text:
Geography of Madagascar

Madagascar is a large island in the Indian Ocean located 400 km off the eastern coast of Southern Africa, east of Mozambique. It has a total area of 587040 km2 with 581540 km2 of land and 6900 km2 of water. Madagascar is the fourth-largest island in the world. The highest point is Maromokotro, in the Tsaratanana Massif region in the north of the island, at 2876 m.

The Republic of Madagascar is the second-largest island country in the world. Its capital Antananarivo is in the Central Highlands near the centre of the island. It has the 25th largest exclusive economic zone of 1,225,259 km2.

Geographical regions
Madagascar can be divided into five general geographical regions: the east coast, the Tsaratanana Massif, the Central Highlands, the west coast, and the southwest. The highest elevations parallel the east coast. The total size is 587040 km2, which makes it the world's second largest island country.

East coast
The east coast consists of a narrow band of lowlands about 50 km wide, formed from the sedimentation of alluvial soils, and an intermediate zone composed of steep bluffs alternating with ravines bordering an escarpment of about 500 m in elevation, which gives access to the Central Highlands. The coastal region runs roughly from north of Baie d'Antongil, the most prominent feature on the Masoala Peninsula, to the far north of the island. The coastline is straight, with the exception of a bay, offering less in the way of natural harbors than the west coast.

The Canal des Pangalanes, an 800 km-long lagoon formed naturally by the washing of sand up on the island by the Indian Ocean currents and by the silting of rivers, is a feature of the coast; it has been used both as a means of transportation up and down the coast and as a fishing area. The beach slopes steeply into deep water. The east coast is considered dangerous for swimmers and sailors because of the large number of sharks that frequent the shoreline.

Tsaratanana Massif
The Tsaratanana Massif region at the north end of the island contains Maromokotro, the highest point on the island at 2880 m. Further north is the Montagne d'Ambre (Ambohitra), which is of volcanic origin. The coastline is deeply indented; two prominent features are the natural harbor at Antsiranana (Diego Suárez), just south of the Cap d'Ambre (Tanjon' i Bobaomby), and the large island of Nosy Be to the west. The mountainous topography of the Tsaratanana Massif limits the potential of the port at Antsiranana by impeding the flow of traffic from other parts of the island. They are a focus for big wall climbing.

Central Highlands
The Central Highlands, which range from 800 to 1800 m in elevation, contain a wide variety of topographies: rounded and eroded hills, massive granite outcrops, extinct volcanoes, eroded peneplains, and alluvial plains and marshes, which have been converted into irrigated rice fields. The Central Highlands extend from the Tsaratanana Massif in the north to the Ivakoany Massif in the south. They are defined rather clearly by the escarpments along the east coast, and they slope gently to the west coast. The Central Highlands include the Anjafy High Plateaus; the volcanic formations of Itasy (Lake Itasy is in a volcanic crater) and the Ankaratra Massif, reaching a height of 2643 m. The Isalo Ruiniform Massif lies between the central highlands and the west coast.

Antananarivo, the national capital, is located in the northern portion of the Central Highlands at 1276 m above sea level. A prominent feature of the Central Highlands is a rift valley running north to south, located east of Antananarivo and including Lac Alaotra, the largest body of water on the island. The lake is located 761 m above sea level and is bordered by two cliffs, rising 701 m to the west and 488 m to the east, which form the walls of a valley. This region has experienced geological subsidence, and earth tremors are frequent.

West coast
The west coast, composed of sedimentary formations, is more indented than the east coast, thus offering a number of harbors sheltered from cyclones, such as the harbor at Mahajanga. Deep bays and well-protected harbors have attracted explorers, traders, and pirates from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East since ancient times; thus, the area has served as an important bridge between Madagascar and the outside world. Silting up of harbors on this coast, caused by sediment from the high levels of erosion suffered inland in Madagascar, is a major problem. The broad alluvial plains found on the coast between Mahajanga and Toliara, which are believed to have great agricultural potential, are thinly inhabited, in many places covered with swamps of Madagascar mangroves, and remain largely unexplored, although they are the subject of mineral and hydrocarbon exploration activity. The giant oil fields of Tsimiroro (heavy oil) and Bemolanga (ultra heavy oil) lie towards the west of the island.

Southwest
The southwest is bordered on the east by the Ivakoany Massif and on the north by the Isala Roiniforme Massif. It includes two regions along the south coast, the Mahafaly Plateau and the desert region occupied by the Antandroy people.

Rivers and lakes
The Mananara and Mangoro rivers flow from the Central Highlands to the east coast, as does the Maningory, which flows from Lake Alaotra. Other rivers flowing east into the Indian Ocean include the Bemarivo, the Ivondro, and the Mananjary. These rivers tend to be short because the watershed is located close to the east coast. Owing to the steep elevations, they flow rapidly, often over spectacular waterfalls.

The rivers flowing to the west coast discharge into the Mozambique Channel and tend to be lengthier and have a lesser gradient. The major rivers on the west coast are the Sambirano, the Mahajamba, the Betsiboka (part of Mahajanga is located at the mouth), the Mania, the North and South Mahavavy, the Mangoky, and the Onilahy. The Ikopa, which flows past Antananarivo, is a tributary of the Betsiboka. The Onilahy, located in the driest part of the island, occasionally dries up during droughts.

Important lakes, aside from Alaotra, include Lake Kinkony in the northwest, Lake Itasy in the center and Lake Ihotry in the southwest.

Somali Plate
Madagascar originated as part of the Gondwana supercontinent. Its west coast was formed when Africa broke off from Gondwana around 165 million years ago. Madagascar eventually broke off from India about 88 million years ago. It is geologically located within the Somali plate.

Soils
Madagascar has been called the "Great Red Island" because of the prominence of red lateritic soils. The red soils predominate the Central Highlands, although there are much richer soils in the regions of former volcanic activity, Itasy and Ankaratra, and Tsaratanana to the north. A narrow band of alluvial soils is found all along the east coast and at the mouths of the major rivers on the west coast; clay, sand, and limestone mixtures are found in the west; and shallow or skeletal laterite and limestone are located in the south. Deforestation and grazing cause aggressive erosion in many locations.

Tidal Flats
A 2019 global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were 1748 km2 of tidal flats in Madagascar, making it the 18th ranked country in terms of how much tidal flat occurs there.

Climate
The climate is tropical along the coast, temperate inland, and arid in the south. The weather is dominated by the southeastern trade winds that originate in the Indian Ocean anticyclone, a center of high atmospheric pressure that seasonally changes its position over the ocean. Madagascar has two seasons: a warm, wet season from November to April; and a cooler, dry season from May to October. There is, however, great variation in climate owing to elevation and position relative to dominant winds. Overall, surface water is most abundant along the east coast and in the far north (with the exception of the area around Cap d'Ambre, which has relatively little surface water). Amounts diminish to the west and south, and the driest regions are in the extreme south.

The east coast has a tropical rainforest climate; being most directly exposed to the trade winds, it has the highest rainfall, averaging as high as 4000 mm annually in some places. This region has a hot, humid climate in which tropical fevers are endemic. Destructive cyclones occur during the rainy season, coming in principally from the direction of the Mascarene Islands. Because rain clouds discharge much of their moisture east of the highest elevations on the island, the Central Highlands are drier and, owing to the altitude, also cooler. Thunderstorms are common during the rainy season in the Central Highlands and the eastern coastal lowlands.

Antananarivo receives practically all of its average annual 1400 mm of rainfall between November and April. The dry season is sunny, although somewhat chilly, especially in the mornings. Although frosts are rare in Antananarivo, they are common at higher elevations. Hail is common in many of the higher areas of the island (including Antananarivo), but there is no snowfall except on the Ankaratra massif where above 2400 m it may occasionally fall and even remain for several days.

The west coast is drier than either the east coast or the Central Highlands because the trade winds lose their humidity by the time they reach this region. The southwest and the extreme south are semidesert; as little as 330 mm of rain falls annually at Toliara.

Cyclones
Madagascar occasionally experiences the impact of cyclones. During February 2–4, 1994, Madagascar was struck by Cyclone Geralda. The cyclone killed seventy people and destroyed enough property to leave approximately 500,000 homeless, including 30,000 in Antananarivo and 80,000 in Toamasina. The cyclone also significantly damaged the country's infrastructure, most notably coastal roads, railroads, and telecommunications, as well as agriculture. The damage was estimated at US$45 million.

During March 1–18, 2004, Madagascar was impacted by Cyclone Gafilo, the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the South-West Indian Ocean. The National Rescue Council in Antananarivo reported 237 dead, 181 missing, 879 injured, and 304,000 homeless (174,000 in Antalaha alone). More than 20,000 homes were destroyed, as well as 413 public buildings and 3,400 schools were damaged, including 1,400 schools completely destroyed. The Cyclone left an estimated damage of US$250 million.

In February 2022, Cyclone Batsirai killed at least 10 people and caused floods, power outages, and structural damages, mere weeks after Cyclone Ana had killed 55 and displaced 130,000 people on the island.

Flora and fauna
The island of Madagascar has been described as an "alternate world" or a "world apart" because of the uniqueness and rarity of many of its plant and animal species. Their characteristics are believed to reflect the island's origins as a part of Gondwanaland and its many millions of years of isolation following the breakup of the landmass.

Many of the characteristic African species—large mammals such as the elephant, rhinoceros, giraffe, zebra, and antelope and predators such as lions and leopards—do not exist in Madagascar. In addition, the island has been spared the great variety of venomous snakes indigenous to the African continent. Although it is assumed that most life forms on the island had an African (or South American) origin, isolation has allowed old species—elsewhere extinct—to survive and new species unique to the island to evolve. Thus, a great number of plant, insect, reptile, and fish species are endemic to Madagascar, and all indigenous land mammal species—66 in all—are unique to the island.

Madagascar was once covered almost completely by forests, but slash and burn practices for dry rice cultivation has denuded most of the landscape, especially in the Central Highlands. Rain forests are concentrated on the steep hillsides along a slender north–south axis bordering the east coast, from the Tsaratanana Massif in the north to Tolagnaro in the south. Secondary growth, which has replaced the original forest and consists to a large extent of traveller's trees, raffia palm, and baobabs, is found in many places along the east coast and in the north. The vegetation of the Central Highlands and the west coast is for the most part savanna or steppe, and coarse prairie grass predominates where erosion has not exposed the orange-red lateritic soil. In the southwest, the vegetation is adapted to desert conditions.

The remaining rain forest contains a great number of unique plant species. The country has some 900 species of orchid. Bananas, mangoes, coconut, vanilla, and other tropical plants grow on the coasts, and the eucalyptus tree, brought from Australia, is widespread today.

Wood and charcoal from the forests are used to meet 80% of domestic fuel needs. As a result, wood has become scarce. In 1990, the World Bank launched an environmental program that has increased the planting of pine and eucalyptus to satisfy fuel needs.

Natural resources
Madagascar has a number of natural resources, including nickel, cobalt, graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, rare Earth elements, salt, quartz, tar sands, semi-precious stones and mica. There are also fishing areas offshore and potential for hydropower. In 2011, it was estimated that 5.96% of the land area was used for arable land and 1.02% had permanent crops. Twenty-six percent of the land is forested. The majority of the population depends on subsistence farming, largely rice and cattle. The manufacturing sector is small but growing.

Environmental issues
Madagascar is currently suffering in some areas from soil erosion as a result of deforestation and overgrazing, desertification, and contamination of surface water with raw sewage and organic waste. Several species of flora and fauna that are unique to the islands are endangered. Regular cyclones cause flooding in low-lying coastal regions.

Extreme points
This is a list of the extreme points of Madagascar, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.

 * Northernmost Point - Cap D'Ambre, Antsiranana Province at 11°57′00″S 49°15′56″E
 * Easternmost Point - Ile Ngontsy, Antsiranana Province at 15°15′48″S 50°29′36″E
 * Easternmost point (mainland) - Cap Est, Antsiranana Province at 15°15′56″S 50°29′10″E
 * Southernmost Point - Cape Vohimena (Cap Sainte Marie), Toliara Province at 25°36′24″S 45°10′02″E
 * Westernmost Point - Nosy Hao, Toliara Province at 22°05′13″S 43°11′18″E
 * Westernmost Point (mainland) - Pointe Mananonoka, Toliara Province at 22°15′04″S 43°13′13″E
 * Geographic center - TBA
 * Geographic center (mainland) - Analavory, Antananarivo Province

title: Geography of Madagascar


text:
History of Madagascar

The history of Madagascar is distinguished clearly by the early isolation of the landmass from the ancient supercontinent of Pangaea, containing amongst others the African continent and the Indian subcontinent, and by the island's late colonization by human settlers from the Sunda islands (Malay Archipelago) and from East Africa. These two factors facilitated the evolution and survival of thousands of endemic plant and animal species, some of which have gone extinct or are currently threatened with extinction. Trade in the Indian Ocean at the time of first colonization of Madagascar was dominated by Indonesian ships, probably of Borobudur ship and K'un-lun po types.

Over the past two thousand years the island has received waves of settlers of diverse origins including Austronesian, Bantu, Arab, South Asian, Chinese, and European. The majority of the population of Madagascar today is a mixture of Austronesian and Bantu settlers. Despite popular belief, there has been no genetic input from Arabs or Indians, although one tribe, the Antemoro, claims descent from Somali Arab traders. European and Middle eastern paternal ancestry is also present.

Centuries of intermarriages created the Malagasy people, who primarily speak Malagasy, an Austronesian language with Bantu, Malay, Oceanic, Arabic, French, and English influences. Most of the genetic makeup of the average Malagasy, however, reflects an almost equal blend of Austronesian and Bantu. One study concludes that Madagascar was first settled approximately 1,200 years ago by a very small group containing approximately 30 women, with 28 of them of maritime Southeast Asian descent and 2 of African descent. But this result is not consistent with more extensive data accumulated. The Malagasy population formed through the intermixing of the first founding population with later immigrants.

Other ethnic groups often intermixed with the existent population to a more limited degree or have sought to preserve a separate community from the majority Malagasy. By the Middle Ages, over a dozen distinct ethnic identities had emerged on the island, typified by rule under a local chieftain. Some communities, such as the Sakalava, Merina and Betsimisaraka, were unified by leaders who established true kingdoms, which gained wealth and power through commerce with Europeans, Arabs, and other seafarers, including pirates.

Between the 16th and 18th centuries, pirate activity in the coastal areas of Madagascar was common. The purported free pirate colony of Libertatia was established on Île Sainte-Marie, originally populated by local Malagasy. The Sakalava and Merina kingdoms in particular exploited European trade to strengthen the power of their kingdoms, trading Malagasy slaves for European firearms and other goods. Throughout this time, European and Arab seafarers operating in the Indian Ocean traded with coastal communities, and Europeans made several unsuccessful attempts to claim and colonize the island. Beginning in the early 19th century, the British and French competed for influence in Madagascar.

By the turn of the 19th century, King Andrianampoinimerina had reunited the highly populous Kingdom of Imerina in the central highlands, with its capital at Antananarivo. His son Radama I the Great expanded its authority to the island's other polities and was the first Malagasy sovereign to be recognized by foreign states as the ruler of the greater Merina Kingdom. Following the ferocious attempts by Queen Ranavalona I (r. 1828–1861) to eradicate the Christian influence, over the 19th century, some of Merina monarchs engaged in the process of modernization through close diplomatic ties to Britain that led to the establishment of European-style schools, government institutions and infrastructure. Christianity, introduced by the London Missionary Society, was made the state religion under Queen Ranavalona II and her powerful prime minister Rainilaiarivony. Political wrangling between Britain and France in the 1880s resulted in Britain recognizing France's authority on the island. This led in 1890 to the Malagasy Protectorate, which was however rejected by the native government of Madagascar. The French launched the two Franco-Hova Wars to force submission, finally capturing the capital in September 1895. The conflict continued in the widespread Menalamba rebellion against French rule that was crushed in 1897. The native monarchy was dissolved, and the queen and her entourage exiled to Reunion and later Algeria, where she died in 1917. Following conquest, the French abolished slavery in 1896, freeing approximately 500,000 slaves.

In French Madagascar, Malagasy people were required to fulfill corvée labor on French-run plantations, which generated high revenues for the colonial administration. Opportunities for Malagasy to access education or skilled positions within the colonial structure were limited, although some basic services like schools and clinics were extended to coastal areas for the first time. The capital city was largely transformed and modernized, and the royal palace was transformed into a school and later a museum. Although Malagasy were initially prevented from forming political parties, several militant nationalist secret societies emerged, of which the most prominent was Vy Vato Sakelika, founded by Ny Avana Ramanantoanina.

Many Malagasy were conscripted to fight for France in World Wars I and II, and during the latter Madagascar came under Vichy control before being captured and occupied by the British in the Battle of Madagascar. At the Brazzaville Conference of 1944, Charles de Gaulle gave the colony the status of an overseas territory with the right to representatives in the French National Assembly. When a bill proposed by Malagasy delegates of the Mouvement démocratique de la rénovation malgache for Madagascar's independence was not passed, militant nationalists led an unsuccessful Malagasy uprising (1947–1948), during which the French military committed atrocities that deeply scarred the population. The country gained full independence from France in 1960 in the wake of decolonization.

Under the leadership of President Philibert Tsiranana, Madagascar's First Republic (1960–1972) was established as a democratic system modeled on that of France. This period was characterized by continued economic and cultural dependence upon France, provoking resentment and sparking the rotaka, popular movements among farmers and students that ultimately ushered in the socialist Democratic Republic of Madagascar under Admiral Didier Ratsiraka (1975–1992) distinguished by economic isolationism and political alliances with pro-Soviet states. As Madagascar's economy quickly unraveled, standards of living declined dramatically and growing social unrest was increasingly met with violent repression on the part of the Ratsiraka government. By 1992, free and fair multiparty elections were held, ushering in the democratic Third Republic (1992–2009). Under the new constitution, the Malagasy public elected successive presidents Albert Zafy, Didier Ratsiraka, and Marc Ravalomanana. This latter was ousted in the 2009 Malagasy political crisis by a popular movement under the leadership of Andry Rajoelina, then-mayor of Antananarivo, in what was widely characterized as a coup d'état. Rajoelina ushered in the Malagasy constitutional referendum, 2010 and ruled Madagascar as president of the High Transitional Authority without recognition from the international community. Elections were held on December 20, 2013, to elect a new president and return the country to constitutional governance.

Archaeological evidence for date of first settlement

The earliest unambiguous evidence of continuous human presence in Madagascar was found at Andavakoera and dates to 490 CE, and there is no archaeological evidence for human occupation in the highlands until around 1200. However, there is scattered evidence for much earlier human visits.

In 2009, archaeological excavations at Christmas River (south-central Madagascar) by Pat Wright and James Hansford located a purported elephant bird kill site, with bones showing human cut marks. These were dated to 8,500 BCE, but as yet there is no indication as to the identity of the hunters. Archaeological finds such as cut marks on bones found in the northwest and stone tools in the northeast indicate that Madagascar was visited by foragers around 2000 BCE.

There is potential evidence in the form of a cutmarked subfossil lemur bone from a palaeontological site, Taolambiby, in the southwest. One date was obtained, calibrated 530 to 300 BC (Godfrey & Jungers 2003). The cutmarking looks plausible, but there is a potential problem of old carbon from the limestone landscape compromising the date, and there are no associated artifacts or archaeological sites in the vicinity. Nearly contemporaneous potential evidence comes from cannabis or humulus pollen which occurs in a pollen column from the central highlands at an interpolated date of c. 2200 Before Present (BP). There is a hypothesis that cannabis may have reached Africa 3000 years ago.

Necho II's Phoenician expedition c. 595 BCE circumnavigated Africa but did not see Madagascar when passing through the Mozambique Channel, as it stayed within sight of the African mainland. The island was likely uninhabited.

Finally, a cutmarked pygmy hippo bone from Ambolisatra has been dated and calibrated to between 60 BC and 130 AD (2 SDs), but it is from a coastal swamp without indications of settlement in a heavily karstic region. Moreover, a similar bone from the same collection from a nearby site gave two widely divergent dates of 2020 and 3495 BC (MacPhee & Burney 1991). Transient visits to Madagascar that did not result in enduring settlement cannot be ruled out, and may have left some traces.

A common Austronesian origin: The Vahoaka Ntaolo
Factual information about the peopling of Madagascar remains incomplete, but much recent multidisciplinary research and work in archaeology, genetics, linguistics,  and history  confirms that the Malagasy people were originally and overwhelmingly Austronesian peoples native to the Sunda Islands. They probably arrived on the west coast of Madagascar with outrigger canoes (waka) at the beginning of our era or as much as 300 years sooner according to archaeologists, and perhaps even earlier under certain geneticists' assumptions. On the basis of plant cultigens, Blench proposed the migrations occurred "at the earliest century BCE". Archaeological work of Ardika and Bellwood suggests migration between 500 and 200 BCE.

The Borobudur Ship Expedition in 2003–2004 affirmed scholars' ideas that ships from ancient Indonesia could have reached Madagascar and the west African coast for trade from the 8th century and after. A traditional Borobudur ship with outriggers was reconstructed and sailed in this expedition from Jakarta to Madagascar and Ghana. As for the ancient route, one possibility is that Indonesian Austronesians came directly across the Indian Ocean from Java to Madagascar. It is likely that they went through the Maldives where evidence of old Indonesian boat design and fishing technology persists until the present. The Malagasy language originated from the Southeast Barito language, and Ma'anyan language is its closest relative, with numerous Malay and Javanese loanwords. It is known that Ma'anyan people were brought as laborers and slaves by Malay and Javanese people in their trading fleets, which reached Madagascar by ca. 50–500 AD. These pioneers are known in the Malagasy oral tradition as the Ntaolo, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tau-ulu, literally 'first men', from *tau, 'man', and *ulu, 'head; first; origin, beginning. It is likely that those ancient people called themselves *va-waka, "the canoe people" from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *va, 'people', and *waka 'canoe'. Today the term vahoaka means 'people' in Malagasy.

The Southeast Asian origin of the first Malagasy people explains certain features common among the Malagasy, for instance, the epicanthic fold common among all Malagasy whether coastal or highlands, whether pale, dark or copper skinned. This original population (vahoaka ntaolo) can be called the "Proto-Malagasy". They are the source of:
 * the Malagasy language, common to the whole island, which shares many common roots with the Austronesian languages of Barito subgroup, which originated in South Kalimantan, such as Ma'anyan.
 * Malagasy cultural traditions shared with Austronesians of Taiwan, the Pacific Islands, Indonesia, New Zealand, and the Philippines including ancient customs, such as burying the dead within a canoe in the sea or in a lake, the cultivation of traditional Austronesian crops such as taro or saonjo, banana, coconut, and sugar cane, traditional architecture with a square house plan, music and musical instruments such as the antsiva conch, the hazolahy drum, the atranatrana xylophone, sodina flute, or the valiha tube zither, and dance, including the "bird dance" found both in central and southern regions.

As for the cause of the coming of these Austronesians, the history of the Indian Ocean from the early first millennium CE is still poorly understood. Madagascar may have played an important role in the trade of spices (especially cinnamon) and timber between Southeast Asia and the Middle East, directly or through the African coast and Madagascar.

Vazimba and Vezo
The first known concentrated population of human settlers emerged along the southeastern coast of the island, although the first landfall may have been made on the northern coast. Upon arrival, early settlers practiced tavy (slash-and-burn agriculture) to clear the virgin coastal rainforests for the cultivation of their crops. The first settlers encountered Madagascar's wealth of megafauna, including giant lemurs, elephant birds, giant fossa and the Malagasy hippopotamus, which have since become extinct due to hunting and habitat destruction.

By 600, groups of these early settlers had moved inland and began clearing the forests of the central highlands (Imerina), where they particularly planted taro (saonjo) and probably rice (vary). These Vahoaka Ntaolo, hunters-gatherers and farmers, who decided to settle "in the forest", especially in the forests of the central highlands are known by the tradition as the Vazimba (from *ba/va-yimba- 'those of the forest', from *yimba- 'forest' in Proto–Southeast Barito, today barimba or orang rimba in Malay ). Rafandrana, an ancestor of the Merina royal dynasty, for example, is known to have been a Vazimba. Rafohy and Rangita, the two founding queens of the Merina royalty, were also called Vazimbas.

On the other side, the fishermen who, from the beginning, remained on the southwestern coast (probably the coasts of the first landing) were, according to the linguists, probably originally called the Vezo (from *ba/va/be/ve-jau – "those of the coast", borrowed from Proto-Malayo-Javanese, today veju in Bugis, bejau in Malay, and bajo in Javanese ), which today is still the name of a Southwestern tribe.

After the arrival of the newcomers (see below), as growing population density necessitated higher crop yields, irrigated rice paddies emerged in Betsileo country by 1600 and were complemented with terraced paddies throughout the central highlands a century later. Zebu were introduced around 1000 by Bantu-speaking migrants from the African Great Lakes region (see below), who maintained large herds. The rising intensity of land cultivation and the ever-increasing demand for zebu pasturage in the central highlands had largely transformed the region from a forest ecosystem to barren grassland by the 17th century.

Traders, explorers, and immigration (700–1500)
By the mid-first millennium (ca 700) until about 1500, the inner Vazimbas as much as the coastal Vezos clans welcomed new visitors or immigrants. These goods and/or slave traders came from the Middle East (Shirazi Persians, Omani Arabs, Arab Jews), Africa (Swahilis), and from Asia (Gujaratis, Malays, Javanese, Bugis). They were sometimes integrated within the coastal Vezos and the inner Vazimbas clans.

Omani Arabs (from the 7th century)
The written history of Madagascar begins in the 7th century when Omanis established trading posts along the northwest coast and introduced Islam, the Arabic script (used to transcribe the Malagasy language in a form of writing known as the sorabe alphabet), Arab astrology and other cultural elements. During this early period, Madagascar served as an important transoceanic trading port for the East African coast that gave Africa a trade route to the Silk Road and served simultaneously as a port for incoming ships. There is evidence that Bantu or Swahili sailors or traders may have begun sailing to the western shores of Madagascar as early as around the 6th and 7th century.

According to the traditions of some Malagasy peoples, the first Bantus and Arabs to settle in Madagascar came as refugees from the civil wars that followed the death of Muhammad in 632. Beginning in the 10th or 11th century, Arabic and Zanzibari slavers worked their way down the Swahili coast in their dhows and established settlements on the west coast of Madagascar. Notably they included the Zafiraminia, traditional ancestors of the Antemoro, Antanosy and other east coast ethnicities. The last wave of Arab immigrants, the Antalaotra, immigrated from Swahili colonies. They settled the northwest of the island (the Mahajanga area) and introduced, for the first time, Islam to Madagascar.

Arab immigrants, though few in number compared to the native Austronesians and Bantus, nevertheless left a lasting impression. The Malagasy names for seasons, months, days, and coins in certain regions come from Arabic origins, as do cultural features such as the practice of circumcision, the communal grain-pool, and different forms of salutation (such as salama).

Neo-Austronesians: Malays, Javanese, Bugis, and Orang Laut (from the 8th century)

According to oral tradition, new Austronesian clans (Malays, Javanese, Bugis, and Orang Laut), historically referred to in general, regardless of their native island, as the "Hova" (from Old Bugis uwa, "commoner") landed in the north-west and east coast of the island. Adelaar's observations of Old Malay (Sanskritised), Old Javanese (Sanskritised) and Old Bugis borrowings in the initial Proto-Southeast-Barito language indicate that the first Hova waves came probably in the 7th century at the earliest. Marre and Dahl pointed out that the number of Sanskrit words in Malagasy is very limited compared with the large number now found in Indonesian languages, which means that the Indonesian settlers must have come at an early stage of Hindu influence, that is ca. 400 AD.

The Hova were probably derived from Indonesian thalassocracies. Their leaders were known as the diana in the Southeast and andriana or raondriana in the Center and the West (from (ra)-hadi-an, "lord" or "master" in Old Javanese, modern Javanese raden, also found in the Bugis noble title andi and the Tagalog word for "king" hari). They for the most part allied with Vazimba clans:
 * In the Northwest area of the current Ankoala (from kuala, "estuary" in Malay and Indonesian) where the Hova Orang Laut (Antalaotra in Malagasy) had probably established their base for their Indian Ocean operations.
 * On the east coast (Betsimisaraka) where the Hova leaders were also called Filo (ha) be by the "neo-Vezo" clans.
 * In the southeast where the leaders ("Diana") of the Zafiraminia and Zafikazimambo clans allied with the "neo-Vezo" and founded the later Antaisaka, Antaimoro and Antambahoaka kingdoms.
 * In the west: the Maroserana dynasty which founded the Sakalava Kingdom is itself a result of Zafiraminia on the east coast.
 * In the Center where repeated alliances among the Hova leaders (the andriana) (such as Andrianerinerina, Andriantomara and their descendants ) with the chiefs of Vazimba clans (such as Rafandrana and his descendants ) led to the Merina and Betsileo Kingdoms.

With the arrival of Islam, Persian and Arab traders soon supplanted the Indonesians on the coast of Africa and eventually extended their control over the Comoro Islands and parts of the coast of Madagascar. Meanwhile, with competition in the new joint naval powers of Song China and Chola South India, the thalassocracies of Indonesia were in rapid decline, though the Portuguese still encountered Javanese sailors in Madagascar in the sixteenth century.

Bantus (from the 9th century)
There is archaeological evidence that Bantu peoples, agro-pastoralists from East Africa, may have begun migrating to the island as early as the 6th and 7th century. Other historical and archaeological records suggest that some of the Bantus were descendants of Swahili sailors and merchants who used dhows to traverse the seas to the western shores of Madagascar. Finally some sources theorize that during the Middle Ages, Arab, Persian and Neo-Austronesian slave-traders brought Bantu people to Madagascar transported by Swahili merchants to feed foreign demand for slaves. Years of intermarriages created the Malagasy people, who primarily speak Malagasy, an Austronesian language with Bantu influences. There are consequently many (Proto-)Swahili borrowings in the initial Proto-SEB Malagasy language. This substratum is especially significantly present in the domestic and agricultural vocabulary (e.g. omby or aombe, "beef", from Swahili ng'ombe; tongolo "onion" from Swahili kitunguu; Malagasy nongo "pot" from nunggu in Swahili ).

Europeans (from 1500)

Europe knew of Madagascar through Arab sources; thus The Travels of Marco Polo claimed that "the inhabitants are Saracens, or followers of the law of Mohammed", without mentioning other inhabitants. Other than its size and location, everything about the island in the book describes southeastern Africa, not Madagascar. European contact began on 10 August 1500, when the Portuguese sea captain Diogo Dias sighted the island after his ship separated from a fleet going to India. The Portuguese traded with the islanders and named the island São Lourenço (Saint Lawrence). In 1666, François Caron, the director general of the newly formed French East India Company, sailed to Madagascar. The company failed to establish a colony on Madagascar but established ports on the nearby islands of Bourbon (now Réunion) and Isle de France (now Mauritius). In the late 17th century, the French established trading posts along the east coast. On Île Sainte-Marie, a small island off the northeastern coast of Madagascar, Captain Misson and his pirate crew allegedly founded the famous pirate utopia of Libertatia in the late 17th century. From about 1774 to 1824, Madagascar was a favourite haunt for pirates. Many European sailors were shipwrecked on the coasts of the island, among them Robert Drury, whose journal is one of the few written depictions of life in southern Madagascar during the 18th century. Sailors sometimes called Madagascar "Island of the Moon".

European settlements
By the 15th century, Europeans had wrested control of the spice trade from the Muslims. They did this by bypassing the Middle East and sending their cargo-ships around the Cape of Good Hope to India. The Portuguese mariner Diogo Dias became the first European to set foot on Madagascar when his ship, bound for India, blew off course in 1500. In the ensuing 200 years, the English and French tried (and failed) to establish settlements on the island.

Fever, dysentery, hostile Malagasy, and the trying arid climate of southern Madagascar soon terminated the English settlement near Toliara in 1646. Another English settlement in the north in Île Sainte-Marie came to an end in 1649. The French colony at Tôlanaro (Fort Dauphin) fared a little better: it lasted thirty years. On Christmas night 1672, local Antanosy tribesmen, perhaps angry because fourteen French soldiers in the fort had recently divorced their Malagasy wives to marry fourteen French orphan-women sent out to the colony, massacred the fourteen grooms and thirteen of the fourteen brides. The Antanosy then besieged the stockade at Tôlanaro for eighteen months. A ship of the French East India Company rescued the surviving thirty men and one widow in 1674.

In 1665, François Caron, the Director General of the newly formed French East India Company, sailed to Madagascar. The Company failed to found a colony on Madagascar but established ports on the nearby islands of Bourbon and Île-de-France (today's Réunion and Mauritius respectively). In the late 17th century, the French established trading-posts along the east coast.

Pirates and slave-traders
Between 1680 and 1725, Madagascar became a pirate stronghold. Many unfortunate sailors became shipwrecked and stranded on the island. Those who survived settled down with the natives, or more often, found French or English colonies on the island or even pirate havens and thus became pirates themselves. One such case, that of Robert Drury, resulted in a journal giving one of the few written depictions of southern Madagascar in the 18th century.

Notable pirates including William Kidd, Henry Every, John Bowen, and Thomas Tew made Antongil Bay and Île Sainte-Marie (a small island 12 miles off the northeast coast of Madagascar) their bases of operations. The pirates plundered merchant ships in the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf. They deprived Europe-bound ships of their silks, cloth, spices, and jewels. Vessels captured going in the opposite direction (to India) lost their coin, gold, and silver. The pirates robbed the Indian cargo ships that traded between ports in the Indian Ocean as well as ships commissioned by the East India Companies of France, England, and the Netherlands. The pilgrim fleet sailing between Surat in India and Mocha on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula were a favorite target, because the wealthy Muslim pilgrims often carried jewels and other finery with them to Mecca. Merchants in India, various ports of Africa, and Réunion showed willingness to fence the pirates' stolen goods. The low-paid seamen who manned merchant ships in the Indian Ocean hardly put up a fight, seeing as they had little reason or motivation to risk their lives. The pirates often recruited crewmen from the ships they plundered.

With regard to piracy in Malagasy waters, note the (semi-)legendary accounts of the alleged pirate-state of Libertalia.

Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, certain Malagasy tribes occasionally waged wars to capture and enslave prisoners. They either sold the slaves to Arab traders or kept them on-hand as laborers. Following the arrival of European slavers, human slaves became more valuable, and the coastal tribes of Madagascar took to warring with each other to obtain prisoners for the lucrative slave-trade. Instead of spears and cutlasses, the tribesmen fought with muskets, musket-balls, and gunpowder that they obtained from the Europeans, conducting fierce and brutal wars. On account of their relationship to the pirates, the Betsimisaraka in eastern Madagascar had more firearms than anyone else. They overpowered their neighbors, the Antankarana and Tsimihety, and even raided the Comoro Islands. As the tribe on the west coast with the most connections to the slave trade, the Sakalava people also had access to guns and powder.

Today, the people of Madagascar can be considered as the product of mixing between the first occupants, the vahoaka ntaolo Austronesians (Vazimba and Vezo) and those arrived later (Hova neo-Austronesians, Persians, Arabs, Africans and Europeans).

Genotypically, the original Austronesian heritage is more or less evenly distributed throughout the island. Researchers have noticed the "Polynesian motif" everywhere: an old marker of Austronesian populations from before the great immigration to the islands of Polynesia and Melanesia. This fact would require a starting common home among the Proto-Malagasy vahoaka ntaolo (gone west to Madagascar) and the ancestors of the current Polynesians (left for the Pacific Islands in the East) between 500 BCE – 1 CE.

Rise of the great kingdoms
Those new immigrants of the Middle Ages were a minority in numbers, yet their cultural contributions, political and technological to the neo-Vazimba and neo-Vezo world substantially altered their society and is the cause of the major upheavals of the sixteenth century that led to the Malagasy feudal era.

On the coasts, the integration of the East Asians, Middle Easterns, Bantus and Portuguese led to the establishment of the kingdoms of the Antakarana, Boina, Menabe and Vezo on the west coast, the Mahafaly and Antandroy in the south, and the Antesaka, Antambahoaka, Antemoro, Antanala and Betsimisaraka on the east coast.

In the interior, the struggle for hegemony between the different Neo-Vazimba clans of central highlands, called the Hova by the coastal Neo-Vezo clans, led to the creation of the Merina, Betsileo, Bezanozano, Sihanaka, Tsimihety and Bara kingdoms.

The birth of these kingdoms/tribes essentially altered the political structure of the ancient world of the Vahoaka Ntaolo, but for the most part the common language, customs, traditions, religion and economy was preserved.

Among the Central Kingdoms, the most important were the Betsileo kingdoms (Fandriana, Fisakana, Manandriana, Isandra) to the south, and the Merina kingdoms to the north. These were definitively unified in the early 19th century by Andrianampoinimerina. His son and successor Radama I (reigning 1810–1828) opened his country to foreign influence. With the support of the British, he extended its authority over much of the island. From 1817, the central Merina kingdoms, Betsileo, Bezanozano, and Sihanaka, unified by Radama I were known to the outside world as the Kingdom of Madagascar.

Sakalava
The island's West clan chiefs began to extend their power through trade with their Indian Ocean neighbors, first with Arab, Persian and Somali traders who connected Madagascar with East Africa, the Middle East and India, and later with European slave traders. The wealth created in Madagascar through trade created a state system ruled by powerful regional monarchs known as the Maroserana. These monarchs adopted the cultural traditions of subjects in their territories and expanded their kingdoms. They took on divine status, and new nobility and artisan classes were created. Madagascar functioned as a contact port for the other Swahili seaport city-states such as Sofala, Kilwa, Mombasa and Zanzibar. By the Middle Ages, large chiefdoms began to dominate considerable areas of the island. Among these were the Betsimisaraka alliance of the eastern coast and the Sakalava chiefdoms of the Menabe (centered in what is now the town of Morondava) and of Boina (centered in what is now the provincial capital of Mahajanga). The influence of the Sakalava extended across what are now the provinces of Antsiranana, Mahajanga and Toliara.

The island's chiefs began to extend their power through trade with their Indian Ocean neighbours, notably East Africa, the Middle East and India. Large chiefdoms began to dominate considerable areas of the island. Among these were the Sakalava chiefdoms of the Menabe, centred in what is now the town of Morondava, and of Boina, centered in what is now the provincial capital of Mahajanga (Majunga). The influence of the Sakalava extended across what are now the provinces of Antsiranana, Mahajanga and Toliara.

According to local tradition, the founders of the Sakalava kingdom were Maroseraña (or Maroseranana, "those who owned many ports") princes, from the Fiherenana (now Toliara). They quickly subdued the neighbouring princes, starting with the southern ones, in the Mahafaly area. The true founder of Sakalava dominance was Andriamisara; his son Andriandahifotsy (c. 1610–1658) then extended his authority northwards, past the Mangoky River. His two sons, Andriamanetiarivo and Andriamandisoarivo, extended gains further up to the Tsongay region (now Mahajanga). At about that time, the empire's unity starts to split, resulting in a southern kingdom (Menabe) and a northern kingdom (Boina). Further splits resulted, despite continued extension of the Boina princes' reach into the extreme north, in Antankarana country.

The Sakalava rulers of this period are known through the memoirs of Europeans such as Robert Drury, James Cook, Barnvelt (1719), Valentyn (1726).

Merina monarchy
King Andrianampoinimerina (1785–1810) and his son, Radama I (1810–1828) succeeded in uniting nearly all of Madagascar under Merina rule. These kings and their successors descended from a line of ancient Merina royalty who ruled the lands of Imerina in the central Highlands of Madagascar since at least the 16th century. Even prior to their eventual domination and unification of the entire island, the political and cultural activities of Merina royalty were to leave an indelible mark on contemporary Malagasy identity.

With the establishment of dominion over the greater part of the Highlands, Andrianampoinimerina became the first Merina monarch to be considered a king of Madagascar. The island continued to be ruled by a succession of Merina monarchs until the last of them, Ranavalona III, was deposed and exiled to Algeria by French forces who conquered and colonized the island in 1895.

King Andrianampoinimerina
Andrianampoinimerina, grandson of King Andriambelomasina and successor to his uncle King Andrianjafy, successfully reunited the fragmented Merina kingdom through a combination of diplomacy, strategic political marriages and successful military campaigns against rival princes. Andrianampoinimerina distinguished himself from other kings by codifying laws and supervising the building of dikes and trenches to increase the amount of arable land around his capital at Antananarivo in a successful bid to end the famines that had wracked Imerina for decades. The king ambitiously proclaimed: Ny ranomasina no valapariako (“the sea is the boundary of my rice-field”), and by the time of his death in 1810 he had conquered the Bara and Betsileo highland tribes, laying the groundwork for expansion of his kingdom to the shores of the island.

King Radama I (1810–1828)
Andrianampoinimerina's son Radama I (Radama the Great) assumed the throne during a turning-point in European history that had repercussions for Madagascar. With the defeat of Napoléon in 1814/1815, the balance of power in Europe and overseas shifted in Britain's favor. The British, eager to exert control over the trade routes of the Indian Ocean, had captured the islands of Réunion and Mauritius from the French in 1810. Although they returned Réunion to France, they kept Mauritius as a naval base which would maintain trade links throughout the British Empire. Mauritius's governor, in a bid to woo Madagascar from French control, recognized Radama I as King of Madagascar, a diplomatic maneuver meant to underscore the idea of the sovereignty of the island and thus to preclude claims by any European powers.

Radama I signed treaties with the United Kingdom outlawing the slave trade and admitting Protestant missionaries into Madagascar. As a result of these treaties Protestant missionaries from Britain would spread British influence in Madagascar; while outlawing the slave trade would weaken Réunion's economy by depriving the island of slave laborers for France's sugar plantations. In return for outlawing the slave trade, Madagascar received what the treaty called "The Equivalent": an annual sum of a thousand dollars in gold, another thousand in silver, stated amounts of gunpowder, flints, and muskets, plus 400 surplus British Army uniforms. The governor of Mauritius also sent military advisers who accompanied and sometimes led Merina soldiers in their battles against the Sakalava and Betsimisaraka. In 1824, having defeated the Betsimisaraka, Radama I declared, "Today, the whole island is mine! Madagascar has but one master." The king died in 1828 while leading his army on a punitive expedition against the Betsimisaraka.

Queen Ranavalona I (1828–1861)
The 33-year reign of Queen Ranavalona I, the widow of Radama I, was characterized by an increase in the size of the Kingdom of Madagascar as it conquered neighboring states as well as an effort to maintain the cultural and political sovereignty of Madagascar in the face of increasing foreign influence. The queen repudiated the treaties that Radama I had signed with Britain and, in 1835 after issuing a royal edict prohibiting the practice of Christianity in Madagascar, she expelled British missionaries from the island and began persecuting Christian converts who would not renounce their religion. Malagasy Christians would remember this period as ny tany maizina, or "the time when the land was dark". During her reign regular warfare, disease, slavery, difficult forced labor and harsh measures of justice (Tangena ordeal) resulted in a high mortality rate among soldiers and civilians alike during her 33-year reign, with Madagascar's population reducing from 5 million in 1833 to 2.5 million in 1839.

Unbeknownst to the queen, her son and heir, the crown-prince (the future Radama II), attended Roman Catholic masses in secret. The young man grew up under the influence of French nationals in Antananarivo. In 1854, he wrote a letter to Napoléon III inviting France to invade and uplift Madagascar. On 28 June 1855 he signed the Lambert Charter. This document gave Joseph-François Lambert, an enterprising French businessman who had arrived in Madagascar only three weeks before, the exclusive right to develop all minerals, forests, and unoccupied land in Madagascar in exchange for a 10-percent royalty payable to the Merina monarchy. In years to come, the French would show the Lambert Charter and the prince's letter to Napoléon III to explain the Franco-Hova Wars and the annexation of Madagascar as a colony. In 1857, the queen uncovered a plot by her son (the future Radama II) and French nationals in the capital to remove her from power. She immediately expelled all foreigners from Madagascar, sparing her son. Ranavalona died in 1861.

King Radama II (1861–1863)
In his brief two years on the throne, King Radama II re-opened trade with Mauritius and Réunion, invited Christian missionaries and foreigners to return to Madagascar, and re-instated most of Radama I's reforms. His liberal policies angered the aristocracy, however, and Rainivoninahitriniony, the prime minister, engineered a coup d'état in which Radama II was strangled to death.

Queen Rasoherina (1863–1868)
A council of princes headed by Rainilaiarivony approached Rabodo, the widow of Radama II, the day after the death of her husband. They gave her the conditions under which she could succeed to the throne. These conditions included the suppression of trial by ordeal as well as the monarchy's defense of freedom of religion. Rabodo, crowned queen on 13 May 1863 under the throne name of Rasoherina, reigned until her death on 1 April 1868.

The Malagasy people remember Queen Rasoherina for sending ambassadors to London and Paris and for prohibiting Sunday markets. On 30 June 1865, she signed a treaty with the United Kingdom giving British citizens the right to rent land and property on the island and to have a resident ambassador. With the United States of America she signed a trade agreement that also limited the importation of weapons and the export of cattle. Finally, with France the queen signed a peace between her descendants and the descendants of the Emperor of France. Rasoherina married her prime minister, Rainivoninahitriniony, but public outcry against his involvement in the murder of Radama II soon forced his resignation and exile to Betsileo country south of Imerina. She then married his brother, Rainilaiarivony, head of the army at the time of Radama II's murder who was promoted to the post of Prime Minister upon the resignation and exile of his older brother. Rainilaiarivony would rule Madagascar from behind the scenes for the remaining 32 years of the Merina monarchy, marrying each of the final three queens of Madagascar in succession.

Queen Ranavalona II (1868–1883)
In 1869, Queen Ranavalona II, previously educated by the London Missionary Society, underwent baptism into the Church of England and subsequently made the Anglican faith the official state religion of Madagascar. The queen had all the sampy (traditional royal idols) burned in a public display. Catholic and Protestant missionaries arrived in numbers to build churches and schools. The reign of Queen Ranavalona II proved the high water mark of British influence in Madagascar. British goods and weapons arrived on the island by way of South Africa.

Queen Ranavalona III (1883–1897)
Her public coronation as queen took place on 22 November 1883 and she took the name Ranavalona III. As her first order of business she confirmed the nomination of Rainilaiarivony and his entourage in their positions. She also promised to do away with the French threat.

End of the monarchy
Angry at the cancellation of the Lambert Charter and seeking to restore property seized from French citizens, France invaded Madagascar in 1883 in what became known as the first Franco-Hova War (Hova as a name referring to the Merina aristocrats). At the war's end, Madagascar ceded Antsiranana (Diégo Suarez) on the northern coast to France and paid 560,000 gold francs to the heirs of Joseph-François Lambert. In Europe, meanwhile, European diplomats had worked out an agreement whereby Britain, in order to establish control over the Sultanate of Zanzibar, ceded its rights over the island of Heligoland to Germany and renounced all claims of influence in Madagascar in favor of France. The agreement spelled the end of the Madagascan political independence. Rainilaiarivony had succeeded in playing the various European powers against one another, but now France could act without fear of British support towards the Madagascans.

In 1895, a French flying column landed in Mahajanga (Majunga) and marched by way of the Betsiboka River to the capital, Antananarivo, taking the city's defenders by surprise (they had expected an attack from the much closer east coast). Twenty French soldiers died fighting and 6,000 died of malaria and other diseases before the second Franco-Hova War ended. In 1896 the French Parliament voted to annex Madagascar. The 103-year-old Merina monarchy ended with the royal family sent into exile in Algeria.

International recognition and modernization of the Kingdom (1817–1895)
The kingdom of Madagascar continued its transformation throughout the 19th century from a locally grown monarchy into a modern state.

Before Radama I the Malagasy language was written in a script known as sorabe. In 1820 under the direction of David Jones, a Welsh missionary of the London Missionary Society, Radama I codified the new Malagasy Latin alphabet of 21 letters which replaced the old sorabe alphabet. By 1830 the Bible was the first book written in this new Malagasy Latin alphabet. It is the oldest complete translation of the bible into a sub-Saharan African language.

The United States and the Kingdom of Madagascar concluded a commercial convention in 1867 after which Queen Rasoherina and Prime Minister Rainilaiarivoy exchanged gifts with president Andrew Johnson. A treaty of peace, friendship, and commerce was then signed in 1881.

During the reign of Ranavalona I, early attempts at industrialization took place from 1835 under the direction of the French Jean Laborde (a survivor of a shipwreck off the east coast), producing soap, porcelain, metal tools and firearms (rifles, cannons, etc.)..

In 1864 Antananarivo opened the first hospital and a modern medical school. Two years later appeared the first newspaper. A scientific journal in English (Antananarivo Annual) was released from 1875. In 1894, on the eve of the establishment of colonial rule, the schools of the kingdom, mainly led by the Protestant missions, were attended by over 200,000 students.

French colonization
In 1750, the ruler of the Kingdom of Betsimisaraka, Bety of Betsimisaraka, ceded the island Nosy Boraha (Île Sainte-Marie) to the Kingdom of France. However, in 1752 the French Colonists were massacred when the local population rebelled. France left the settlement abandoned for roughly half a century until returning in 1818.

In 1840 Tsiomeko, the ruler of Nosy Be island, accepted French protection in 1840. The French took possession of the island in 1841, and in 1849 an unsuccessful attempt was made to expel them.

In the Berlin Treaty, the British accepted the claims of France to exert its influence on Madagascar, and after the first Franco-Hova Wara treaty of alliance between France and Madagascar was signed on 17 December 1885 by Queen Ranavalona III, granting France a protectorate over the Diego-Suarez bay and surrounding territory, as well as the islands of Nosy-Be and Île Sainte-Marie.

Disagreements on the implementation of this treaty served as a pretext for the French invasion of 1895, which first met little resistance. The authority of the prime minister Rainilaiarivony, in power since 1864, had become very unpopular with the public.

The British accepted the imposition of a French protectorate over Madagascar in 1890 in return for recognition of British sovereignty over Zanzibar (subsequently part of Tanzania) and as part of an overall definition of spheres of influence in the area. The intention of the French was initially to maintain the protectorate in order to control the economy and foreign relations of the island. But later, the outbreak of the Menalamba rebellion and the arrival of General Gallieni (responsible for "pacifying" the country) in 1896 led to the colonization of the island and the exile of the queen to Algeria.

In 1904–1905 Madagascar was the scene of a large-scale uprising by various tribes and tribal leaders, among whom Kotavy, a former French corporal who defected to the rebels, filled a preponderant role.

Malagasy troops fought in France, Morocco, and Syria during World War II. Prior to the implementation of the Final Solution, Nazi Germany had considered the Madagascar Plan, which would have relocated European Jews to Madagascar. After France fell to the Germans in 1940, the Vichy government administered Madagascar until 1942, when British and Commonwealth troops occupied the strategic island in the Battle of Madagascar. The United Kingdom handed over control of the island to Free French Forces in 1943.

Revolt and decolonization (1947–1960)
In 1948, with French prestige at a low ebb, the French government, headed by Prime Minister Paul Ramadier of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) party, suppressed the Madagascar revolt, a nationalist uprising.

The French subsequently established reformed institutions in 1956 under the Loi Cadre (Overseas Reform Act), and Madagascar moved peacefully toward independence. The Malagasy Republic, proclaimed on 14 October 1958, became an autonomous state within the French Community. On 26 March 1960 France agreed to Madagascar becoming fully independent. On 26 June 1960 Madagascar became an independent country and Philibert Tsiranana became its first president.

First Republic (1960–1972)
Tsiranana's rule represented continuation, with French settlers (or colons) still in positions of power. Unlike many of France's former colonies, the Malagasy Republic strongly resisted movements towards communism.

In 1972, protests against these policies came to a head and Tsiranana had to step down. He handed power to General Gabriel Ramanantsoa of the army and his provisional government. This régime reversed previous policy in favour of closer ties with the Soviet Union.

On 5 February 1975, Colonel Richard Ratsimandrava became the President of Madagascar. After six days as head of the country, he died in an assassination while driving from the presidential palace to his home. Political power passed to Gilles Andriamahazo.

Second Republic (1972–1991)
On 15 June 1975, Lieutenant-Commander Didier Ratsiraka (who had previously served as foreign minister) came to power in a coup. Elected president for a seven-year term, Ratsiraka moved further towards socialism, nationalising much of the economy and cutting all ties with France. These policies hastened the decline in the Madagascan economy that had begun after independence as French immigrants left the country, leaving a shortage of skills and technology behind. Ratsiraka's original seven-year term as president continued after his party (Avant-garde de la Révolution Malgache or AREMA) became the only legal party in the 1977 elections.

In the 1980s, Madagascar moved back towards France, abandoning many of its communist-inspired policies in favour of a market economy, though Ratsiraka still kept hold of power.

Eventually, opposition, both within and without, forced Ratsiraka to consider his position and in 1992 the country adopted a new and democratic constitution.

Third Republic (1991–2002)
The first multi-party elections came in 1993, with Albert Zafy defeating Ratsiraka. Despite being a strong proponent of a liberal, free-market economy, Zafy ran on a ticket critical of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. During his presidency the country struggled to implement IMF and World Bank guidelines that were, on the short term, suicidal politically.

As president Zafy was frustrated by the restraints placed upon the powers of his office by the new constitution. His quest for increased executive power put him on a collision course with the parliament led by then prime minister Francisque Ravony. Zafy eventually won the power he sought after but suffered impeachment at the hands of the disenfranchised parliament in 1996 for violating the constitution by refusing to promulgate specific laws.

The ensuing elections saw a turnout of less than 50% and unexpectedly resulted in the re-election of Didier Ratsiraka. He moved further towards capitalism. The influence of the IMF and the World Bank led to widespread privatisation.

Opposition to Ratsiraka began to grow again. Opposition parties boycotted provincial elections in 2000, and the 2001 presidential election produced more controversy. The opposition candidate Marc Ravalomanana claimed victory after the first round (in December) but the incumbent rejected this position. In early 2002 supporters of the two sides took to the streets and violent clashes took place. Ravalomanana claimed that fraud had occurred in the polls. After an April recount the High Constitutional Court declared Ravalomanana president. Ratsiraka continued to dispute the result but his opponent gained international recognition, and Ratsiraka had to go into exile in France, though forces loyal to him continued activities in Madagascar.

Post-Ratsiraka
Ravalomanana's Tiako I Madagasikara party achieved overwhelming electoral success in December 2001 and he survived an attempted coup in January 2003. He used his mandate to work closely with the IMF and the World Bank to reform the economy, to end corruption and to realise the country's potential. Ratsiraka went on trial (in absentia) for embezzlement (the authorities charged him with taking $8m of public money with him into exile) and the court sentenced him to ten years' hard labour.

Ravalomanana is credited with improving the country's infrastructure, such as roads, along with making improvements in education and health, but has faced criticism for his lack of progress against poverty; purchasing power is said to have declined during his time in office. On 18 November 2006, his plane was forced to divert from Madagascar's capital during a return trip from Europe following reports of a coup underway in Antananarivo and shooting near the airport; however, this alleged coup attempt was unsuccessful.

Ravalomanana ran for a second term in the presidential election held on December 3, 2006. According to official results, he won the election with 54.79% of the vote in the first round; his best results were in Antananarivo Province, where he received the support of 75.39% of voters. He was sworn in for his second term on January 19, 2007.

Ravalomanana dissolved the National Assembly in July 2007, prior to the end of its term, following a constitutional referendum earlier in the year. Ravalomanana said that a new election needed to be held so that the National Assembly would reflect the changes made in this referendum.

He became involved in a political standoff after he closed the TV station belonging to Antananarivo mayor Andry Rajoelina. In January 2009, protests which then turned violent were organized and spearheaded by Andry Rajoelina, the mayor of the capital city of Antananarivo and a prominent opponent of President Ravalomanana.

The situation fundamentally changed on 10 March 2009 when army leaders forced the recently appointed defense secretary to resign (the previous one had decided to resign after the killings by the presidential guard on 7 February 2009). They also announced that they gave the opponents 72 hours to dialogue and find a solution to the crisis before they would take further action. This move came after the leaders of the main military camp had announced a day earlier that they would not execute orders coming from the presidency any more since their duty was to protect the people, and not to oppress them, as groups of the military had done over the last few days.

On 16 March 2009, the army seized the presidential palace in the centre of Antananarivo. Ravalomanana was not in the palace at the time. He handed his resignation to the army, which then decided to hand over power to his fierce political rival, Andry Rajoelina. The second round of the postponed presidential elections was held in December 2013 and the results were announced in January 2014. The winner and the next president was Hery Rajaonarimampianina. He was backed by Rajoelina who led the 2009 coup and still was very influential political figure.

In 2018 the first round of the presidential election was held on 7 November and the second round was held on 10 December. Three former presidents and the most recent president were the main candidates of the elections. Former president Andry Rajoelina won the second round of the elections. He was previously president from 2009 to 2014. Former president Marc Ravalomanana lost the second round and he did not accept the results because of allegations of fraud. Ravalomanana was president from 2002 to 2009. The most recent president Hery Rajaonarimampianina received very modest support in the first round. In January 2019 the High Constitutional Court declared Rajoelina as the winner of the elections and the new president.

In 2019, an epidemic of measles killed 1,200 people.

In 2021, Madagascar's worst drought in 40 years left more than a million people in southern Madagascar food insecure. This forced thousands of people to leave their homes to search for food.

In November 2023, Andry Rajoelina was re-elected to another term with 58.95% of the vote in the first round of the election. Turnout was 46.36%, the lowest in a presidential election in the country's history.

in English

 * Allen, Philip M. & Maureen Covell (2005). Historical Dictionary of Madagascar 2nd ed.  Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press.  ISBN 0-8108-4636-5.
 * Allen, Philip M. (1995).  Madagascar: Conflicts of Authority in the Great Island.  Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.  ISBN 0-8133-0258-7.
 * Blench, Roger, "Musical instruments and musical practices as markers of Austronesian expansion", 18th Congress of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, Manila, March 26, 2006.
 * Brown Mervyn (1978) Madagascar Rediscovered: A history from early times to independence
 * Brown, M. (1978) Madagascar Rediscovered: A History from Early Times to Independence (London: Damien Tunnacliff)
 * Burney, D.A., L.P. Burney, L.R. Godfrey, W.L. Jungers, S.M. Goodman, H.T. Wright, and A.J. Jull. 2004. "A chronology for late prehistoric Madagascar", Journal of Human Evolution, 47, 25–63.
 * Campbell, G. (1981) Madagascar and slave trade, 1850–1895, JAH
 * Colby, Reginald. "Madagascar: The Great Island" History Today (Jan 1962) 12#1 pp 33–41
 * Dahl, Otto Christian, Migration from Kalimantan to Madagascar, Oslo, Norwegian University Press, 1991. (ISBN 82-00-21140-1)
 * Edkvist, Ingela, The performance of tradition: an ethnography of Hira Gasy popular theatre in Madagascar, Dept. of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Uppsala University, 1997.
 * Hagelberg et alii, "A genetic perspective on the origins and dispersal of the Austronesians. Mitochondrial DNA variation from Madagascar to Easter islands"
 * Jones, Arthur M., Africa and Indonesia. The Evidence Of The Xylophone And Other Musical And Cultural Factors, Leiden, E.J.Brill, 1971.
 * Kent, Raymond K., From Madagascar to the Malagasy Republic, Greenwood Press, 1962. ISBN 0-8371-8421-5
 * Rabarioelina, Ndriana (Rev. Dr.) (2010), "Biblical Relations between Israel and Madagascar", Doctoral Thesis of Theology, SAHTS, États-Unis, 2010, 458 pages. Abstract in Saint-Alcuin House Journal, Volume 8, N°1, USA, 2011. And in Library of Congress, number, USA.
 * Randrianja Solofo, Ellis Stephen (2009), Madagascar. A short history, London, Hurst & Company, 2009.
 * Razafindrazaka, Harilanto, et alii (2009) "A new deep branch of Eurasian mtDNA macrohaplogroup M reveals additional complexity regarding the settlement of Madagascar", BMC Genomics.
 * Rebecca L. Green: Merina. The Rosen Publishing Group, New York, 1997, ISBN 0-8239-1991-9 (The heritage library of African peoples). Google Books
 * Schmidhoffer, August, «Some Remarks On The Austronesian Background of Malagasy Music », 2005.
 * Stephen Ellis and Solofo Randrianja, Madagascar – A short history, London, 2009
 * Thompson, V. (1965) The Malagasy Republic: Madagascar today. Stanford University Press.
 * Adelaar, K.A (2006), "The Indonesian migrations to Madagascar: Making sense of the multidisciplinary evidence", in Adelaar, Austronesian diaspora and the ethnogenesis of people in Indonesian Archipelago, LIPI PRESS.
 * Mervyn Brown (2000). A History of Madagascar. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers. ISBN 1-55876-292-2.
 * Bellwood, Peter, James J. Fox et Darrell Tryon (éds.), The Austronesians Historical and Comparative Perspectives, Australian National University, 2006

in French

 * Charlotte Liliane Rabesahala-Randriamananoro, Ambohimanga-Rova : approche anthropologique de la civilisation merina (Madagascar), Paris, Le Publieur, 2006, 393 p. (ISBN 2-85194-307-3. Texte remanié d’une thèse soutenue à l’Université de La Réunion en 2002. (French)
 * Rajaonarimanana, Narivelo (1990), Savoirs arabico-malgaches : la tradition manuscrite des devins Antemoro Anakara (Madagascar), Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales. (French)
 * Ramamonjy, Georges (1952), "De quelques attitudes et coutumes merina", dans Mémoires de l'Institut scientifique de Madagascar (Tananarive), série C, Sciences humaines, 1 (2), 1952, p. 181–196. (French)
 * Raombana (l'historien) (1809–1855), "Histoires", Edition Ambozontany, Fianarantsoa, 3 Volumes. (French)
 * Rombaka, Jacques Philippe (1963), Tantaran-drazana Antemoro-Anteony, Antananarivo, Imprimerie LMS, pp. 10–11. (French)
 * Rombaka, Jacques Philippe (1970), Fomban-drazana Antemoro – usages et coutumes antemoro, Ambozontany, Fianarantsoa, 121 p. (French)
 * de Coppet, Marcel, Madagascar, Paris, Encyclopédie de l'Empire français, 2 vol. 1947
 * Deschamps, Hubert, Madagascar, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1976.
 * Domenichini-Ramiaramana, Michel, Instruments de musique des Hautes-Terres de Madagascar, Master's thesis Paris 1982.
 * Fremigacci, Jean "La vérité sur la grande révolte de Madagascar", dans L’Histoire n°318, mars 2007, p. 36–43
 * Ricaut et alii (2009) A new deep branch of Eurasian mtDNA macrohaplogroup M reveals additional complexity regarding the settlement of Madagascar, BMC Genomics
 * Sachs, Curt, Les instruments de musique de Madagascar, Paris, Institut d’ethnologie, 1938.
 * Simon, Pierre (2006), La langue des ancêtres. Une périodisation du malgache de l’origine au XVIe siècle, Paris, L’Harmattan.
 * Vérin, Pierre, Madagascar, Paris, Karthala, 2000.

in Malagasy

 * Ramilison, Emmanuel (Pastor) (1951), Andriantomara-Andriamamilazabe. Loharanon' ny Andriana nanjaka eto Imerina, Imprimerie Ankehitriny. (Malagasy)
 * Rasamimanana, Joseph (Dr.) (1909) et Louis de Gonzague Razafindrazaka (Governor), Ny Andriantompokoindrindra, Antananarivo, 50 pages. (Malagasy)
 * Ravelojaona (Pastor) (1937–1970), Firaketana ny Fiteny sy ny Zavatra Malagasy, Encyclopedic Dictionary, Antananarivo, 5 Volumes. (Malagasy)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: History of Madagascar


text:
Demographics of Madagascar

Demographic features of the population of Madagascar include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Madagascar's population is predominantly of mixed Austronesian and East African origin.

Since the country's independence in 1960, three general census of population and dwellings (RGPH) have been conducted by the national statistics office INSTAT under the supervision of the ministry of economy. The first census in 1975 counted 7.4 million Malagasy people, the second one in 1993 censused 12.3 million citizens and the 18h May to 10 June 2018 census numbered 25 674 186 inhabitants.

Population
The problem with population estimation in Madagascar is that data is very old and limited. The last population census was carried out in 1993, after an initial 1975 census. There was an attempt at a census in 2009, but this attempt ultimately failed due to political instability. Therefore, the demographic situation is inferred but reliability of any estimates from any source has a large margin of error. According to the total population was  in, compared to only 4,084,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 43.1%, 53.8% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.1% was 65 years or older.

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2019) (Unrevised data. Data refer to projections based on the 1993 Population Census.):

UN population projections
UN medium variant projections:

Vital statistics
Registration of vital events in Madagascar is not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. Source: UN DESA, World Population Prospects, 2022

Fertility and births
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):

Fertility data as of 2008-2009 (DHS Program):

Life expectancy
Source: UN World Population Prospects

Ethnicity
The island of Madagascar is predominantly populated by people broadly classified as belonging to the Malagasy ethno-linguistic group. This group is further subdivided a number of ethnic groups, often into the standard eighteen. In addition, communities of Indians in Madagascar and Arabs and Somalis have long been established on the island and have assimilated into local communities to varying degrees, in some places having long since become identified "Malagasy" ethnic groups, and in others maintaining distinct identities and cultural separation. More recent arrivals include Europeans and Chinese immigrants.

Madagascar was probably uninhabited prior to Austronesian settlement in the early centuries AD. Austronesian (particularly Malay) features are most predominant in the central highlands peoples, while coastal peoples are phenotypically more East African, sometimes with minor Arab, Somali, European and Indian admixtures. The largest coastal groups are the Betsimisaraka (1,500,000) and the Tsimihety and Sakalava (700,000 each). Malagasy society has long been polarized between the politically and economically advantaged highlanders of the central plateaux and the people along the coast. For example, in the 1970s there was widespread opposition among coastal ethnics against the policy of "Malagasization" which intended to phase out the use of the French language in public life in favour of a more prominent position for the Malagasy language, whose orthography is based on the Merina dialect. Identity politics were also at the core of the brief civil unrest during 2002.

Indians in Madagascar descend mostly from traders who arrived in the newly independent nation looking for better opportunities. The majority of them came from the west coast of India known as Karana (Muslim) and Banian (Hindu). The majority speak Hindi or Gujarati, although some other Indian dialects are also spoken. the younger generations speak at least three languages, including French, Gujarati and Malagasy. A large number of the Indians in Madagascar have a high level of education, particularly the younger generation.

A sizeable number of Europeans also reside in Madagascar, mostly of French descent.

Religion

According to the 1993 national census, 41% of Malagasies practised Christianity and 52% practise traditional religion, which tends to emphasize links between the living and the razana (ancestors); by 2020, only 4.5% of Malagasies exclusively practised folk religions and 85% were Christian (according to the Pew Research Center). The Association of Religion Data Archives noted that in 2020, 58.1% of the population is Christian, 2.1% is Muslim and 39.2% practices traditional faiths, while 0.6% of the population is non-religious or adheres to other faiths.

Madagascar's traditional religions tend to emphasize links between the living and the dead. They believe that the dead join their ancestors in the ranks of divinity and that ancestors are intensely concerned with the fate of their living descendants. This spiritual communion is celebrated by the Merina and Betsileo reburial practice of famadihana, or "turning over the dead". In this ritual, relatives' remains are removed from the family tomb, rewrapped in new silk shrouds, and returned to the tomb following festive ceremonies in their honor. In the festivities, they eat, drink, and literally dance with the dead. After one or two days of celebrating, they shower the body with gifts and rebury it. Malagasy Christians are roughly 50% Catholic and 50% Protestant (mainly Reformed Protestant Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), Lutheran, and Anglican) or Roman Catholic, but there are also smaller groups such as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Eastern Orthodox Christians and evangelicals. Many incorporate the cult of the dead with their other religious beliefs and bless their dead at church before proceeding with the traditional burial rites. They also may invite a pastor to attend a famadihana. A historical rivalry exists between the predominantly Catholic masses, considered to be underprivileged, and the predominantly Protestant Merina aristocrats, who tend to prevail in the civil service, business, and professions. Followers of Islam constitute approximately 3% of the population in 2022, according to the US Department of State; there are also small numbers of Hindus and Jews. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had more than 13,000 members in 42 congregations in Madagascar in 2013.

A small community started practicing Judaism in 2010, and formally converted in 2016 with the assistance of Kulanu, a nonprofit organization focusing on remote Jewish communities.

Freedom of religion
In 2023, the country scored 3 out of 4 for religious freedom.

Other demographic statistics
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.

 * One birth every 35 seconds
 * One death every 3 minutes
 * One net migrant every 360 minutes
 * Net gain of one person every 42 seconds

The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.

Population

 * 28,172,462 (2022 est.)
 * 25,683,610 (July 2018 est.)

Age structure

 * 0-14 years: 38.86% (male 5,278,838/female 5,196,036)
 * 15-24 years: 20.06% (male 2,717,399/female 2,689,874)
 * 25-54 years: 33.02% (male 4,443,147/female 4,456,691
 * 55-64 years: 4.6% (male 611,364/female 627,315)
 * 65 years and over: 3.47% (male 425,122/female 509,951) (2020 est.)

 * 0-14 years: 39.55% (male 5,119,804 /female 5,037,438)
 * 15-24 years: 20.23% (male 2,608,996 /female 2,587,745)
 * 25-54 years: 32.42% (male 4,160,278 /female 4,166,538)
 * 55-64 years: 4.45% (male 560,072 /female 581,963)
 * 65 years and over: 3.35% (male 390,094 /female 470,682) (2018 est.)

Median age
total: 20.3 years. Country comparison to the world: 193rd male: 20.1 years female: 20.5 years (2020 est.)

 * total: 19.9 years. Country comparison to the world: 195th
 * male: 19.7 years
 * female: 20.1 years (2018 est.)

Birth rate

 * 28.68 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 33rd
 * 31 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 33rd

Death rate

 * 6 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 159th
 * 6.4 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 147th

Total fertility rate

 * 3.55 children born/woman (2023 est.) Country comparison to the world: 34th
 * 3.62 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 34th
 * 3.95 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 35th

Population growth rate

 * 2.27% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 34th
 * 2.46% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 24th

Mother's mean age at first birth

 * 19.5 years (2008/09 est.)
 * note: median age at first birth among women 25-29

Contraceptive prevalence rate

 * 44.4% (2018)
 * 39.8% (2012/13)

Net migration rate

 * 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 90th

Dependency ratios

 * total dependency ratio: 80.1 (2015 est.)
 * youth dependency ratio: 75 (2015 est.)
 * elderly dependency ratio: 5.1 (2015 est.)
 * potential support ratio: 19.6 (2015 est.)

Urbanization

 * urban population: 39.9% of total population (2022)
 * rate of urbanization: 4.26% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

 * urban population: 37.2% of total population (2018)
 * rate of urbanization: 4.48% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

The largest city in Madagascar is Antananarivo. The next largest cities are Toamasina, Antsirabe, Fianarantsoa, Mahajanga, Toliara, Antsiranana and Ambovombe.

Major infectious diseases

 * degree of risk: very high (2020)
 * food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
 * vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
 * water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
 * animal contact diseases: rabies

note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Madagascar is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

Religions
2020 figures
 * Christian (58.1%)
 * Muslim (2.1%)
 * Folk religions (39.2%)
 * No religious belief (0.6%)

(2021 est.)
 * Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar/Malagasy Lutheran Church/Anglican Church 34%
 * Roman Catholic 32.3%
 * other Christian 8.1%
 * traditional/Animist 1.7%
 * Muslim 1.4%
 * other 0.6%
 * none 21.9%

Sex ratio

 * at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
 * under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
 * 15–64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
 * 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
 * total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Nationality
noun: Malagasy (singular and plural) adjective: Malagasy

Ethnic groups
Malayo-Indonesian (Merina and related Betsileo), coastal ethnics (mixed African, Malayo-Indonesian, and Arab ancestry – Betsimisaraka, Tsimihety, Antaisaka, Sakalava), French, Indian, Creole, Comorian, Chinese

Languages
Malagasy (official, and national language), French (official).

Education expenditures

 * 2.9% of GDP (2019) Country comparison to the world: 158th

Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2018 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

 * total: 10 years
 * male: 10 years
 * female: 10 years (2018)

title: Demographics of Madagascar


text:
Politics of Madagascar

Politics of Madagascar takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, with a pluralist multi-party system. The President of Madagascar is head of state and the Prime Minister of Madagascar is head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the bicameral parliament, which is composed of the Senate and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Political history
Madagascar's first President, Philibert Tsiranana, was elected when his Social Democratic Party gained power at independence in 1960 and was reelected without opposition in March 1972. However, he resigned only 2 months later in response to massive anti-government demonstrations. The unrest continued, and Tsiranana's successor, Gen. Gabriel Ramanantsoa, resigned on February 5, 1975, handing over executive power to Lt. Col. Richard Ratsimandrava, who was assassinated 6 days later. A provisional military directorate then ruled until a new government was formed in June 1975, under Didier Ratsiraka.

During the 16 subsequent years of President Ratsiraka's rule, Madagascar continued under a government committed to revolutionary socialism based on the 1975 Constitution establishing a highly centralized state. During this period a strategy of nationalization of private enterprises, centralization of the economy and "Malgasization" of the education system crippled the economy, leaving traces even today of a highly centralized economic system and a high level of illiteracy. National elections in 1982 and 1989 returned Ratsiraka for a second and third 7-year presidential term. For much of this period, only limited and restrained political opposition was tolerated, with no direct criticism of the president permitted in the press.

With an easing of restrictions on political expression, beginning in the late 1980s, the Ratsiraka regime came under increasing pressure to make fundamental changes. In response to a deteriorating economy, Ratsiraka relaxed socialist economic policies and instituted some liberal, private-sector reforms. These, along with political reforms like the elimination of press censorship in 1989 and the formation of more political parties in 1990, were insufficient to placate a growing opposition movement known as Hery Velona ("Active Forces"). A number of already existing political parties and their leaders, among them Albert Zafy and Manandafy Rakotonirina, anchored this movement which was especially strong in Antananarivo and the surrounding high plateau.

In response to largely peaceful mass demonstrations and crippling general strikes, Ratsiraka replaced his prime minister in August 1991 but suffered an irreparable setback soon thereafter when his troops fired on peaceful demonstrators marching on Iavoloha, the suburban presidential palace, killing more than 30.

In an increasingly weakened position, Ratsiraka acceded to negotiations on the formation of a transitional government. The resulting "Panorama Convention" of October 31, 1991, stripped Ratsiraka of nearly all of his powers, created interim institutions, and set an 18-month timetable for completing a transition to a new form of constitutional government. The High Constitutional Court was retained as the ultimate judicial arbiter of the process.

In March 1992, a widely representative National Forum organized by the FFKM (Malagasy Christian Council of Churches) drafted a new Constitution. Troops guarding the proceedings clashed with pro-Ratsiraka "federalists" who tried to disrupt the forum in protest of draft constitutional provisions preventing the incumbent president from running again. The text of the new Constitution was put to a nationwide referendum in August 1992 and approved by a wide margin, despite efforts by federalists to disrupt balloting in several coastal areas.

Presidential elections were held on November 25, 1992, after the High Constitutional Court had ruled, over Hery Velona objections, that Ratsiraka could become a candidate. Runoff elections were held in February 1993, and the leader of the Hery Velona movement, Albert Zafy, defeated Ratsiraka. Zafy was sworn in as President on March 27, 1993. After President Zafy's impeachment by the National Assembly in 1996 and the short quasi-presidency of Norbert Ratsirahonana, the 1997 elections once again pitted Zafy and Ratsiraka, with Ratsiraka this time emerging victorious. A National Assembly dominated by members of President Ratsiraka'a political party AREMA subsequently passed the 1998 Constitution, which considerably strengthened the presidency.

In December 2001, a presidential election was held in which both major candidates claimed victory. The Ministry of the Interior declared incumbent Ratsiraka of the AREMA party victorious. Marc Ravalomanana contested the results and claimed victory. A political crisis followed in which Ratsiraka supporters cut major transport routes from the primary port city to the capital city, a stronghold of Ravalomanana support. Sporadic violence and considerable economic disruption continued until July 2002 when Ratsiraka and several of his prominent supporters fled to exile in France. In addition to political differences, ethnic differences played a role in the crisis and continue to play a role in politics. Ratsiraka is from the coastal Betsimisaraka tribe and Ravalomanana comes from the highland Merina tribe.

After the end of the 2002 political crisis, President Ravalomanana began many reform projects, forcefully advocating "rapid and durable development" and the launching of a battle against corruption. December 2002 legislative elections gave his newly formed TIM (Tiako-I-Madagasikara) (I Love Madagascar) Party a commanding majority in the National Assembly. November 2003 municipal elections were conducted freely, returning a majority of supporters of the president, but also significant numbers of independent and regional opposition figures.

Following the crisis of 2002, the President replaced provincial governors with appointed PDSs (Presidents des Delegations Speciales). Subsequent legislation established a structure of 22 regions to decentralize administration. In September 2004, the Government named 22 Regional Chiefs, reporting directly to the President, to implement its decentralization plans. Financing and specific powers for the regional administrations remain to be clarified.

After being re-elected in 2006, Ravalomanana's government was dissolved in March 2009, in a militarily-backed uprising led by Andry Rajoelina. Rajoelina formed a High Transitional Authority of which he was the 'Transitional Head of State'. So far he has held a referendum, in November 2010, to update the constitution. Despite an alleged coup during, this was approved, and new elections were scheduled to be held in July 2013.

The second round of the postponed presidential elections was held in December 2013 and the results were announced in January 2014. The winner and the next president was Hery Rajaonarimampianina. He was backed by Rajoelina who led the 2009 coup and still was very influential political figure.

In 2018 the first round of the presidential election was held on 7 November and the second round was held on 10 December. Three former presidents and the most recent president were the main candidates of the elections. Former president Andry Rajoelina won the second round of the elections. He was previously president from 2009 to 2014. Former president Marc Ravalomana lost the second round and he did not accept the results because of allegations of fraud. Ravalomana was president from 2002 to 2009. The most recent president Hery Rajaonarimampianina received very modest support in the first round. In January 2019 the High Constitutional Court declared Rajoelina as the winner of the elections and the new president. In June 2019 parliamentary elections the party of president Andry Rajoelina won absolute majority of the seats of the National Assembly. It received 84 seats and the supporters of former president Ravalomana got only 16 seats of 151 seats of the National Assembly. 51 seats of deputies were independent or represented small parties. President Rajoelina could rule as a strongman.

In November 2023, Andry Rajoelina was re-elected to another term with 58.95% of the vote in the first round of the election. Turnout was 46.36%, the lowest in a presidential election in the country's history.

Executive branch
The president is elected by direct universal suffrage for a 5-year term, renewable twice. A Prime Minister and council of ministers carries out day-to-day management of government. The President appoints the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister and members of Parliament initiate legislation and the government executes it. The President can dissolve the National Assembly. For its part, the National Assembly can pass a motion of censure and require the Prime Minister and council of ministers to step down. The Constitutional Court approves the constitutionality of new laws.
 * President
 * Andry Rajoelina
 * Young Malagasies Determined
 * 27 October 2023
 * Prime Minister
 * Christian Ntsay
 * Independent
 * 6 June 2018
 * }
 * }

Ministers

 * Serge Gelle, Police Minister

Legislative branch
The Parliament has two chambers. The National Assembly (Antenimieram-Pirenena/Assemblée Nationale) has 160 members, elected for a five-year term in single-member and two-member constituencies. The Senate (Sénat) has 33 members; 22 are indirectly elected, one from each of the 22 regions of Madagascar, and 11 are appointed by the President.

Administrative divisions
Territorial administration is to be determined by legislation. In an effort to decentralize administration, the constitution calls for the six provinces (faritany) to become autonomous. The provinces are Antananarivo, Antsiranana, Fianarantsoa, Mahajanga, Toamasina, Toliara.

International organization participation
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Notable people

 * Pierre Ramampy, politician
 * Roseline Emma Rasolovoahangy, candidante for president

title: Politics of Madagascar