World Country Comoros

About the world country Comoros, its location, size, population, and who is in power.

NATIONS OF THE WORLD

COMOROS

Location: Three islands in the western Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar--Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Moheli. Size: 693 sq. mi. (1,795 sq. km.). Population: 291,000.

Who Really Rules: The government of Ahmad Abdallah was placed in power by a 1978 coup led by French-born mercenary Bob Denard. Several of Denard's mercenaries remain in the Comoros to back up Abdallah's regime. Under the conservative leadership of Abdallah, the Comoros economy is a mixture of free enterprise, price controls, and subsistence agriculture. Mayotte, the predominantly Christian fourth island of the Comoros group, remains a French territory (called Mahore) as a result of a 1975 referendum.

Reportedly, in 1977 a witch doctor warned President Ali Soilah that he would be killed by a man with a dog, so Soilah ordered every dog in the capital city of Moroni slaughtered. A year later, when Denard overthrew Soilah, he was accompanied by an Alsatian mascot. Shortly thereafter, Soilah was killed by Denard's forces.