View source for Mohéli

{{Short description|Island in Comoros}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox settlement
| settlement_type    = Autonomous Island of the [[Union of the Comoros]]
| official_name      = Autonomous Island of Mohéli
| native_name        = ''{{lang|fr|Île Autonome de Mohéli}}''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://km.ambafrance.org/Information-Arrete-du-gouvernorat|title=Information : Arrêté du gouvernorat de l'île autonome de Mohéli|website=La France en Union des Comores}}</ref> <br/>''{{lang|swb|Mwali}}''<br/>{{lang|ar|جزيرة موهيلي المتمتعة بالحكم الذاتي}}
| name               = Mohéli
| image_flag         = Flag of Mohéli (official).svg
| image_coat         = 
| image_map          = Mohéli in Comoros.png
| map_caption        = Mohéli is the lowermost shown of the [[Comoros]] islands.
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = Comoros
| seat_type          = Capital
| seat               = [[Fomboni]]
| government_type    = [[Autonomous administrative division|Autonomous Island]] within a [[presidential republic]]
| leader_title       = [[Governor of Mohéli|Governor]]
| leader_name        = [[Chamina Ben Mohamed]]
| area_magnitude     = 
| area_total_km2     = 211
| area_water_percent = negligible
| elevation_m        = 790
| population_total   = 35,400
| population_as_of   = 2003
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_density_rank = 
| population_est     = 38,000
| pop_est_as_of      = 2006
| timezone           = [[East Africa Time|EAT]]
| utc_offset         = +03:00
| image_map1         = Mwali in Comoros (claims hatched).svg
| map_caption1       = Mohéli in the Comoros
}}

'''Mohéli''' {{IPA|fr|mɔ.e.li|}}, also known as '''Mwali''',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-the-Comoros-showing-the-islands-of-Ngazidja-Grande-Comore-Ndzuwani-Anjouan_fig1_273487529|title=Figure 1. Map of the Comoros showing the islands of Ngazidja (Grande...|website=ResearchGate|language=en|access-date=2020-01-25}}</ref> is an autonomously-governed island that forms part of the [[Comoros|Union of the Comoros]]. It is the smallest<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7fAoAQAAMAAJ&q=Moh%C3%A9li|title=Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandsche Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam, Afdeeling Natuurkunde: Tweede sectie|date=1938|publisher=N.V. Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevers-Maatschappij|language=en}}</ref> of the three major islands in the country. It is located in the [[Indian Ocean]] off the coast of [[Africa]] and it is the smallest of the four major [[Comoro Islands]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Frazier|first=J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VtQSAQAAIAAJ&dq=Moh%C3%A9li&pg=PA48|title=Marine Turtles in the Comoro Archipelago|date=1985|publisher=North-Holland Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-444-85629-6|language=en}}</ref> Its capital and largest city is [[Fomboni]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iI1WAAAAMAAJ&q=Moh%C3%A9li|title=The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropaedia|date=1995|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|isbn=978-0-85229-605-9|language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Moheli island map-general view-fr.svg|thumb|right|Map of Mohéli.]]
[[File:Stamp Moheli 1906 2c.jpg|right|120px|thumb|Postage stamps were issued for Mohéli briefly under French rule; this two-[[centime]] value dates from 1906.]]
Until 1830, Mohéli was part of the [[Ndzuwani]] Sultanate, which also controlled the neighbouring island of [[Anjouan]]. In 1830, migrants from [[Madagascar]] led by [[Abderremane, Sultan of Mohéli|Ramanetaka]], who later changed his name to Abderemane, took over the island and established the sultanate of Mwali. Its ruler was [[Queen Jumbe-Souli]] in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1886, [[France]] made the island a protectorate.

Until 1889, Mwali had its own French [[Resident (title)#French colonial Residents|resident]], but the island was then subjugated to the residency of Anjouan. The sultanate was dismantled in 1909 following the French annexation of the island. French colonial stamps bearing the inscription "Mohéli" were circulated between 1906 and 1912.

===Comoros===
In 1975, Mohéli agreed to join the Comoros nation, along with [[Grande Comore]] and Anjouan. Political, economic and social turmoil affected Mohéli and the Comoros in general.

===Independence===
On 11 August 1997, Mohéli seceded from the Comoros, a week after Anjouan. Mohéli's secessionist leaders were [[Said Mohamed Soefu]], who became [[President of Mohéli|president]], and [[Soidri Ahmed]], who became [[prime minister]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=MWALI INTERNATIONAL SERVICES AUTHORITY |url=https://www.mwaliregistrar.net/history_of_mwali.html#:~:text=On%2011%20August%201997,%20Moh%C3%A9li%20seceded%20from%20the,Prime%20Minister.%20Moh%C3%A9li%20quietly%20rejoined%20Comoros%20in%201998. |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=www.mwaliregistrar.net}}</ref>

===Rejoining Comoros===
Mohéli rejoined Comoros in 1998. In 2002, Mohéli ratified the new Comorian constitution, which provided for a less centralized federal government and more power to the island governments. It helped settle the continuing political turmoil in Comoros and the continuing secessionism on Anjouan. The same year, [[Mohamed Said Fazul]] was elected president. His supporters won most seats in Mohéli's delegation to Parliament in the legislative elections of 2004.

== Politics ==
[[Mohamed Said Fazul]] was elected [[president of Mohéli]] in 2002 against [[Mohamed Hassanaly]].

The [[Assembly of the Autonomous Island of Mohéli|legislative assembly]] of the autonomous island of Moheli has ten seats and was elected on 14 and 21 March 2004. Nine seats were won by the supporters of Said Mohamed Fazul, and the last by a supporter of [[Azali Assoumani]]. In 2007, [[Mohamed Ali Said]] was elected president of the autonomous island of Moheli (currently president instead of governor) against Said Mohamed Fazul. 

After shortening his two-year term, which was to end in 2012, due to problems with the [[Election|electoral]] calendar, Mohamed Ali Said was re-elected governor of the autonomous island of Moheli in December 2010 against the presidential majority [[candidate]] [[Said Ali Hilali]]. The election of the island's councillors was won by an absolute majority by Mohamed Ali Said's camp.

Following the legislative and communal elections held in 2015, it was [[Governor]] Mohamed Ali Said's party that won the majority in the island assembly, allying with the councillors (equivalent to deputies at the national level) of those of President Ikililou's supporters and related parties (UPDC party).

In May 2016, following the island governors' [[Election|elections]], it was Mohamed Said Fazul who won against President Ikililou's wife ([[Hadidja Dhoinine]]) in the 5-year governorship elections. It is therefore the second time he takes the reins of the island of Moheli.

As a reminder, at the national level, it is the former president (2002-2006) [[Azali Assoumani]] who won the elections before [[Mohamed Ali Soilih]]. This is his second term (2016-2021) as President of the [[Comoros|Union of the Comoros]].

==Population==
Mohéli's population, {{as of|2006|lc=y}}, is about 38,000. Its main ethnic group, as on the other Comoros islands [[Grande Comore]] and [[Anjouan]] as well as the French territory [[Mayotte]], is the Comorian ethnic group, a synthesis of [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]], [[Arab]], [[Malay people|Malay]] and [[Malagasy culture]]. The main religion is [[Sunni Islam]].

===Communities===
*[[Fomboni]] - 19,000
*[[Nioumachoua]] - 3,400
*[[Wanani]] - 2,500
*[[Djoièzi]] - 1,636

==Environment==
[[File:Mohéli-Beach.jpg|300px|thumb|Sable Beach, Mohéli]]
===Protected areas===
On 19 April 2001, the first protected area in this country{{spaced ndash}}[[Moheli Marine Park|Mohéli Marine Park]]{{spaced ndash}}was gazetted.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hauzer|first=Melissa D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f4fyMgEACAAJ&q=Moh%C3%A9li|title=Stakeholders' Perceptions of Mohéli Marine Park, Comoros: Lessons Learned from Five Years of Co-management|date=2007|publisher=Community Centred Conservation (C3)|language=en}}</ref> This was the culmination of a unique process by which the local communities in the ten villages around the park boundaries negotiated a collaborative arrangement with the government for the establishment and management of the park. The marine park programme was among the 27 finalists selected from nearly 500 nominations by the Equator Initiative, a partnership between the United Nations Development Programme ([[UNDP]]), IUCN, the UN Foundation and four other international groups, to promote community-based initiatives aimed at furthering sustainable development. The marine park was redesignated [[Mohéli National Park]] in 2010, and in 2015 was expanded to include approximately three-quarters of the island's land area.<ref name="unep-wcmc">UNEP-WCMC (2021). Protected Area Profile for Parc National de Mohéli from the World Database of Protected Areas. Accessed 10 August 2021. [https://www.protectedplanet.net/313046]</ref>

===Important Bird Area===
A 6,268&nbsp;ha tract encompassing the highlands of the interior of the western part of the island, including Mount Mlédjélé, has been designated an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA) by [[BirdLife International]] because it supports populations of [[Comoro olive pigeon]]s, [[Comoro blue pigeon]]s, [[tropical shearwater]]s, [[Moheli scops owl]]s, [[Malagasy harrier]]s, [[Moheli brush warbler]]s, [[Moheli bulbul]]s, [[Comoro thrush]]es, [[Humblot's sunbird]]s and [[red-headed fody|red-headed fodies]].<ref name="bli">{{cite web|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=2021|title=Mont Mlédjélé (Mwali highlands)|url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mont-mlédjélé-(mwali-highlands)-iba-comoros|access-date=1 March 2021|website=BirdLife Data Zone|publisher=BirdLife International}}</ref>

[[File:Mwali S2 2022.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Satellite imagery of Mohéli, 2022.]]

== Flags ==
{{main|Flag of Mohéli}}

== Airport ==
[[Mohéli Bandar Es Eslam Airport]], between the villages of Fomboni and Djoièzi on the north coast of the island is the only airport on Mohéli.

==See also==
* [[Comoros]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Autonomous islands of the Comoros}}
{{Comoros cities}}
{{coord|12|15|S|43|45|E|region:KM_type:adm1st|display=title}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moheli}}
[[Category:Mohéli| ]]
[[Category:Comoros archipelago]]
[[Category:Former countries in Africa]]
[[Category:Island countries of the Indian Ocean]]
[[Category:Separatism in Africa]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1997]]
[[Category:Autonomous islands of the Comoros]]
[[Category:1886 establishments in the French colonial empire]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of the Comoros]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1998]]