The governorate of Mwali
Fomboni
The smallest island of the Union is run by an elected governor based in Fomboni. It has six municipalities.
Mwali · Union of the Comoros
Public life & institutions: Mohéli
The smallest island of the Union has made nature conservation a collective affair: a national park co-managed with the villages, ecotourism associations and respected notables.
On Mohéli, official institutions and customary organisation constantly overlap: the marine reserves of the national park are managed with the villages, and matrilineal “houses” structure social life.
On Mohéli
Public authorities
Custom & notables
Halves of the island and matrilineal houses
The whole island
Mohélian society is divided between two halves, mdjaume and mdjawashe, and matrilineal “houses” (madzuwe), which measure themselves against one another in ceremonial exchanges: meals, gifts, grand marriages. Notables who have completed these stages carry great weight. Read: The sentinels of Djando.
Environment
Mohéli National Park
Nioumachoua
Created on 19 April 2001, the first protected area in the Comoros, the park was negotiated with the villages: ten marine reserves within it are managed together with the communities. Extended in 2015 to three quarters of the island's land, it earned Mohéli recognition as a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 2020.
ADSEI in Itsamia
Itsamia
Founded in 1991 by the villagers, the Itsamia Association for Socio-Economic Development protects the turtle nesting beaches, trains guides and runs bungalows: a model of community ecotourism.
Sport
Fomboni Club
Fomboni
Several times champion of the Comoros, Fomboni Club carries the colours of Mwali in the national final stage, against the clubs of the two larger islands.
Across the Union of the Comoros
These institutions are based on Grande Comore but also serve Anjouan and Mohéli.
Public authorities
The President of the Union
Beit-Salam Palace, Moroni
Elected by universal suffrage for five years, the president is both head of state and head of government. The constitutional revision approved by referendum on 30 July 2018 (92.7% “yes”) abolished the three vice-presidencies, one per island, and adjusted the rotating presidency introduced in 2001: the president may now serve two consecutive terms.
The Assembly of the Union
Moroni
The Parliament of the Comoros has a single chamber. Its deputies are elected in constituencies on the three islands; the 2018 Constitution also provides for representation of Comorians living abroad. It passes the laws and the budget of the Union.
The Central Bank of the Comoros
Moroni
It issues the Comorian franc, whose parity with the euro is fixed (€1 = 491.96775 KMF) thanks to a monetary cooperation agreement with France. A welcome stability for travellers as for the families who receive money from the diaspora.
Justice
The Supreme Court
Moroni
The highest court of the Union. Since 2018, a constitutional and electoral section has taken over the powers of the former Constitutional Court: it proclaims election results and rules on whether laws comply with the Constitution.
Religious authorities
The Grand Mufti and the Council of Ulema
Moroni
Sunni Islam, of the Shafi'i school, is the state religion. Appointed by the president, the Grand Mufti is the highest religious authority and advises the government on the practice of Islam. With the Council of Ulema, the Grand Mufti publishes, among other things, the guidelines for the month of Ramadan each year.
Knowledge, culture & media
The University of the Comoros
Mvouni, near Moroni
Founded in 2003, it has its headquarters in Mvouni and university centres in Patsy, on Anjouan (opened in 2009), and on Mohéli (Fomboni and Wanani). Many Comorian students also continue their studies abroad.
The CNDRS
Moroni
The National Centre for Documentation and Scientific Research, founded in 1979, brings together the National Museum, the National Archives and Library, the Karthala volcano observatory and research laboratories (oral traditions, archaeology, Arab-Muslim civilisation). It is the country's scholarly memory.
Al-Watwan and the ORTC
Moroni
Founded in 1985, Al-Watwan is the state newspaper; the Comoros Radio and Television Office (ORTC) broadcasts in Comorian, French and Arabic. Newspapers, private radio stations and online media, often run from the diaspora, complete the landscape.
Sport
The Football Federation and the Coelacanths
Malouzini multi-sports stadium, near Iconi
The national team, nicknamed the Coelacanths, pulled off a feat at AFCON 2021 in Cameroon: a 3–2 win against Ghana and qualification for the round of 16, lost 2–1 to the host nation with an outfield player in goal. It then qualified unbeaten for AFCON 2025 in Morocco, where it was knocked out in the first round with two draws and a defeat by the host nation. Each island has its own championship; the best clubs meet in the national final stage. International matches are played at the Malouzini stadium (about 10,700 seats), opened in 2019. Source: Foot Africa, final group standings at AFCON 2025 and beIN Sports, 26 December 2025 (accessed 18/10/2026).
Associations & civil society
Village associations and the diaspora
In every village, and in France
Almost every village has its association, in the Comoros and in France, where many Comorians live, especially in Marseille and the Paris region. They fund schools, mosques, water supply, roads and clinics, and carry weight in village decisions. Village sports and cultural associations also organise tournaments and festivities.
Throughout the archipelago
Religious authorities
The Sufi brotherhoods
Zawiyas in towns and villages
Established mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries — the Shadhiliyya, the most widespread, marked by the figure of Sheikh Saïd Mohamed al-Maarouf, the Qadiriyya, the Rifa'iyya, then others — the brotherhoods set the rhythm of religious life: dhikr, maoulida, gatherings in the zawiyas, often built around a master's tomb. Their sheikhs are listened to well beyond the circle of followers.
Fundi, imams and Koranic schools
In every village
The fundi teaches the Koran to children from a very young age, before or alongside state school. Imams and scholars, consulted on marriages, inheritances and disputes, are highly respected figures on all four islands.
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Further reading
- Outside view UNESCO, Réserve de biosphère de Mwali (programme MAB), 2020.
- Outside view Sophie Blanchy et Haddad Salim Djabir, Construction et contestation des hiérarchies dans les échanges cérémoniels aux Comores (île de Mohéli), 2021. L'Homme, no. 238, pp. 101–140.
- Voices of the archipelago Union des Comores, Constitution de l'Union des Comores, révisée par le référendum du 30 juillet 2018, 2018.
- Outside view CAGF et FORIM, Étude sur la diaspora comorienne en France.
- Voices of the archipelago Damir Ben Ali, Histoire de la pratique de l'islam aux Comores. the author's online text.