The Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country in the Indian Ocean, at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel off the eastern coast of Africa. It shares maritime borders with Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique and the Seychelles.

The name comes from Arabic “Juzur al Qamar” meaning “Islands of the Moon”, commonly known as the Rerfume Isles due to their fragrant plant life, particularly that of the ylang-ylang flower. There are four main islands; Grande Comore, Moheli, Anjouan and Mayotte.

Mohéli National Park was the first protected area in Comoros (2001). It includes several marine reserves, is co-managed by village communities and aims to conserve the rich biodiversity found in the region.

The flag of Comoros is made up of four horizontal stripes of yellow, white, red and blue, as well as a green triangle featuring a white crescent and four white stars. The four stripes and stars represent the four main islands while the green and crescent represent Islam.

The ‘extinct’ Coelacanth fish was rediscovered in Comoros in 1987. This ancient species, only known from fossils for the previous 65 million years live in deep waters in two isolated populations; Comoros & Sulawesi, Indonesia