This article describes Comoros island, which consist of three major island in the Comoros Archipelago and the geography.
The Comoro Islands or the Comoros are an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the southeastern coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and northwest of Madagascar. The islands are politically divided between the Union of the Comoros, a sovereign country, and Mayotte, an Overseas Department of France.
The Comoros is formed by Ngazidja (Grande Comore), Mwali (Mohéli) and Ndzwani (Anjouan), three major islands in the Comoros Archipelago, as well as many minor islets.
Read: POLITICAL HISTORY OF COMOROS
The islands are officially known by their Comorian language names, though international sources still use their French names (given in parentheses above). The capital and largest city, Moroni, is located on Ngazidja. The archipelago is situated in the Indian Ocean, in the Mozambique Channel, between the African coast (nearest to Mozambique and Tanzania) and Madagascar, with no land borders.
The constitution gives Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli the right to govern most of their own affairs with their own presidents, except the activities assigned to the Union of the Comoros like Foreign Policy, Defense, Nationality, Banking and others.
Geography
The Comoro Islands are located in the Mozambique Channel to the north-west of Madagascar and facing Mozambique. These volcanic islands, covering a total area of 2034 km2, are as follows:
Ngazidja (also known as Grande Comore): the largest island of the Union of the Comoros, with its capital Moroni
Ndzuwani (also known as Anjouan): part of the Union of the Comoros
Mwali (also known as Mohéli): part of the Union of the Comoros
Mayotte (also known as Maore): a French overseas department. Mayotte is composed of two islands, Grande-Terre and Petite-Terre (also known as Pamanzi). where the Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport is located.
The Glorioso Islands, comprising Grande Glorieuse, Île du Lys and eight little rock islets, were administratively attached to the archipelago before 1975, and, geologically speaking, form a part of the archipelago.
Notable reefs that are part of the archipelago are as follows:
Banc Vailheu, or Raya, a submerged volcano located 20 km west of Grand Comoro
Banc du Geyser, a reef measuring 8 by 5 km in area, situated 130 km North-East of Grande-Terre
Banc du Leven, a former island between Madagascar and Grande-Terre which is now submerged.