Union des Comores (French)

Political Status: Former French dependency; proclaimed independent July 6, 1975; Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros proclaimed in constitution approved by national referendum on October 1, 1978; constitution of October 20, 1996, suspended following military coup of April 30, 1999; new constitution providing for the Union of the Comoros adopted by national referendum on December 23, 2001.

Area: 718 sq. mi. (1,860 sq. km.), excluding the island of Mahoré (Mayotte), which voted in 1976 to retain its affiliation with France as a “Territorial Collectivity” and is now classified as a French “Overseas Collectivity.”

Population: 576,660 (2003C), excluding residents of Mahoré; 843,000 (2007E), excluding Mahoré. The 2003 figure appears to reflect either substantial underenumeration or an absence of returns from Anjoan.

Major Urban ...