Page 6 - Comoros Report

The Republic of Comoros

Key Country indicators
Location

The Comoros is an archipelago in the Indian Population 788,000
Ocean at the northern part of the Mozambique
Country Profile
Channel. This archipelago is located between GDP US $ (billion) 0.5657
East African coast and the northern tip of GNI
Madagascar and is composed of four volcanic Total land area 1,900 km 2
The Republic of Comoros
islands, namely, the Grande Comoro, measuring Length of coastline 427 km
1,148 km , the Moheli measuring 290 km ,
2
2
Anjouan measuring 424km and Mayotte Exclusive Economic Zone 160,000 km 2
2
measuring 370 km2 and under the French Continental shelf km 2
administration. The country enjoys an EEZ of Mangrove 1.2 km 2
about 160,000 km and a coastline stretching 2
2
to over 427 kilometres (FAO, 2014). Coral reef 430 km
Marine protected area %0.3 of territorial
water

Source: (World Bank, 2017)
Comorian population stands at 788,000 inhabitants (World Bank, 2007) with the majority of the
population living below the poverty line. The Union of Comoros is one of the Small Island Developing
States (SIDS) with a GDP of US $ 565.7 million(source). Comoros mainly depends on cash crops for
agriculture, with main cash crops being vanilla, cloves, ylang-ylang and jasmine. It also relies heavily
on fishing for both food and as a means of employment.

Marine resources
Three types of coastal environment exists in Comoros. These includes sand beaches, mangrove
forests and rocky shores. The west coast of the Grande Comore, a volcanic island, very rocky limiting
accessibility. Some parts of Comore and Grande have sandy beaches contrasting sharply with the west
coast of Grande Comore (DNEF, 2010). These sandy beaches contribute significantly to the Comoros
economy through the tourism sector. However, the anthropogenic interference of natural environment,
for instance sand extraction, have resulted into the loss and degradation of these beaches.

Marine resources

Comoros’ coastal ecosystem consists of rocky shores (predominantly along the west coast of Grande
Comoro), sand beaches, coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove forest.

Mangrove forests

Comoros has about 120 ha of mangroves (FAO 2007). The south coast of the island of Moheli hosts
75 per cent of the mangrove forest resource, which are predominant in Damou and Mapiachingo.
Some also grow in the Grande Comore and Anjouan islands. There are seven species of mangrove
found in Comoros, namely, Ceriops togal, Heritiera, Lumnitzera, Sonneratia, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza,

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