Comorans are going to vote in presidential polls Sunday. It is seen as a test of whether the poverty-stricken Indian Ocean archipelago has broken a cycle of coups and inter-island strife that has hampered development since it declared independence in 1975.

Here are some facts about the Indian Ocean island nation:

OFFICIAL NAME: Union of Comoros, formerly the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros

LOCATION: In the Indian Ocean between north-western Madagascar and the east African coast, about 300 kilometers from Mozambique and Madagascar

AREA: 2,236 square kilometers, including Mayotte Island.

POPULATION: 750,000 (2004 figure)

MAJOR LANGUAGES: French, Arabian and Shikomoro (a blend of Swahili and Arabic)

RELIGION: an overwhelming majority of the population are Muslim

CAPITAL: Moroni, on Grande Comoro Island, with a population of 50,000

TIME: three hours earlier than GMT

CURRENCY: Comoros franc (one US dollar equals about 370 Comoros franc)

RECENT HISTORY:

1947, The Comoros islands became a "French Overseas Territory" and were represented in France's National Assembly.

1961, Internal Political Autonomy was granted.

July 6, 1975, The Comoran Chamber of Deputies passed a resolution declaring independence, Ahmed Abdallah was designated the first president.

Aug. 3, 1975, Ahmed Abdallah was deposed in a coup led by Ali Soilih.

November, 1975, the United Nations passed Resolution No. 3385 admitting that the Comoran territory include Grande Comore, Anjouan, Moheli and Mayotte.

Jan. 2, 1976, Ali Soilih was elected president.

December 1976, Mayotte, the largest among the four major Comoroan islands, voted to retain its status as a French territory.

May 13, 1978, Soilih was overthrown in a coup led by French mercenary Colonel Bob Denard and Abdallah was again elected president.

March 1990, Said Mohamed Djohar was elected president.

1996, Mohammed Taki Abdulkarim won presidency.

1999, Azaly Assoumani seized power through a coup.

2002, Assoumani remained in office by winning the 2002 presidential election.

2006, three candidates from Anjouan ran for a new term of presidency.

ECONOMY:

The people of the Comoros are among the poorest in Africa and are heavily dependent on foreign aid.

The country ranked 136th among 177 countries in the world in terms of the Indicator of Human Development, according to a 2004 UN report. The GDP per capita was 380 U.S. dollars, according to 2002 statistics.

There was one doctor for every 7,500 people. Men's life expectancy was 58 while women's was 63. Infant mortality rate was 84.07 per thousand, according to 2001 statistics.

Illiteracy rate among people age 15 and over was 44 percent, said a 2003 UN report.

Vanilla and cloves are the major export products of the country.

Source: Xinhua