Islam by country · Africa
Islam in Comoros: history and Muslim population data
Explore CoMPS research on the historical journey of Islam in Comoros, alongside population data and an interactive timeline.
Open Comoros in the interactive map
History of Islam in Comoros
The Union of the Comoros has an area 2,235 sq km consisting of three main islands: Njazidja (1,146 sq km) with half of the population and where the capital Moroni is located, Nzwani (424 sq km), and Mwali (290 sq km), with only 6% of the population. A map of these islands is presented in Figure 3.3.1. The French occupied the Islands in 1886 and gained their independence from France in 1975. Islam entered these islands early ninth century through Muslim traders from the Arabian Peninsula. By the eleventh century it became part of the Kilwa Muslim Sultanate. By 1497, and with the fall of the Kilwa Sultanate, each of the three main islands became an independent sultanate until they were all captured by the French. Almost all the population is Muslim: 100% up to 1966, and more than 99% after 1980. According to a 2012 DHS, 0.72 million or 99.2% of the total population is Muslim.
Thus, assuming that this percentage remains fixed; then the Muslim population is expected to reach 1.2 million by 2050 and 1.6 million by 2100.
Historical Muslim population dataset for Comoros
The figures below are from the CoMPS historical dataset. Population values are expressed in thousands; 2100 is a modelled projection, not a present-day count.
| Year | Total population (thousands) | Muslim population (thousands) | Muslim share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 67.00 | 67.00 | 100.00% |
| 2000 | 531.4 | 526.1 | 99.00% |
| 2100 | 1,570 | 1,565 | 99.69% |
For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.