The four major islands: Ngazidja, Mwali, Nzwani, and Mayotte (Maore), are of varying age with distinct topograhical characteristics. Mayotte, the oldest of the islands, is closest to Madagascar and is highly eroded with slow, meandering streams. Ngazidja, the youngest of the islands is closest to Africa and has a massive, active volcano.

THE KARTHALA VOLCANO

The islands became a French colony following the Berlin conference of the 1880s.

Three of the islands: Ngazidja, Mwali, and Nzuwani, took independence from France in 1975 and became the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoro Islands. (This name changed, today the new name is UNION OF THE COMOROS)

The fourth major island of the archipelago, Mayotte (Maore), continues to be administered by France although it is claimed by the Comoro Republic. This claim has been recognized by the United Nations General Assembly. In 1997, separatists on Nzwani and Mwali declared these islands to be independent from the Republic but this status has not been recognized and is being contested today.

The Comoro Islands are an sarchipelago of four islands and several islets located in the western Indian Ocean about ten to twelve degrees south of the Equator and less than 200 miles off the East African coast. They lie approximately halfway between Madagascar and northern Mozambique at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel. The archipelago is the result of volcanic action along a fissure in the seabed running west-northwest to east-southeast. The total area of the four islands is 785 square miles (2,034 square kilometers).

The four major islands are Ngazidja, Mwali, Nzuwani, and Mayotte (Maoré). Ngazidja is the largest and the youngest island in the archipelago. It is the most westerly of the islands, lying 188 miles from Mozambique. Ngazidja has an active volcano that rises to a height of 7,746 feet (2,361 meters) above sea level. Mwali, 28 miles south-southeast of Ngazidja, is the smallest of the islands with a central mountain range that rises 2,556 feet (790 meters) above sea level. Nzuwani lies about twenty-five miles easterly of Mwali, has a central peak that rises 5,072 feet (1,575 meters) above sea level. It also has several swift running streams that cascade down to long, sandy beaches. Forty-four miles to the southeast of Nzwani is Mayotte (Maore), the oldest of the islands. It is almost surrounded by a barrier reef and is fairly flat with slow meandering streams and mangrove swamps.

Referred to by the French as Grande Comore, Ngazidja is the site of Moroni, the capital city of the Republic, and is the largest of the islands in the Comoro archipelago. It has an area of 442 square miles (1,146 square kilometers). The northern two-thirds of the island are dominated by a rocky plain known as La Grille. The southern third of the island is dominated by an active volcano, Karthala, which stands over 7700 feet (2361 meters) high. Karthala's crater is nearly a mile in diameter, making it the largest active crater in the world. Since 1857 there have been over a dozen eruptions with lava flows; the most extensive was that of 1918. The most recent serious eruption was in 1977.
The island's over 200,000 inhabitants are predominantly descended from Arab and African ancestors. Agriculture on the island is generally limited to areas lower than 2,000 feet in altitude. Above this altitude is the remnants of a dense tropical forest (in the south) and an area of grassy plain (in the center and north).
European sailing ships stopped for provisions at Ngazidja as early as 1570 when the island was ruled by 12 sultans. Although each was independent of the others, they generally recognized a principal sultan, whose rights and responsibilities were primarily conciliatory in inter-regional disputes, and accorded him or her the title of Sultan Thibe. There was frequent conflict over the right to use this title, especially after the Europeans appeared on the scene, as these latter generally assumed that the title indicated sovereignty over the entire island.
The best documented of the conflicts between sultans is the long and complicated struggle between the rulers of the towns of Bambao and Itsandra during the nineteenth century.This eventually led to the establishment of a French protectorate over the island and the ceding of Ngazidja to France.

The names of the islands and of the capital city in the Comoros, Moroni, has raised interest among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the Book of Mormon there is reference to the angel Moroni, son of Mormon, and to the hill, Cumorah. They play central roles in the Book of Mormon and there is some question about the possible relationship between these names in the Book of Mormon and those in the Indian Ocean.
The name of the town in the Comoros and the name of the islands themselves predate Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. 'Moroni' has a meaning in the local language, viz. "at the place of fire." It is constructed of the root 'moro,' which means "fire" or "heat" and the locative '-ni,' which means "at the place of" or "in." This is a logical name constructed from the morphemes of the language reflecting the fact that the community is located at the base of an immense, active volcano. Likewise, the name 'Comoro' has a meaning. It is composed of an old Swahili locative 'ko-' and the word 'moro.' It's meaning is also "the place of fire."
Whether the relationship between the terms in the Book of Mormon and the names in the islands is coincidental or there is some historical relationship between the two is uncertain at present. It is possible that Joseph Smith had heard of Moroni and the Comoro Islands since numbers of American whaling ships had visited the islands in the early part of the nineteenth century and their names were probably known throughout the northeastern United States at the time Smith had his vision.

Mwali is the smallest of the islands in the Comoro archipelago. Referred to by the French as Moheli, it has an area of 81 square miles (211 square kilometers). The island has rich soil, magnificent forests and fine pasture lands. The valleys and slopes of the island are covered with coconut trees, coffee trees, cacao and ylang-ylang trees, and a wide variety of crops. Three small islets on the south side of the island near the harbor of Nioumachoua provide a natural sheltering place for sailing ships during inclement weather. In the past, one of these islands--Shisiwa Unefu--was used as a leper colony. With a population of approximately 30,000, Mwali is the least densely populated (370 inhabitants per square mile) of the four islands. In September 1997, a group of secessionists declared the island independent of the Comoro Republic but this claim has been rejected by the Republic.

Referred to by the French as Anjouan and by early English visitors as Johanna, Nzwani has been called the "pearl" of the Indian Ocean. With forested hillsides and rivers tumbling to the sea it is a beautiful island. It is essentially a triangle with approximately 50 kilometers on each side and a total area of 164 square miles (424 square kilometers).
With a population of more than 210,000 people it is the most densely populated island in the Comoro archipelago (over 1,280 persons per square mile). Most live in small communities found throughout the island. The major towns are Mutsamudu on the western side of the island and Domoni on the eastern shore. Mutsamudu is the present capital and site of the seaport for the island. Domoni is an ancient capital and seaport. Other ancient communities are Sima and Ouani.
Its volcanic peak, Mount Ntingi, 1,575 meters high, is covered with vegetation, including large ferns, tropical mahoganies, and wild orchids, in contrast with the three points of the triangle, which are less luxuriant due to centuries of cultivation. Nzuwani is the premiere producer of essential oils including ylang-ylang, jasmine, cassis, basilic, palmarosa, and orange flower.
Arabic-style sultanates developed in Nzwani as early as the sixteenth century with different areas of the island first ruled by chiefs known as Fani. Later, the chiefs were involved in conflicts and appealed to Europeans to intercede on their behalf. Eventually, in 1886, the island became a French protectorate and was formally annexed by France to its possessions in 1909.
In 1975, Nzuwani was one of the three islands to make up the newly formed independent republic of the Comoro Islands. The first president of the independent country, Ahmed Abdallah, was from Nzuwani and his shrine is in his hometown of Domoni, the ancient walled community on the east coast of the island. The third president, Said Mohamed Djohar, was also a resident of Domoni and a schoolmate of Ahmed Abdallah. Presently, there is an active secessionist movement on the island that declared, in 1997, the Island's independence from the Comoro Republic and hopes to reattach the island to France, like Mayotte.
Mayotte, also known by its Comorian name, Maore (or Mahore), is closest to the island of Madagascar and is geologically the oldest of the Comoro Islands. It is the most eroded and has slow moving, muddy streams. The island, along with several satellite islets, is surounded by a coral reef which is about a mile wide. Only two passages permit the entrance of large ships, thus providing a secure harbor. With an overall size of 144 square miles (374 square kilometers), it has a population of more than 35,000 inhabitants. Largely agricultural, the island produces more than 3,000 hectares (8,000 acres) of sugar cane. Vanilla, ylang-ylang, cloves, copra, and cinnamon are also produced. In recent years, Mayotte has produced the majority of the archipelago's cinnamon. A particular variety of fragrant dry rice is also grown and cattle production is an important part of its economy.
Mayotte's towns are quite different from those of the other islands. There are few of the walled cities with narrow, winding streets between multistoried stone houses found commonly on the other islands. Instead, towns are primarily comprised of wattle-and-daub or tressed coconut-frond huts ranged along wide, open streets. The architecture is more reminiscent of Madagascar than the other Comoro islands, testimony to the historical relationships between the island and Madagascar.
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to see Mayotte, having sailed to the island in the early years of the sixteenth century. Soon after, in 1595, an Englishman landed on the island, but it was the French who became the dominant European influence. Mayotte was the first of the Comoro islands to become a protectorate of France. In 1841 the Sakalava king Andriantsouli, who had declared himself sultan of Mayotte, ceded it to the French in exchange for an annual rent of 5,000 francs and the French education of his two sons. It is an administrative territory of France today.
Click here for current weather conditions at Dzaoudzi, Mayotte.