The people of the islands are of mixed descent: African, Arab and Malagasy.
Although Arabic and French are the official languages, the primary spoken tongue is the Comorian dialect of Swahili.
The great majority of the people, except on Mahoré (Mayotte) where Christianity is common, are Muslim.
Population:
578,400 (estimation of July 2000)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 43% (male 123,891; female 123,241)
15-64 years: 54% (male 155,062; female 159,287)
65 years and over: 3% (male 8,072; female 8,847) (2000 est.)
Population growth rate
3.05% (estimation of 2000)
Birth rate
40.05 births/1,000 population (estimation of 2000)
Death rate
9.59 deaths/1,000 population (estimation of 2000)
Ethnic groups: Antalote, Cafre, Makoa, Oimatsaha, Sakalava
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
::I
male: 64.2%
female: 50.4% (estimation of 1995)