kilometers, and its highest points are between 500 and 600 meters
above sea level. Because of greater weathering of the volcanic rock,
the soil is relatively rich in some areas. A well-developed coral
reef that encircles much of the island ensures protection for ships
and a habitat for fish. Dzaoudzi, capital of Comoros until 1962
and now Mahoré's administrative center, is situated on a rocky outcropping
off the east shore of the main island. Dzaoudzi is linked by a causeway
to le Pamanzi, which at ten kilometers in area is the largest of
several islets adjacent to Mahoré. Islets are also scattered in
the coastal waters of Njazidja, Nzwani, and Mwali.
Comoran waters are the habitat of the coelacanth, a rare fish with
limblike fins and a cartilaginous skeleton, the fossil remains of
which date as far back as 400 million years and which was once thought
to have become extinct about 70 million years ago. A live specimen
was caught in 1938 off southern Africa; other coelacanths have since
been found in the vicinity of the Comoro Islands.
Several mammals are unique to the islands themselves. The macao,
a lemur found only on Mahoré, is protected by French law and by
local tradition. Another, Livingstone's fruit bat, although plentiful
when discovered by explorer David Livingstone in 1863, has been
reduced to a population of about 120, entirely on Nzwani. The world's
largest bat, the jet-black Livingstone fruit bat has a wingspan
of nearly two meters. A British preservation group sent an expedition
to Comoros in 1992 to bring some of the bats to Britain to establish
a breeding population. Humboldt's flycatcher is perhaps the best
known of the birds native to Comoros. .
Partly in response to international pressures, Comorans in the
1990s have become more concerned about the environment. Steps are
being taken not only to preserve the rare fauna, but also to counteract
degradation of the environment, especially on densely populated
Nzwani. Specifically, to minimize the cutting down of trees for
fuel, kerosene is being subsidized, and efforts are being made to
replace the loss of the forest cover caused by ylang-ylang distillation
for perfume. The Community Development Support Fund, sponsored by
the International Development Association (IDA
--a World Bank affiliate--) and the Comoran government, is working
to improve water supply on the islands as well.
The climate is marine tropical, with two seasons: hot and humid
from November to April, the result of the northeastern monsoon,
and a cooler, drier season the rest of the year. Average monthly
temperatures range from 23° C to 28° C along the coasts.
Although the average annual precipitation is 2,000 millimeters,
water is a scarce commodity in many parts of Comoros. Mwali and
Mahoré possess streams and other natural sources of water, but Njazidja
and Nzwani, whose mountainous landscapes retain water poorly, are
almost devoid of naturally occurring running water. Cyclones, occurring
during the hot and wet season, can cause extensive damage, especially
in coastal areas. On the average, at least twice each decade houses,
farms, and harbor facilities are devastated by these great storms.
Data as of August 1994
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