Comoros is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean, most an independent nation but also including the French territory of Mayotte. It is historically linked to both East Africa and France, and now has a strong Malagasy influence. Zanzibar's taarab music, however, remains the most influential genre on the islands, and a Comorian version called twarab is popular. Leading twarab bands include Sambeco and Belle Lumière, as well as star singer Mohammed Hassan. Comorian instruments include the 'ud and violin, the most frequent accompaniment for twarab, as well as gabusi (a type of lute) and ndzendze. Sega music from nearby Mauritius and Réunion islands is also popular. In the 20th century, Angola has been wracked by violence and political instability. ... Botswana is an African country made up of numerous ethnic groups, though the Batswana are the most numerous. ... Comoros is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean, most an independent nation but also including the French territory of Mayotte. ... Lesotho is a Southern African nation surrounded entirely by South Africa. ... Madagascar is an island off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. ... Malawi is a country in Southern Africa, inhabited by a wide variety of ethnic groups; the Chewa being the single largest group. ... A woman performs the sega in Pointe-aux-Piments, Mauritius. ... Mozambique is a former Portuguese colony, and its native folk musics have been highly influenced by Portuguese forms. ... Namibia is a southern African country. ... The African nation of Swaziland, located in between South Africa and Mozambique, is an ancient land dominated by the Swazi people. ... The South African music scene includes both popular (jive) and folk forms. ... Zambia has had a quiet recent history compared to many of its neighbors, and has produced little music internationally released. ... Zimbabwean music includes folk and pop styles, much of it based on the well-known instrument the mbira. ... The Union of Comoros (until 2002 the Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros) is principally a three-island country in southern Africa, situated at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, between northern Madagascar and northern Mozambique. ... A small island in the Adriatic sea An island is any piece of land smaller than a continent and larger than a rock, that is completely surrounded by water. ... The Indian Ocean is the third-largest body of water in the world, covering about 20% of the Earths water surface. ... Mayotte is an overseas collectivity of France at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, between northern Madagascar and northern Mozambique, in the Comoros Archipelago. ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Eastern Africa ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Map of Zanzibars main island Zanzibar, Tanzania, comprises a pair of islands off the east coast of Africa called Zanzibar (Unguja) (1994 est. ... Taarab is a kind of East African music, most popular in Tanzania and Kenya. ... The violin is a stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a fifth apart. ... The lute is a plucked string instrument with a fretted neck and a deep round back. ... Sega music is an evolved combination of traditional Mauritian and Réunionnais music with European dance music like polka and quadrilles. ... The Republic of Mauritius is an island country in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 km east of Madagascar. ... Réunion is an island, as well as an overseas département (département doutre-mer, or DOM) of France, located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. ...

Modern musicians like Abou Chihabi, who composed the Comorian national anthem and is known for his reggae-tinged pan-African variet music, and reggae/zouk/soukous fusionists like Maalesh and Salim Ali Amir, as well as Nawal, a singer-songwriter and instrumentalist. Reggae is an African Caribbean style of music developed on the island of Jamaica and is closely linked to the religion Rastafarianism, though not universally popular among its members. ... This is about the type of music; see Zouk (club) for the nightclubs in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. ... Soukous is a musical genre formed in Zaire and the Congo in the early 20th century, also known as Lingala music in East Africa and Congo music in English-speaking West Africa. ... The term singer-songwriter refers to performers who both write and sing their own material. ...

References

• Ewens, Graeme and Werner Graebner. "A Lightness of Touch". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 505-508. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0