With white sand beaches and extensive coral reefs, the Comoros archipelago offers visitors a relaxing vacation. Activities from snorkeling to hiking await those looking for more excitement.
The Comoros Islands off the coast of southeastern Africa were very likely inhabited by Malayo-Polynesian sailors as early as the sixth century A.D. Arabs and Africans arrived later. For hundreds of years, the islands were a center for traffic in slaves and spices. Between the 10th and 15th centuries, people from the areas around the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf came to the islands and established Islam. These people set up rival sultanates and while no political stability or unity was achieved, Islam gave the people homogeneity and it has subsequently dominated all aspects of the islands' social life. The present culture of the Comoros is very similar to that of the Swahili people on the east African coast from Somalia to Mozambique.
Because of the competing sultanates on the islands, in the 19th century France was able to exploit the situation and establish a presence. In 1886 the Comoros became a French protectorate and in 1912 France officially colonized the islands. Since gaining independence in 1975, the Comoros has been wracked by 19 coups or attempted coups. Presidential elections were held most recently in 2006, bringing Ahmed Abdallah Sambi to power.