Geography Of The Comoros
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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. Still widely known by their French names, the islands officially have been called by their
Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...
names by the Comorian government. They are
Grande Comore Grande Comore () is an island in Comoros off the coast of Africa. It is the largest island in the Comoros nation. Most of its population is of the Comorian ethnic group. Its population is about 316,600. The island's capital is Moroni, Comoros, ...
(Njazidja), Mohéli (Mwali), Anjouan (Nzwani), and Mayotte (Mahoré). The islands' distance from each other—Grande Comore is some 200 kilometers from Mayotte, forty kilometers from Mohéli, and eighty kilometers from Anjouan—along with a lack of good harbor facilities, make transportation and communication difficult. Comoros are sunny islands.


Details

The islands have a total land area of 2,236 square kilometers (including Mayotte), and claim territorial waters of 320 square kilometers. Mount Karthala (2316 m) on Grande Comore is an active volcano. From April 17 to 19, 2005, the volcano began spewing ash and gas, forcing as many as 10,000 people to flee. Comoros is located within the Somali plate.


Grande Comore

Grande Comore 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 Grande Comore 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 the Comoros' once-extensive rain forests is on the slopes of Kartala. The national capital has been at Moroni since 1962.


Anjouan

Anjouan, 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 m), giving the island its distinctive shape. Older than Grande Comore, Anjouan 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.


Mohéli

Mohéli 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 Grande Comore, it retains stands of rain forest. Mohéli's capital is Fomboni.


Mayotte

Mayotte, 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 the Comoros until 1962 and now Mayotte'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 Mayotte. Islets are also scattered in the coastal waters of Mayotte just as in Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Mohéli.


Flora and fauna

Comorian 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. 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 Anjouan. 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 the Comoros in 1992 to bring some of the bats to Britain to establish a breeding population. A hybrid of the common brown lemur (''Eulemur fulvus'') originally from Madagascar, was introduced by humans prior to European colonization and is found on Mayotte. The mongoose lemur (''Eulemur mongoz''), also introduced from Madagascar by humans, can be found on the islands of Mohéli and Anjouan. 22 species of bird are unique to the archipelago and 17 of these are restricted to the Union of the Comoros. These include the
Karthala scops-owl The Karthala scops owl (''Otus pauliani''), also known as the Grand Comoro scops owl or Comoro scops owl, is a small scops owl endemic to the island of Grande Comore in the Comoro Islands. Taxonomy The Karthala scops owl was formerly considered ...
,
Anjouan scops-owl The Anjouan scops owl (''Otus capnodes'') is an owl endemic to the island of Anjouan in the Comoro Islands. Description The Anjouan scops owl occurs in grey and rufous colour phases and has very small ear-tufts compared to other scops owls. The ...
and
Humblot's flycatcher Humblot's flycatcher (''Humblotia flavirostris'') or the Grand Comoro flycatcher, is a small passerine bird belonging to the Old World flycatcher family. It is the only member of its genus. Humblot's flycatcher is endemic to the island of Grand ...
.Ian Sinclair & Olivier Langrand (2003)
Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands
', Struik, Cape Town.
Partly in response to international pressures, Comorians 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 Anjouan. 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 Comorian government, is working to improve water supply on the islands as well.


Climate

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 along the coasts. Although the average annual precipitation is , water is a scarce commodity in many parts of the Comoros. Mohéli and Mayotte possess streams and other natural sources of water, but Grande Comore and Anjouan, 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.


Extreme points

This is a list of the extreme points of the Comoros, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location. This list excludes the French-administered island of Mayotte which is claimed by the Comorian government. * Northernmost point – unnamed headland north-west of
Bangoua Kouni Bangoua is a village in eastern Ivory Coast. It is in the sub-prefecture of Duffrébo, Agnibilékrou Department, Indénié-Djuablin Region, Comoé District. Bangoua sits just south of the border with Zanzan District and is located six kilometres e ...
,
Grande Comore Grande Comore () is an island in Comoros off the coast of Africa. It is the largest island in the Comoros nation. Most of its population is of the Comorian ethnic group. Its population is about 316,600. The island's capital is Moroni, Comoros, ...
* Easternmost point – unnamed
peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
east of
Domoni Domoni (population 15,351) is the second largest city on the Comorian island of Anjouan in the Indian Ocean and is located on the east coast of the island. It was the capital of the island in the past while the present capital of Anjouan is Mutsa ...
, Anjouan * Southernmost point - unnamed headland on
Ile Canzouni Ile may refer to: * iLe, a Puerto Rican singer * Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places * Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria * Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language * Isoleucine, an amino acid * Another ...
, Mohéli * Westernmost point - unnamed headland west of Iconi, Grande Comore


Statistics

Area: 2,235 km2 Coastline: 340 km 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:''
Karthala Mount Karthala or Karthola ( ar, القرطالة ''Al Qirṭālah'') is an active volcano and the highest point of the Comoros at above sea level. It is the southernmost and larger of the two shield volcanoes forming Grande Comore island, t ...
2,360 m Natural resources: fish Land use:
''arable land:'' 47.29%
''permanent crops:'' 29.55%
''other:'' 23.16% (2012 est.) Irrigated land: 1.3 km2 (2003) Total renewable water resources: 1.2 km3 (2011) Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
''total:'' 0.01 km3/yr (48%/5%/47%)
''per capital:'' 16.86 m3/yr (1999) Natural hazards:
cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...
s possible during rainy season (December to April); volcanic activity on
Grand Comore Grande Comore () is an island in Comoros off the coast of Africa. It is the largest island in the Comoros nation. Most of its population is of the Comorian ethnic group. Its population is about 316,600. The island's capital is Moroni, Comoros, ...
Environmental - current issues: soil degradation and erosion results from crop cultivation on slopes without proper terracing; deforestation


References


Literature cited

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Geography Of Comoros