Comorians. They share African-Arab origins. *Photo from Wikipedia
July 6 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Comoros from France in 1975.
The first human inhabitants of the Comoro Islands are thought to have been Arab, African and Austronesian settlers who traveled to the islands by boat.
Portuguese explorers first visited the archipelago in 1503. The islands provided provisions to the Portuguese fort at Mozambique throughout the 16th century.
France first established colonial rule in the Comoros in 1841. The Comoros served as a way station for merchants sailing to the Far East and India until the opening of the Suez Canal significantly reduced traffic passing through the Mozambique Channel. In 1912 the colony and the protectorates were abolished and the islands became a province of the colony of Madagascar.
Agreement was reached with France in 1973 for the Comoros to become independent in 1978. On July 6, 1975, however, the Comorian parliament passed a unilateral resolution declaring independence.
The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is a sovereign archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel off the eastern coast of Africa between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar.
*Reference: Wikipedia
