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Comoros SOCIETY
Population: 1991 census, excluding Mahoré,
446,817.
Population density varies among islands, ranging from l991
high
of 470 persons per square kilometer on Nzwani to 120
persons per
square kilometer on Mwali. Population growth rate
estimated at
3.55 percent in 1994.
Ethnic Groups: Arabs, descendants of Shirazi
settlers;
African groups: Cafres and Makoa; Malayo-Indonesian
peoples:
Oimatsaha, Antalotes, and Sakalava; and Creoles,
descendants of
French settlers.
Languages: Arabic (official), French (official),
and
Comoran dialect related to Swahili.
Religion: Sunni Muslim, 86 percent; Roman
Catholic, 14
percent.
Education and Literacy: Education compulsory for
ages
seven through fifteen; about 75 percent of
primary-school-age
children enrolled in 1993 in schools following French
educational
system. No university but post-secondary education
available.
Adult literacy in 1993 only 50 percent.
Health: Health care and most health facilities
in poor
condition. Malaria endemic; 80 to 90 percent of population
affected. Scarcity of safe drinking water and child
malnutrition
are problem areas. 1994 estimate of life expectancy at
birth
fifty-eight years. Infant mortality rate estimated at
eighty per
1,000 live births in 1994.
Data as of August 1994
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