Vanilla, perfume plants, coconuts, cloves, and bananas are cultivated. There are sawmills, vanilla-processing plants, woodworking facilities, oil and soap factories, and hydroelectric plants. An international airport is on Grande Comore near Moroni. The islands are linked to Madagascar and East Africa by regular ship and air ferries. Islam is the state religion.
Education is patterned after Islamic and French schools.
France took possession of Mayotte in 1843 and in 1886 placed the other three islands under its protection. All four became a French overseas territory in 1947. In 1974 three of the islands voted for independence, but Mayotte continued under French rule. France recognized the independence of the three in 1975 and a year later designated Mayotte as a special collectivity. The government is headed by an elected president who nominates a council of ministers and the governors of the islands.