Moroni, Comoros

Moroni موروني Mūrūnī
Moroni in early July 2008
Moroni Location of Moroni on the island of Grande Comore
Coordinates: 11°41′56″S 43°15′22″E / 11.699°S 43.256°E / -11.699; 43.256Coordinates: 11°41′56″S 43°15′22″E / 11.699°S 43.256°E / -11.699; 43.256
Country	Comoros
Island	Grande Comore
Capital city	1962
Area
• Total	30 km2 (10 sq mi)
Elevation	29 m (95 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	54,000
• Density	1,800/km2 (4,700/sq mi)
Time zone	Eastern Africa Time (UTC+3)
Area code(s)	269

Moroni (in Arabic موروني Mūrūnī) is the largest city, federal capital and seat of the government of the Union of the Comoros, a sovereign archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean. In Comorian, Moroni translates as "in the heart of the fire", perhaps alluding to the city's location at the foot of Mount Karthala, an active volcano. Moroni is the capital of the semi-autonomous island Grande Comore, the largest of the three main islands of the republic. The city's estimated population in 2003 was 41,557 residents. Moroni, which lies along the Route Nationale 1, has a port and several mosques such as the Badjanani Mosque.

Moroni was founded by Arab settlers, possibly during the 10th century, as the capital of a sultanate connected commercially to Zanzibar in Tanzania.

An agreement on broad autonomy to the three islands was refused by the Anjouan representatives which resulted in an eruption of violence affecting Moroni in April 1999, during which Colonel Azali Assoumani assumed power in a coup d'état. In December 2003, the Moroni Agreement on Transition Agreements was signed by the island presidents of the Union of Comoros. In the run up to the 2006 elections, the government-owned Radio Ngazidja and private station Moroni FM were raided by armed assailants and forced off the air temporarily. In 2010, the U.S. Navy's Seabees constructed Hamramba School in Moroni as a humanitarian project, in partnership with the local military and Comoros' federal government; construction methods included mixing concrete by hand before using buckets and wheel barrels to move the concrete to the school site.

The city is on the western coast of Grande Comore (also known as N'gazidja) island. Moroni has a rocky volcanic coastline, mostly without beaches. A small beach north of town at Itsandra contains the ruins of the Sultans Fort and Palace, built in the 15th century. Settlements to the north of Moroni include Ntsoudjini, Ouellah, Bahani, Batsa, Vanambouani and Vanadjou, and to the south are Mvouni, Daoueni and Selea.