Madagascar

Madagascar Where is Madagascar?

Madagascar is located between Africa and Asia. It is the fourth island of the world. It is part of the islands of the Indian Ocean with Comoros, Reunion, Maurice, Seychelles and Maldives.


Area : about 587 041 km²


Population : 18 041 000 inhabitants (estimation 2005)


Geography:. The center of the country is dominated of North in the South by plateau and a volcanic assembly line which reaches its highest point at 2860 m. In the west there are plains and in the East there are abrupt cliffs. There are also some rivers whose principal ones are: Betsiboka, Tsiribihina, Mangoky and Onilahy. The most significant lake is Lake Alaotra.


Climate: Being located in the southern hemisphere, Madagascar has a tropical climate. It has two seasons (warm and humid : from October at March and dry and cool : from April at September). The warm season is marked by the frequent passage of depressions and tropical cyclones (2 to 4 per year) which can be violent and cause significant damage in particular on the coastal areas. However, this tropical climate has variations according to areas :

Northern west, west, southern west: typically tropical climate with two seasons with a dry season more pronounced as one goes down towards the south,

South :  semi-arid climate with few rains,

Northern east, east, southern east :  subequatorial climate with much of rains and a dry season less pronounced,

Center :  temperate tropical climate with two seasons pronounced and temperatures milder than on the coastal areas, in particular, during the cool season.


The fauna and the flora of Madagascar have many endemic varieties which are at present threatened of disappearance if measures are not taken in the field of the environmental protection. One can quote the lemurs, the chameleons, the tortoises and turtles, the baobab trees whose seven of the eight existing varieties in the world are only in Madagascar, as well as the orchises. The flora and fauna are particularly threatened by the practice of the culture on "brûlis", the excessive use of wood like source of energy and the abuse of the rare gasolines like the purple wood, the rose wood, reduces the surface of the forests considerably.


Economy : The principal economic resources of the country are produce, breeding, and minings (primary sector). One can cite among other things, vanilla (Madagascar is the first producer), coffee, cocoa, clove, cinnamon, cotton, fishing products (shrimps, lobster...), semi-precious and precious stones, gold, graphite and uranium. The industries are essentially textile with many foreign companies in particular Mauritians.

The cattle breeding is also a significant element of the malagasy economy, because the zebu is used as food, as means of production and transport. It is used in the special occasions of the malagasy life in much of areas (sacrifices, funeral, exhumations, settling of scores....). It is about an extensive breeding except in the areas of the Center where one practises the intensive breeding of dairy cows and pigs. But one also practises in Madagascar, ovine breeding and caprine breeding in the west and in the southern west of the island. Ampanihy (a city of the south), is known for the handcrafted carpets with wool of the goat "mohair". The Malagasy craft industry from its quality starts to be made a name on the international level.
In spite of its enormous potentialities, Madagascar, from the economic point of view, is part of one of less developed countries of the world and belongs, as such, to the group of the least advanced countries or LDC with a billion GNP, that is to say, 260 USD per capita (2001). The foreign debt represented 104% of the GNP in 1999. It is estimated that two thirds to three quarters of the population live below the poverty line.
The agricultural sector occupies almost 80% of the working population, but contributes only to a total value of 45% of the GNP On the other hand, the industrial sector dominated by food industry, touches only 5,5% of the working population, that is to say 41% of the GNP. 


Ethnic groups    
In Madagascar there are 18 ethnic groups. The Madagascans have different origins, essentially African, Arabian and Asian, but they have in common a national language with various dialectals

Religions :  according to national statistics, 50% of the Madagascans are Christian, 7% Moslems and the rest practises the religion animist or traditional belief. 50% of these Christians are Protestant (calvinists and Lutherans), 40% are catholic, and the rest is Anglican or adventist. But one observes the progressive advanced of other churches such as methodist, pentecotist, baptist as it is the case at present everywhere.
The Malagasy traditional belief admits the existence of creator God combined to an eternal respect with the ancestors. Moreover, the traditional belief can frequently coexist with the practice of a Christian religion or monotheist (Islam...)  

Administratively :  french colony in 1895 and become an independent republic in 1960, Madagascar is divided into six provinces:  Antananarivo the capital in the center of the island, Antsiranana an old french military base in the Northern, Fianarantsoa, in the South, Mahajanga, located in the North-West, Toamasina, the first port of the country in the East and Toliara located in the south-south-west. These provinces are subdivided in Prefecture and Sub-prefecture.

 

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