Posted
on July 6, 2014
Hip
hooray, today, in celebration of Comoros's 1975 independence from
France!
You
know the drill: speeches and family get-togethers, traditional music
and dance, and a lot of good food.
Well,
that's what the people of Comoros are busy doing today. The rest of
us can take the opportunity to learn a bit about this nation.
Okay,
where the heck is Comoros?
The
nation of Comoros is a chain of islands in the Indian Ocean, near
Africa and Madagascar. It is the third smallest African nation in
size and #52 out of 58 African countries in population. But when I
say this, I am leaving out a group of two islands and nearby islets;
this group of islands is referred to by the largest island's name:
Mayotte.
Why
would I leave out Mayotte? Because Mayotte is contested....
In
1973, leaders in Comoros reached an agreement with ministers of
France to gain independence in the next few years, and soon each of
the four major islands had referendum (a general election to get
voters' opinion on a single political question) about whether or not
to become independent of France.
On
Grand Comore, Moheli, and Anjouan, the people voted overwhelmingly
for independence.
But
on Mayotte, the people voted overwhelmingly to stick with France!
So
Mayotte remains an “overseas department” of France, although some
Comorans think it should be a part of their nation instead.
Would
it surprise you to learn that Comoros is one of the poorest nations
in the world, with a very unstable government, whereas Mayotte is
relatively prosperous? So perhaps you see why the people of Mayotte
are even more unlikely now to want to change their status than they
were in the 1970s. For example, in a 2009 referendum on the question,
more than 95% of the population voted to stick with France rather
than joining Comoros.
(I'm
not sure you could more than 95% of the U.S. population to agree to
anything—not even, perhaps, that the Earth is round!)
More
on Comoros...
Even
though Comoros is a really small nation, it is the second largest
producer of vanilla in the world, after Madagascar. And it is the
largest producer of ylang-ylang, which is used to make fragrant oils.
Comoros
offers some wonderful scuba diving and snorkeling, as the islands
have fringing reefs around them.
Also
on this date:
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ahead:
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