Country Information on Madagascar 

Terrain

Madagascar was torn from the African mainland around 165 million years ago by continental drift. The island is characterised by a central mountainous plateau, which is partly of volcanic origin. The highest peak in the country, Maromokotro (at 2,876 m), is located in the north. This high area suddenly drops to meet a narrow coastal strip in the east, which lies on the Indian Ocean. To the west it gradually descends to a wider coastal plain along the Mozambique Channel.

Climate

Madagascar has a tropical climate. The highlands, however, are cool enough to grow apples and stone fruit, and there are even vineyards above 800m. Snow is not uncommon on the island's highest peaks. Monsoons come from the north-west and most of the rain hits the east coast and the north, but the plateau in the south-west remains almost completely dry. From January to March, the eastern coast, the far north and sometimes the far south are sometimes hit by devastating cyclones.

Fauna/Flora

Madagascar is like a continent in itself, with distinctive climatic conditions and many endemic species. Madagascar has one the greatest biodiversities in the world. It and the nearby Comoros have nearly a quarter of all the plant species in Africa. It also has 90% of the known species of lemurs, and half the world's chameleon species. There are giant baobab trees, and unique species of cacti and aloe plants grow in the dry regions. When the first settlers arrived, they applied slash-and-burn techniques to clear the way for agriculture, so only around 15% of the original forest remains. Much of the wood that had been felled was used as firewood in homes.

History/Politics

The first to settle in Madagascar were seafarers who came for unknown reasons to the island between the 1st and the 5th century AD. Madagascar was first mentioned in Marco Polo's accounts of his travels, though Arab cartographers already knew of its existence. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive, in a fleet under the command of Diego Dias in 1500. However, they lost interest in the island given its lack of gold, ivory and spices.

The first Sakalawa and Betsilea kingdoms were founded in the 16th century, followed by the Merina Kingdom in the 17th century. One century later, King Nanpoina started the island's unification process, which was completed by his son, Radama I (1810-1828). Radama's death sparked lengthy wars of succession and the island was declared a French colony in 1896. The colonial years saw deforestation and the creation of sugar cane, cotton and coffee plantations. Settlers and foreign companies took possession of the most-fertile land and local workers were employed in slave-like conditions.

Over the decades that followed, the discontent with French rule increased. An uprising in 1947 demanded political rights and economic improvements. It was suppressed by French troops which led to the loss of thousands of lives. France took steps to increase the island's self-administration a few years later. A congress of the members of the provincial councils in 1958 declared Madagascar a semi-autonomous member of the French Community under the name of the Malagasy Republic. On 1 November of the same year, Philibert Tsiranana, leader of the Social Democratic Party, took office as president and head of state and the republic gained complete independence on 26 June 1960.

After a decade of stability, Madagascar had a political crisis and the president was forced to resign. A military junta suspended the constitution, and dissolved the National Assembly and the Senate. In 1975 Colonel Didier Ratsiraka was appointed head of state and renamed the country the Democratic Republic of Madagascar. The economic crisis in 1980 aggravated the population's difficult social situation and caused uprisings that were suppressed by the government.

In August 1992 a new constitution was approved in a referendum. Albert Zafy won the presidential elections, defeating Ratsiraka. President Zafy was impeached by the constitutional tribunal in September 1996 for abuse of office. A few months later, in the presidential elections of 1996, Ratsiraka was re-elected head of state of Madagascar. The elections of 2001 did not produce a clear winner, so the votes were recounted. In 2002, the constitutional tribunal declared Marc Ravalomanana winner, which led to hostilities between the two parties and almost resulted in civil war. In the end, Ratsiraka left the country, which stabilised the situation. In 2004 and 2005 tropical cyclones and rain caused flooding which led to the deaths of around 25,000 people. Many people were left homeless and great damage was caused to the country's food production system.

Economy

Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world. Agriculture is the largest economic sector and provides employment for almost 80% of the country's workforce. However, because the country is so mountainous, only 5% of the land is cultivable. The main agricultural products are rice, manioc, beans, bananas maize, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.

These commodities are mainly grown for subsistence. Madagascar exports coffee, cloves, sugar cane, sisal, tobacco, and vanilla, which accounts for about 80% of the world vanilla market. Livestock farming (of cattle, goats and pigs) is particularly important. The leading branch of industry is food processing (meat packing, breweries, sugar refineries). In 2003, the inflation rate was 1% and the unemployment rate was 5.9%.

Culture

Various important festivals are celebrated in Madagascar. The Madagascan New Year is in March and people celebrate the Donia, a traditional music festival held on the island of Nosy Be in May or June. Fisemana is a ritual purification ceremony in June. Famadihana takes place some time between June and September to commemorate the dead. The Gasytsara contemporary music festival takes place in Tana in November or December.