Comoros Changed Its Name

On Friday, April 23, delegates from the three-island country of Comoros met in Madagascar to develop a plan to give the country's two smaller islands more autonomy. Comoros is located in the Mozambique Channel of the Indian Ocean, between Mozambique and the island of Madagascar. Over the years, the two smaller islands of Comoros, Anjouan and Moheli have felt powerless against the largest island, Grande Comore, where the capital of Moroni sits.

The autonomy deal was approved and the long-form name of the country was changed from the "Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros" to the "Union of Comoros Islands."

The new Union of Comoros Islands

Precisely one week later (on April 30), the army's chief of staff, Colonel Azaly Assoumani headed a coup d'état that overthrew the elected government. The president and other executives were arrested and the parliament, supreme court, and constitution were all suspended. Azaly assumed the presidency, claiming that he would hold the position for a one-year "transition" period before the new provisions that would provide the two smaller islands with their own governments would take effect.

There has been international protest, especially from African countries and the European Union. The coup was the fifth successful one for the country since their independence in 1975 from France (and there have been a total of 19 attempted coups during that time).

In 1997, two countries changed their names. In May, Zaire changed its name to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in July, Western Samoa became Samoa.

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Public domain map from the CIA World Factbook.