The Perfume Isles: A Peek inside Comoros, the Discrete African Island Country
Jul 05, 2021 05:00PM ● By Oga Africa
(A beach in Comoros. Jonathan Gill, CC BY 2.0
Happy Independence Day to Comoros! Today we are exploring the country’s intriguing culture and environment.
Comoros is an island off the east coast of Africa with many exotic elements, including an active volcano, plants that smell like perfume, breathtaking scenery, and luscious beaches. This country is composed of 3 islands off the coast of Mozambique. Although there are four islands in the Comorian archipelago, one of them, Mayotte, is under the French, and is France’s poorest region. On July 6th, 1975, three of the islands, Grand Comore/N’Gazidja, Anjouan/Ndzuwani, and Mohéli/Mwali gained independence from France. The country’s capital is Moroni.
Due to volcanic activity, these islands rose from the bottom of the Indian Ocean. The active volcano in the country, Mount Karthala, is located in Grand Comore and has erupted over 12 times in the last 200 years.
Arab, Persian, Malagasy, and Bantu speaking groups are the first-known inhabitants of Comoros. Today, most Comorians are a mixture of Arabic, African, Malagasy, and French backgrounds, and the language, culture, and food reflect the Creolized nature of the people. Traditional women in Comoros adorn their faces with ground sandalwood and coral.
Twarab music is a popular art form in the country that originated in Zanzibar. Comorians use the Arab ud, and the violin in their Twarab music form.
This country has 3 official languages: Comorian, Arabic, and French. The indigenous Comorian language, spoken in different dialects, is called Shikomoro or Comorian and is a Swahili-related Bantu language that community members write in Arabic.
(Comorian woman. Image by David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons)Due to many people leaving the country to places like France, poverty is rampant in the country, as the ‘Brain Drain’ affects the country’s GDP and working-class population.
In 2019, Cyclone Kenneth ravaged the island, affecting about 25,000 people. Other environmental factors such as prolonged dry seasons are negatively affecting the island. Less than 50% of Comorians have access to clean drinking water.
Learn about Comoros life and cuisine here.
Works Cited
https://www.thegef.org/news/resilience-perfume-islands
https://www.britannica.com/place/Comoros
https://www.afdb.org/en/countries/east-africa/comoros
https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/comoros/overview
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Comorian-language
https://www.britannica.com/place/Comoros
https://worldmusiccentral.org/world-music-resources/musician-biographies/comorian-music/
