I found some extra info.

Source(s): http://www.zanzibar.net/zanzibar/history

http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcel erate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365&a=KCount ryProfile&aid=1019672541242

Zanzibar History

Zanzibar has lured traders, adventurers, plunderers and explorers to its shores for centuries...

The Assyrians, Sumerians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Indians, Chinese, Persians, Portuguese, Omani Arabs, Dutch and English have all been here at one time or another. Some, particularly the Shirazi Persians and Omani Arabs, stayed to settle and rule. With this influence, Zanzibar has become predominantly Islamic (97%) - the remaining 3% is made up of Christians, Hindus and Sikhs. The earliest visitors to Zanzibar were Arab traders who are said to have arrived in the 8th century. The earliest building that remains on Zanzibar is the mosque at Kizimkazi which dates from 1107, and is a present-day tourist attraction.

For centuries the Arabs sailed with the Monsoon winds from Oman to trade primarily in ivory, slaves and spices. The two main islands, Unguja (normally known as Zanzibar Island) and Pemba, provided an ideal base for the Omani Arabs, being relatively small, and therefore fairly easy to defend. From here it was possible for them to control 1,000 miles of the mainland coast from present day Mozambique to Somalia. Indeed, in 1832, Sultan Seyyid Said, of the Busaid Dynasty that had emerged in Oman, moved his Sultanate from Muscat, which was perhaps more difficult to protect, to Zanzibar where he and his descendants ruled for over 130 years. Most of the wealth lay in the hands of the Arab community, who were the main landowners, kept themselves to themselves, and generally did not intermarry with the Africans.

This was not true of the Shirazi Persians who came from the Middle East to settle on the East African coast. The story goes that in AD 975, Abi Ben Sultan Hasan of Shiraz in Persia (now Iran) had a terrible nightmare in which a rat devoured the foundations of his house. He took this as an omen that his community was to be devastated. Others in the Shiraz Court ridiculed the notion, but Sultan Hasan, his family and some followers obviously took it very seriously because they decided to migrate. They set out in seven dhows into the Indian Ocean but were caught in a huge storm and separated. Thus, landfalls were made at seven different places along the East African coast, one of which was Zanzibar, and settlements began.

Widespread intermarriage between Shirazis and Africans gave rise to a coastal community with distinctive features, and a language derived in part from Arabic, which became known as Swahili. The name Swahili comes from the Arab word sawahil which means 'coast'. The Zanzibar descendants of this group were not greatly involved in the lucrative slave, spice and ivory trades. Instead, they immersed themselves mainly in agriculture and fishing. Those Shirazis that did not intermarry retained their identity as a separate group.

Two smaller communities were also established. Indian traders arrived in connection with the spice and ivory trade, and quickly settled as shopkeepers, traders, skilled artisans, and professionals. The British became involved in missionary and trading activities in East Africa, and attempting to suppress the slave trade centred in Zanzibar.

BASIC INFORMATION Full Country Name: The Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros Area: 1,862 sq km (excluding Mayotte) Population: 614,382 (est 2002) Capital City: Moroni (Grande Comore) Key Date: 6 July (Independence Day 1975) People: Comoran Languages: French, Arabic, Comoran Religions: Islam (main religion), Roman Catholic Currency: Comoran Franc Major Political Parties: Rassemblement National pour le Development (a coalition of 24 parties/bodies) (RND); Islamist Front Nacional pour la Justice (FNJ); Forces pour l'action republicaine (FAR); Mouvement pour la Democratie et le Progres (MDP) President of the Union of Comoros: President Colonel Azali Assoumane Presidents: Col Mohamed Bacar (Anjouan), Mohamed Fazul (Moheli), Abdou Soule Elbak (Grande Comore) Foreign Minister: Souef Mohamed El-Amine Membership of International Groupings/Organisations: African Union (AU), League of Arab States, Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA). GEOGRAPHY Geographically the Comoros comprises four islands, but politically it comprises three. They lie nearly 500 km north-west of the northern tip of Madagascar, and about the same distance from the Mozambican coast. The largest island is Grande Comore (also called Njazidja), followed by Anjouan, Mayotte and Moheli. All are mountainous. The climate is tropical, and temperatures average 25C (coastal) and 22C (highlands). The hot and rainy season is from November-April. Regular cyclones can cause extensive damage. Karthala volcano on Grande Comore erupted in August 2003. HISTORY The earliest inhabitants of the Comoros were probably of Malay-Polynesian origin, maybe as early as the 1st century BC. Later settlers came from mainland Africa, Madagascar and the Arab world. The most powerful and numerous of these were the Shirazis who arrived from Persia between the 13th and 15th centuries. For the next few centuries the islands were ruled by rival and warring sultanates whose wealth was based on the slave and spice trades. The first European traders largely ignored the Comoros. The French began formal colonisation in 1843, when Mayotte was ceded as a protectorate. Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli followed in 1886. All the islands were declared a French colony in 1912, administered from Madagascar until 1947, when the Comoros became a separate territory. In 1961 the Comoros was granted a form of internal autonomy: a chamber of deputies was elected and a Comoran governing council assumed administrative tasks. But a resident French commissioner retained considerable powers.

Thanks Jalisco Lancer! Do you have any info about Jerez too?

In Spanish links I have found no reference to that origin of the name of the town Jerez de la Frontera. they derive Jerez (Xerez) from the phoenician Xera, Latin Ceret.

Wines are named after the grape they come from. The wine and the grape for Shiraz which is the same as French version Syrah originates in Iran