View source for Demographics of the Comoros

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{{Infobox place demographics|place=[[the Comoros]]|image=File:Comoros single age population pyramid 2020.png|image_size=350|caption=Population pyramid of the Comoros in 2020|size_of_population=876,437 (2022 est.)|nation=Comorian|official=Arabic, French, Shikomoro|age_0–14_years=36.68%|age_65_years=4.08%|growth=1.37% (2022 est.)|birth=22.52 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)|death=6.55 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)|net_migration=-2.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)|sr_at_birth=1.03 male(s)/female|sr_under_15=1 male(s)/female|sr_65_years_over=0.76 male(s)/female|total_mf_ratio=0.94 male(s)/female (2022 est.)|infant_mortality=57.1 deaths/1,000 live births|life=67.2 years|life_male=64.93 years|life_female=69.54 years|fertility=2.78 children born/woman (2022 est.)}}{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2025}}[[File:Comoros Population 1950-2021 Forecast 2022-2032 UN World Population Prospects 2022.svg|thumb|350px|[[Population]], [[fertility rate]] and [[net reproduction rate]], United Nations estimates]]
The [[Comoros|Comorians]] ({{langx|ar|القمري}}) inhabiting [[Grande Comore]], [[Anjouan]], and [[Mohéli]] (86% of the population) share African-Arab origins. [[Islam]] is the dominant religion, and [[Quranic school]]s for children reinforce its influence. Although Islamic culture is firmly established throughout, a small minority are [[Christians|Christian]].

The most common language is [[Comorian language|Comorian]], related to [[Swahili language|Swahili]]. [[French language|French]] and [[Arabic]] also are spoken. About 89% of the population is [[literate]].

The Comoros have had eight censuses since World War II:<ref>{{Cite web|title=Comoros population statistics|publisher=GeoHive|url=http://www.geohive.com/cntry/comoros.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610165225/http://www.geohive.com/cntry/comoros.aspx|archive-date=10 June 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Population census of the Comoro Islands, 1951, 1956 and 1958|publisher=Research Publications|location=New Haven, Connecticut|type=mircofilm|year=1977|oclc=3659638}}</ref>
* 1951
* 1956
* 7 September 1958: 183,133
* 6 July 1966<ref>{{Cite book|title=Recensement de la population des Comores 1966: résultats par village, sexe et groupe d'âge|author=Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques|year=1966|publisher=Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques|location=Paris|oclc=13015378}}</ref>
* 15 September 1980: 335,150
* 15 September 1991: 446,817
* 15 September 2003: 575,660
* 15 December 2017: 758,316

The official estimate as of 1 July 2020 is 897,219.<ref>Institut Nationale de la Statistique et Etudes Economiques et Démographiques, Comoros (web).</ref>

[[Population density]] figures conceal a great disparity between the republic's most crowded island, [[Anjouan]], which had a density of 772 persons per square kilometer in 2017; [[Grande Comore]], which had a density of 331 persons per square kilometer in 2017; and [[Mohéli]], where the 2017 population density figure was 178 persons per square kilometer. 
By comparison, estimates of the population density per square kilometer of the Indian Ocean's other island microstates ranged from 241 ([[Seychelles]]) to 690 ([[Maldives]]) in 1993. Given the rugged terrain of Grande Comore and Anjouan, and the dedication of extensive tracts to agriculture on all three islands, population pressures on the Comoros are becoming increasingly critical.

The age structure of the population of the Comoros is similar to that of many developing countries, in that the republic has a very large proportion of young people. In 1989, 46.4 percent of the population was under fifteen years of age, an above-average proportion even for [[sub-Saharan Africa]]. The population's rate of growth was a relatively high 3.5 percent per annum in the mid-1980s, up substantially from 2.0 percent in the mid-1970s and 2.1 percent in the mid-1960s.

In 1983 the Abdallah regime borrowed US$2.85 million from the [[International Development Association]] to devise a national [[family planning]] program. However, Islamic reservations about [[contraception]] made forthright advocacy and implementation of [[birth control]] programs politically hazardous, and consequently little was done in the way of public policy.

The Comorian population has become increasingly [[urbanisation|urbanized]] in recent years. In 1991 the percentage of Comorians residing in cities and towns of more than 5,000 persons was about 30 percent, up from 25 percent in 1985 and 23 percent in 1980. The Comoros' largest cities were the capital, [[Moroni, Comoros|Moroni]], with about 30,000 people, and the port city of [[Mutsamudu]], on the island of Anjouan, with about 20,000 people.

Migration among the various islands is important. Natives of Anjouan have settled in significant numbers on less crowded [[Mohéli]], causing social tensions, and many Anjouan also migrate to [[Mayotte]], a [[Overseas France|French territory]]. In 1977 Mayotte, then called Maori, expelled peasants from Grande Comore and Anjouan who had recently settled in large numbers on the island. Some were allowed to reenter starting in 1981 but solely as migrant labor.

The number of Comorians living abroad has been estimated at between 80,000 and 100,000; during the colonial period, most of them lived in [[Tanzania]], [[Madagascar]], and other parts of [[Southeast Africa]]. The number of Comorians residing in Madagascar was drastically reduced after anti-Comorian rioting in December 1976 in [[Mahajanga]], in which at least 1,400 Comorians were killed. As many as 17,000 Comorians left Madagascar to seek refuge in their native land in 1977 alone. About 100,000 Comorians live in France; many of them had gone there for a university education and never returned. Small numbers of [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|Indians]], [[Malagasy people|Malagasy]], [[South Africa]]ns, and Europeans (mostly [[French people|French]]) live on the islands and play an important role in the economy. Most French left after independence in 1975.

Some [[Persian Gulf]] countries started buying Comorian [[citizenship]] for their [[Statelessness|stateless]] [[Bedoon]] residents and deporting them to Comoros.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://icfuae.org.uk/research-and-publications/stateless-and-sale-gulf|title = Stateless and for Sale in the Gulf|date = 11 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stepfeed.com/kuwait-trying-to-sell-its-bidoon-population-to-comoros-3979|title = Kuwait trying to sell its Bidoon population to Comoros|date = 20 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/11/the-bizarre-scheme-to-transform-a-remote-island-into-new-dubai-comoros|title = The bizarre scheme to transform a remote island into the new Dubai &#124; Atossa Araxia Abrahamian| website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |date = 11 November 2015}}</ref>

==Population==
[[Image:Comoros-demography.png|thumb|right|Demographics of the Comoros, Data of [[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]], year 2005; Number of inhabitants in thousands.]]

===UN population projections===
{{Bar chart
| title       = UN medium variant projections<ref>{{cite web|url=http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Excel-Data/population.htm |title=World Population Prospects, the 2010 Revision |publisher=Esa.un.org |date=2011-06-28 |access-date=2011-12-21}}</ref>
| label_type  = Year
| data_type   = Population
| data_max    = 2,000,000
|label1= 2010	|data1= 734,750
|label2= 2015	|data2= 832,400
|label3= 2020	|data3= 933,330
|label4= 2025	|data4= 1,041,150
|label5= 2030	|data5= 1,160,260
|label6= 2035	|data6= 1,290,200
|label7= 2040	|data7= 1,425,970
|label8= 2045	|data8= 1,562,910
|label9= 2050	|data9= 1,700,130
}}

==Vital statistics==
Statistics {{as of|2010|lc=y}}:<ref>[http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110506065230/http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm |date=May 6, 2011 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|-
! width=100|Period
! width=100|Live births per year
! width=100|Deaths per year
! width=100|Natural change per year
! width=50|CBR*
! width=50|CDR*
! width=50|NC*
! width=50|TFR*
! width=50|IMR*
|-
| 1950–1955 || 8 000|| 4 000|| 4 000||46.8||24.0||22.8||6.00||178
|-
| 1955–1960 || 9 000|| 4 000|| 5 000||48.9||22.9||26.0||6.60||167
|-
| 1960–1965 || 10 000|| 4 000|| 6 000||48.0||20.8||27.2||6.91||154
|-
| 1965–1970 || 11 000|| 4 000|| 6 000||46.8||18.9||27.9||7.05||141
|-
| 1970–1975 || 12 000|| 4 000|| 8 000||46.8||16.9||29.8||7.05||127
|-
| 1975–1980 || 14 000|| 5 000|| 10 000||47.9||15.6||32.3||7.05||116
|-
| 1980–1985 || 17 000|| 5 000|| 12 000||48.6||14.3||34.4||7.05||106
|-
| 1985–1990 || 16 000|| 5 000|| 11 000||39.6||12.1||27.5||6.00||95
|-
| 1990–1995 || 17 000|| 5 000|| 12 000||36.6||11.0||25.6||5.30||89
|-
| 1995–2000 || 20 000|| 6 000|| 15 000||38.6||10.6||28.0||5.30||83
|-
| 2000–2005 || 24 000|| 6 000|| 18 000||40.2||10.1||30.0||5.30||78
|-
| 2005–2010 || 27 000|| 7 000|| 20 000||39.0||9.4||29.5||5.08||72
|-
|align="left" colspan="9" | * <small> CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)</small>
|}

===Demographic and Health Surveys===
[[Total fertility rate|Total Fertility Rate]] (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and [[Birth rate|Crude Birth Rate]] (CBR):<ref>{{cite web|url=http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/dhs#_r=&collection=&country=&dtype=&from=1890&page=4&ps=&sk=&sort_by=nation&sort_order=&to=2014&topic=&view=s&vk=|title=MEASURE DHS: Demographic and Health Surveys|website=microdata.worldbank.org}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan=2| Year
! colspan=2| Total
! colspan=2| Urban
! colspan=2| Rural
|-
! CBR !! TFR
! CBR !! TFR
! CBR !! TFR
|-
| 1996
| style="text-align:right;"| 33.9
| style="text-align:right;"| 5.1 (3.7)
| style="text-align:right;"| 28.9
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.1 (3.1)
| style="text-align:right;"| 35.8
| style="text-align:right;"| 5.5 (4.0)
|-
| 2012
| style="text-align:right;"| 32.3 
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.3 (3.2)
| style="text-align:right;"| 27.7
| style="text-align:right;"| 3.5 (2.5)
| style="text-align:right;"| 34.5
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.8 (3.5)
|-
|}

Structure of the population (DHS 2012) (Males 11 088, Females 12 284 = 23 373) :
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="80pt"|Age Group
! width="80pt"|Male (%)
! width="80pt"|Female (%)
! width="80pt"|Total (%)
|-
| align="right" | 0–4
| align="right" | 15.5
| align="right" | 13.6
| align="right" | 14.5
|-
| align="right" | 5–9
| align="right" | 15.0
| align="right" | 13.8
| align="right" | 14.4
|-
| align="right" | 10–14
| align="right" | 13.9
| align="right" | 11.8
| align="right" | 12.8
|-
| align="right" | 15–19
| align="right" | 10.1
| align="right" | 11.2
| align="right" | 10.7
|-
| align="right" | 20–24
| align="right" | 6.8
| align="right" | 8.6
| align="right" | 7.8
|-
| align="right" | 25–29
| align="right" | 5.4
| align="right" | 7.8
| align="right" | 6.7
|-
| align="right" | 30–34
| align="right" | 5.8
| align="right" | 6.5
| align="right" | 6.2
|-
| align="right" | 35–39
| align="right" | 6.0
| align="right" | 5.4
| align="right" | 5.7
|-
| align="right" | 40–44
| align="right" | 4.5
| align="right" | 4.0
| align="right" | 4.2
|-
| align="right" | 45–49
| align="right" | 3.2
| align="right" | 2.5
| align="right" | 2.9
|-
| align="right" | 50–54
| align="right" | 2.9
| align="right" | 4.9
| align="right" | 3.9
|-
| align="right" | 55–59
| align="right" | 1.7
| align="right" | 2.2
| align="right" | 2.0
|-
| align="right" | 60–64
| align="right" | 3.3
| align="right" | 2.6
| align="right" | 2.9
|-
| align="right" | 65–69
| align="right" | 1.5
| align="right" | 1.3
| align="right" | 1.4
|-
| align="right" | 70–74
| align="right" | 2.3
| align="right" | 1.7
| align="right" | 2.0
|-
| align="right" | 75–79
| align="right" | 0.8
| align="right" | 0.8
| align="right" | 0.8
|-
| align="right" | 80+
| align="right" | 1.2
| align="right" | 1.3
| align="right" | 1.3
|-
| align="right" | Unknown
| align="right" | 0.1
| align="right" | 0.1
| align="right" | 0.1
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="50"|Age group 
! width="80pt"|Male (%)
! width="80"|Female (%)
! width="80"|Total (%)
|-
| align="right" | 0–14
| align="right" | 44.4
| align="right" | 39.2
| align="right" | 41.7
|-
| align="right" | 15–64
| align="right" | 49.7
| align="right" | 55.6
| align="right" | 52.7
|-
| align="right" | 65+
| align="right" | 5.8
| align="right" | 5.1
| align="right" | 5.5
|-
|}

Fertility data as of 2012 (DHS Program):<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR278/FR278.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140711002016/http://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR278/FR278.pdf |archive-date=2014-07-11 |url-status=live|title=Enquête Démographique et de Santé et à Indicateurs Multiples (EDSC-MICS II) 2012|website=Dhsprogram.com|access-date=7 November 2017}}
</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! style="width:100pt;"| Region
! style="width:100pt;"| Total fertility rate
! style="width:100pt;"| Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant
! style="width:100pt;"| Mean number of children ever born to women age 40–49
|-
| [[Mohéli]] || 5.0 || 6.8 || 6.3
|-
| [[Anjouan]] || 5.2 || 6.7 || 5.8
|-
| [[Grande Comore]] || 3.5 || 6.5 || 4.6
|}

==Languages==
{{main|Languages of the Comoros}}
:[[Arabic language|Arabic]] (official), [[French language|French]] (official), [[Comorian language|Comorian]] (official)<ref name="CIATONGA">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/comoros/|title=Africa :: COMOROS|date=6 December 2023 |publisher=CIA The World Factbook}}</ref>

==Religion==
Sunni Muslim 98%, other (including Shia Muslim, Roman Catholic, Jehovah's Witness, Protestant) 2%
note: Sunni Islam is the state religion

==See also==
* [[Demographics of Mayotte]]
* [[Islam in the Comoros]]

==References==
{{Commons category|Demographics of the Comoros}}
{{Reflist}}

'''Attribution:'''
{{CIA World Factbook|year=2006}}
{{country study|title=Indian Ocean : five island countries|abbr=km}}

{{Comoros topics}}
{{Africa in topic|Demographics of}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demographics Of Comoros}}
[[Category:Demographics of the Comoros| ]]
[[Category:Society of the Comoros]]