Coelacanth - Comoros

The Comoros consists of three primary islands: Ngazidja, Mwali, and Nzwani. The island of Mayotte, also part of the Comoros archipelago, is under French administration, but claimed by the Comoros. In a recent referendum, the people of Mayotte voted overwhelmingly to retain their status within the French community.

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Latimeria chalumnae - The fossils records available from the Devonian period depict various species of coelacanth ranging from 15 to 152 centimeters in length. It was thought the coelacanth was extinct because a lack of fossil evidence dating it later than the Cretaceous period could not be found. In 1938, a live specimen closely resembling its ancient relative was recovered and has focused new attention onto this living fossil. The current status of the fish has placed it on the critically endangered list.

Humboldt's Vanilla - Comoros

Vanilla Humboltii - The Humboldt’s vanilla is an orchid native to the northern region of Madagascar and the nearby island chain of the Comoros. The plant is an epiphyte and is usually found growing in rocky terrains at elevations less than 200 meters. The Humboldt’s vanilla plant grows to heights of about 14 centimeters. There are more than 100 species within the genus of vanilla orchids, a genus distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

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Until the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Comoros served as an important provisioning station for ships passing through the Mozambique Channel as they sailed from Europe to Asia. The earliest inhabitants of Comoros came from Africa and consisted of Arabs, Bantu speaking people, and the Shirazi, a sub-group of the Swahili people. The Portuguese, Dutch, and British had an interest in the island, but it was the French who held Comoros as a colony until independence was granted in 1975.

Historical Flags of Afrcia

The flag for the Federal and Islamic Republic of the Comoros was used from 1996 until 2001. Since becoming independent from France in 1975, the flags of the Comoros have featured the crescent and four stars. The stars represent the number of island’s in the Comoros Archipelago. The Congo Free State existed from 1885 until 1908, and was under the private control of Belgium’s King Leopold II through an agreement reached during the 1884-1885 Berlin Conference. In 1908, the territory was administrated directly by the government of Belgium. The Ethiopian flag of 1897 featured a lion wearing a crown and carrying a staff with a cross finial. The design was changed in 1974 after the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie. Rwanda achieved independence from Belgium in 1962 and adopted a tricolor with a large “R” to distinguish it from Guinea’s flag.  A new flag was introduced in 2011 following a brutal civil war.