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moroni administrative divisions: 3 islands; grande comore (njazidja). anjouan (nzwani). and moheli (mwali); note - there are also four municipalities named domoni. fomboni. moroni. and moutsamoudou independence: 6 july 1975 (from france) national holiday: independence day. 6 july (1975) constitution: 23 december 2001 legal system: french and sharia (islamic) law in a new consolidated code suffrage: 18 years of age; universal executive branch: chief of state: president azali assoumani (since 26 may 2002); note - following a 1999 coup azali was appointed president; in january 2002 he resigned his position to run in the 14 april 2002 presidential elections; prime minister hamada madi bolero was appointed interim president until replaced again by azali in may 2002 when bolero was appointed minister of external defense and territorial security; the president is both the chief of state and the head of government head of government: president azali assoumani (since 26 may 2002); note - following a 1999 coup azali was appointed president; in january 2002 he resigned his position to run in the 14 april 2002 presidential elections; prime minister hamada madi bolero was appointed interim president until replaced again by azali in may 2002 when bolero was appointed minister of external defense and territorial security; the president is both the chief of state and the head of government cabinet: council of ministers appointed by the president elections: as defined by the 2001 constitution. the presidency rotates every four years among the elected presidents from the three main islands in the union; election last held 14 april 2002 (next to be held april 2006); prime minister appointed by the president; note - azali has not appointed a prime minister since he was sworn into office in may 2002 election results: president azali assoumani elected president with 75% of the vote legislative branch: unicameral assembly of the union (33 seats; 15 deputies are selected by the individual islands' local assemblies and the 18 by universal suffrage; deputies serve for five years); elections: last held 18 and 25 april 2004 (next to be held na 2009) election results: na judicial branch: supreme court or cour supremes (two members appointed by the president. two members elected by the federal assembly. one elected by the council of each island. and others are former presidents of the republic) political parties and leaders: forces pour l'action republicaine or far [col. abdourazak abdulhamid]; forum pour la redressement national or frn (alliance of 12 parties); front democratique or fd [moustoifa said cheikh]; front national pour la justice or fnj (islamic party in opposition) [ahmed rachid]; movement des citoyens pour la republique or mcr [mahamoud mradabi]; mouvement populaire anjouanais or mpa (anjouan separatist movement) [leader na]; mouvement pour la democratie et le progress or mdp-ngdc [abbas djoussouf]; movement pour le socialisme et la democratie or msd (splinter group of fd) [abdou soefou]; parti comorien pour la democratie et le progress or pcdp [ali mroudjae]; rassemblement national pour le development or rnd (party of the government) [omar tamou. abdoulhamid affraitane] political pressure groups and leaders: na international organization participation: acct. acp. afdb. amf. au. comesa. fao. fz. g-77. ibrd. icao. icct (signatory). icrm. ida. idb. ifad. ifc. ifrcs (observer). ilo. imf. imo. inoc. interpol. ioc. itu. las. nam. oic. opcw (signatory). un. unctad. unesco. unido. upu. wco. who. wipo. wmo diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador mahmoud m. aboud (ambassador to the us and canada and permanent representative to the un) chancery: (temporary) care of the permanent mission of the union of the comoros to the united nations. 420 east 50th street. new york. ny 10022 telephone: [1] (212) 972-8010 and 223-2711 fax: [1] (212) 983-4712 and 715-0699 diplomatic representation from the us: the us does not have an embassy in comoros; the ambassador to mauritius is accredited to comoros flag description: four equal horizontal bands of yellow (top). white. red. and blue with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist; centered within the triangle is a white crescent with the convex side facing the hoist and four white. five-pointed stars placed vertically in a line between the points of the crescent; the horizontal bands and the four stars represent the four main islands of the archipelago - mwali. njazidja. nzwani. and mayotte (a territorial collectivity of france. but claimed by comoros); the crescent. stars. and color green are traditional symbols of islam economy - overview: one of the world's poorest countries. comoros is made up of three islands that have inadequate transportation links. a young and rapidly increasing population. and few natural resources. the low educational level of the labor force contributes to a subsistence level of economic activity. high unemployment. and a heavy dependence on foreign grants and technical assistance. agriculture. including fishing. hunting. and forestry. contributes 40% to gdp. employs 80% of the labor force. and provides most of the exports. the country is not self-sufficient in food production; rice. the main staple. accounts for the bulk of imports. the government - which is hampered by internal political disputes - is struggling to upgrade education and technical training. privatize commercial and industrial enterprises. improve health services. diversify exports. promote tourism. and reduce the high population growth rate. increased foreign support is essential if the goal of 4% annual gdp growth is to be met. remittances from 150.000 comorans abroad help supplement gdp. gdp (purchasing power parity): $441 million (2002 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $402 million na (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 3% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $600 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 40% industry: 4% services: 56% (2001 est.) labor force: 144.500 (1996 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 80% unemployment rate: 20% (1996 est.) population below poverty line: 60% (2002 est.) household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: na highest 10%: na inflation rate (consumer prices): 3% (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $27.6 million expenditures: na. including capital expenditures of na (2001 est.) agriculture - products: vanilla. cloves. perfume essences. copra. coconuts. bananas. cassava (tapioca) industries: tourism. perfume distillation industrial production growth rate: -2% (1999 est.) electricity - production: 18 million kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 90.6% hydro: 9.4% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) electricity - consumption: 16.74 million kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 0 kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 0 kwh (2003) oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2003) oil - consumption: 700 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: na (2001) oil - imports: na (2001) exports: $34 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) exports - partners: us 43.8%. france 18.6%. singapore 16.5%. turkey 4.8%. germany 4.5% (2004) imports: $115 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) imports - partners: france 23.5%. south africa 11%. kenya 7.5%. uae 7.2%. italy 4.9%. pakistan 4.7%. mauritius 4.2%. singapore 4.1% (2004) debt - external: $232 million (2000 est.) economic aid - recipient: $24 million (2003 est.) currency (code): comoran franc (kmf) currency code: kmf exchange rates: comoran francs (kmf) per us dollar - na (2005). 396.21 (2004). 435.9 (2003). 522.74 (2002). 549.78 (2001) note: the comoran franc is pegged to the euro at a rate of 491.9677 comoran francs per euro fiscal year: calendar year telephones - main lines in use: 13.200 (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: 2.000 (2003) telephone system: general assessment: sparse system of microwave radio relay and hf radiotelephone communication stations domestic: hf radiotelephone communications and microwave radio relay international: country code - 269; hf radiotelephone communications to madagascar and reunion radio broadcast stations: am 1. fm 4. shortwave 1 (2001) radios: 90.000 (1997) television broadcast stations: na televisions: 1.000 (1997) internet country code: .km internet hosts: 11 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 1 (2000) internet users: 5.000 (2003) airports: 4 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 4 2.438 to 3.047 m: 1 914 to 1.523 m: 3 (2005 est.) roadways: total: 880 km paved: 673 km unpaved: 207 km (1999) merchant marine: total: 79 ships (1.000 grt or over) 452.801 grt/681.343 dwt by type: bulk carrier 9. cargo 55. chemical tanker 1. container 1. livestock carrier 1. passenger/cargo 1. petroleum tanker 5. refrigerated cargo 5. roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: 35 (bulgaria 1. germany 1. greece 7. india 1. jordan 1. kenya 1. lebanon 3. nigeria 1. norway 1. pakistan 1. philippines 1. russia 2. syria 3. turkey 6. ukraine 4. united kingdom 1) (2005) ports and terminals: mayotte. moutsamoudou military branches: comoran security force manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 138.940 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 98.792 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $11.6 million (2004) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 3% (2004) disputes - international: claims french-administered mayotte
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