Old Map of Comoros

This 1889 map presents the Comoros as an island group spread across the northern Mozambique Channel. Mayotte appears to the south-east, while Grande Comore, Mohéli and Anjouan are arranged across the centre of the sheet. The map combines coloured island outlines with shaded relief, named settlements, routes and coastal details.

Map Details

Original title: Mayotte et les Comores Cartographer: Paul Pelet Engraver: R. Hausermann, Paris Publisher: A. Challamel, Paris Publication date: 1889 Atlas: Nouvel atlas des colonies françaises, plate 12 Area shown: Mayotte and the Comoros archipelago Map type: Coloured lithographic atlas map Features shown: Grande Comore, Mohéli, Anjouan and Mayotte, with settlements, routes, relief, ports and coastal features

Grande Comore is the largest island shown and is labelled with its alternative names, Angazidja and Angadidja. The map records Mount Kartala in the island’s interior, together with settlements and coastal places around the volcanic landscape. Anjouan, identified as N’Zouani, is shown with a particularly dense concentration of named villages and routes. Mohéli, or Moali, appears between the two larger islands, while Mayotte is shown with its surrounding headlands, bays and settlements.

The shaded relief is one of the map’s most appealing features. Mountain interiors are given soft graduated tones, contrasting with the pale green sea and warm coloured land outlines. The effect is decorative, but it also conveys the volcanic structure of the archipelago and the steep terrain that shaped movement and settlement.

The map was produced during a period of increasing French influence in the western Indian Ocean. Mayotte had been acquired by France in 1841, while French influence extended across the neighbouring islands during the later nineteenth century through treaties, commercial interests and colonial administration. The title places Mayotte and the other Comoros islands within a French atlas, reflecting the political ambitions of the period.

That colonial framing should be read alongside the island names and settlements that preserve the Comoros’ own geographical and cultural identity. The map does not show an empty or newly discovered region: it records established communities, ports, routes and centres of local authority across the islands.

By 1889, the Comoros were connected to wider maritime networks linking Madagascar, the African mainland, Zanzibar and the islands of the Indian Ocean. The map’s position within an atlas of French colonies reflects those strategic connections, while its detailed island-by-island treatment makes it more than a general regional map.