The Comoro Islands are an archipelago lying between Madagascar and the African continent. The main islands are Grande Comore, Anjouan, Mohéli and Mayotte. The islands are volcanic in origin.
Politically, the islands are divided into two entities:
- Comoros, a sovereign state
- Mayotte, an overseas collectivity of France
The islands and other features in the Archipelago are:
- Grande Comore, the largest island, with the capital of the Rep of Comoros, Moroni
- Anjouan, another island in the Comoros that has a strong separatist movement
- Moheli, like Anjouan, is part of the Comoros but would also like to secede
- Mayotte, an island under French administration
- Pamanzi, Mayotte's second-largest island. Supports Mayotte's only airport in Dzaoudzi
- Banc du Geyser, a submerged reef, the remains of what had been the fifth island in the Archipelago
- Banc du Leven, another submerged island, would have been the sixth island in the archipelago
- Banc Vailheu, north-west of Grande Comore, is within 7 m of the surface at low tide. It is quickly reaching surface point and may one day become a volcanic Island or drying sand cay.
- Arguably, the Glorioso islands, under French administration, are counted as being part of the archipelago. They were administered by the Comoros before 1975, and are therefore sometimes counted.
The Union of Comoros is recognized as including the three northernmost islands. Anjouan and Mohéli declared their independence in 1997, however these unilateral declarations of independence received no international recognition and were later rescinded.
Ngazidja is the youngest of the islands, and has a massive active volcano on it, which scientists are afraid will erupt in the near future.
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Last updated on Friday June 06, 2008 at 21:26:25 PDT (GMT -0700)
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