Madagascar

Relief

Situated between 2,500 and 4,500 feet (800 and 1,400 metres) above sea level, the plateau has been uplifted and worn down several times and is tilted to the west. Three massifs are more than 8,500 feet high. The Tsaratanana region in the north is separated from the rest of the plateau by the Tsaratanana Massif, whose summit at an elevation of 9,436 feet (2,876 metres) is the highest point on the island. Ankaratra Massif in the centre is an enormous volcanic mass whose summit, Tsiafajavona, is 8,668 feet high. Ankaratra is a major watershed divide separating three main river basins. Farther south, Andringitra is a vast granite massif north of Tôla&numl;aro (Faradofay); it rises to 8,720 feet at Boby Peak.

The plateau slopes more regularly toward the extreme southern plain, but its boundaries to the east and west are more abrupt. To the east it descends in a sharp fault, by vertical steps of 1,000 to 2,000 feet. This cliff, which is called the Great Cliff or Cliff of Angavo, is often impassable and is itself bordered by the Betsimisaraka Escarpment, a second and lower cliff to the east, which overhangs the coastal plain.

Behind the scarp face are the remains of ancient lakes, including one called Alaotra. To the south the two steep gradients meet and form the Mahafaly and the Androy plateaus, which overhang the sea in precipitous cliffs. Toward the west the descent is made in a series of steps. In places, however, the central plateau is bordered by an impassable escarpment, such as the Cliff of Bongolava in the west-central part of the island. To the extreme north the plateau is bordered by the low belt of the Ambohitra Mountains, which include a series of volcanic craters.

The coastal strip has an average width of 30 miles. It is a narrow alluvial plain that terminates in a low coastline bordered with lagoons linked together by the Pangalanes (Ampangalana) Canal, which is some 400 miles long. To the south of Farafangana the coast becomes rocky, and in the southeast there occur many little bays. To the northeast is the deep Bay of Antongil (Antongila).

The western zone is between 60 and 125 miles wide. Its sedimentary layers slope toward the Mozambique Channel and produce a succession of hills. The inland (eastern) side of these steep hills dominates the hollows formed in the soft sediments of the interior, while the other side descends to the sea in rocky slopes. The coastline is straight, bordered by small dunes and fringed with mangroves. The currents in the Mozambique Channel have favoured the offshore deposit of alluvium and the growth of river deltas. On the northwestern coast there are a number of estuaries and bays. This coast is bordered by coral reefs and volcanic islands, such as Nosy Be (Nossi-Bé), which protects Ampasindava Bay.

Jean Dresch

Drainage and soils

Climate

The hot, wet season extends from November to April and the cooler, drier season from May to October. The climate is governed by the combined effects of the moisture-bearing southeast trade and northwest monsoon winds as they blow across the central plateau. The trade winds, which blow throughout the year, are strongest from May to October. The east coast is to the windward and receives a high annual rate of precipitation, reaching nearly 150 inches (3,800 millimetres) at Maroantsetra on the Bay of Antongil. As the winds cross the plateau, they lose much of their humidity, causing only drizzle and mists on the plateau itself and leaving the west in a dry rain shadow. The southwest in particular is almost desert, with the dryness aggravated by a cold offshore current.

The monsoon, bringing rain to the northwest coast of Madagascar and the plateau, is most noticeable during the hot, humid season. The wind blows obliquely onto the west coast, which receives a moderate amount of precipitation annually; the southwest, which is protected, remains arid. Annual rainfall drops from 83 inches on the northwestern island of Nosy Be to 37 inches at Maintirano on the west coast to 14 inches at Toliara in the southwest. The plateau receives moderate rains, with 53 inches falling annually at Antananarivo and 48 inches at Fianarantsoa, which lies about 200 miles farther south.

July is the coolest month, with mean monthly temperatures around the island ranging from a low of about 50 °F (10 °C) to a high of about 78 °F (26 °C), and December is the hottest month, with temperatures between 61 and 84 °F (16 and 29 °C). Temperatures generally decrease with elevation, being highest on the northwest coast and lowest on the plateau.

Tropical cyclones are an important climatic feature. They form far out over the Indian Ocean, especially from December to March, and approach the eastern coast, bringing torrential rains and destructive floods.

Plant and animal life

A small stream winding through a forest, eastern Madagascar. [Credit: © Christopher Call Productions]

Coquerel's sifaka, a type of lemur found in Madagascar. [Credit: © Christopher Call Productions]

Panther chameleon, Madagascar. [Credit: © Corbis]

Coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) [Credit: Peter Green—Ardea Photographics]

Settlement patterns

Farming community near Antananarivo, Madag. [Credit: © Christopher Call Productions]

The older villages of the Merina and Betsileo were often perched on hilltops and defended by huge ditches. Today, villages have been rebuilt on lower ground, and hamlets and homesteads are scattered over the landscape. On the plateau, cattle enclosures are built of stone walls; the landscape is also dotted with funerary monuments, which take the form of beautifully carved wooden posts.

The upper section of Fianarantsoa, Madagascar [Credit: Agence Hoa-Qui]

Racial or economic separation is not noticeable in the older cities such as Antananarivo and Fianarantsoa, but the newer towns are often divided into socioeconomic sectors. Because of recent internal migration, most of the cities are composed of a mixture of ethnic groups.

Population groups

Madagascar has been inhabited by human beings for the relatively short period of only about 1,300 years. Language and culture point unequivocally to Indonesian origins, but there is no empirical evidence of how, why, or by what route the first settlers came to the island. Studies of the winds and currents of the Indian Ocean indicate that the voyage from Indonesia could have been made. It is assumed that the original peopling of the island, however sparse, was accomplished by a single cultural group, probably as the result of a single voyage.

There is also widespread evidence from linguistics, archaeology, and tradition of influence from Afro-Arab settlers on the coasts before &AD; 1000. There is slighter evidence of an Indian influence in vocabulary, but there is no trace of Hinduism in Malagasy culture and of orthodox Islam only in later coastal settlements.

The inhabitants of Madagascar speak Malagasy, which, written in the Latin alphabet, is a standardized version of Merina, an Austronesian language. Although there are numerous local variations of Malagasy, they are all mutually intelligible. French is also widely spoken and is officially recognized. It is used as a medium of instruction, especially in the upper grade levels, as is Malagasy.

The population is divided into about 20 ethnic groups, the largest and most dominant of which is the Merina people, who are scattered throughout the island. The name Merina (Imerina) is said to mean Elevated People, deriving from the fact that they lived on the plateau. The second largest group is the Betsimisaraka (The Inseparable Multitude), who live generally in the east. The third most numerous group is the Betsileo (The Invincible Multitude), who inhabit the plateau around Fianarantsoa. Other important peoples are the Tsimihety (Those Who Do Not Cut Their Hair); the Sakalava (People of the Long Valley); the Antandroy (People of the Thorn Bush); the Tanala (People of the Forest); the Antaimoro (People of the Banks); and the Bara (a name of uncertain origin). Smaller groups are the Antanosy (People of the Island); the Antaifasy (People of the Sand); the Sihanaka (People of the Lake); the Antakarana (People of the Rocks); the Betanimena (People of the Red Soil), who are now largely absorbed by the Merina; the Bezanozano (Those with Many-Braided Hair); and the Mahafaly (Those Who Make Taboos). These ethnic names do not stand for clear-cut cultural boundaries, for in many cases one group fades imperceptibly into another. Moreover, the conventional translations are by no means reliable, and most of the names themselves are of somewhat recent origin, probably crystallized and rigidified by the exigencies of colonial administration more than by the realities of indigenous culture. In no sense are these groups to be regarded as “tribes,” a concept now considered invalid, nor are they composed of clans, but rather, in most cases, of endogamous and often non-unilinear descent groups.

About half of the population has been converted to Christianity, which is about equally divided between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. A sizable community of Muslims also is found in the northwest. The rest of the people continue to practice their traditional religion, which is based upon ancestor worship. The dead are buried in tombs and are believed to reward or punish the living. There is a supreme being called Zanahary (the Creator) or Andriamanitra (the Fragrant One). There is also a belief in local spirits, and a complex system of taboos constrains Malagasy life.

Demography

More than 95 percent of the population is Malagasy. The major foreign communities are French, Comorian, Indian and Pakistani, and Chinese. Births greatly outnumber deaths, and the population is growing at a relatively rapid rate. Government policy, however, opposes any form of population control. One-half of the population, moreover, is under age 17, portending continued high growth rates well into the 21st century.

Emigration of the French, Comorians, Indians and Pakistanis, and Chinese in the late 20th century has significantly reduced their populations. There has been, however, no significant emigration of Malagasy peoples abroad.

The eastern part of the central plateau is the region of highest population density, and the eastern coastal plain has the second highest density. The eastern forest zone and the northeastern coast densities vary but rank as the next most densely populated regions. Most of the western two-thirds of the country is sparsely inhabited.

The eastern half of the island contains almost all the major cities and towns. Antananarivo is the most populous city; perched on two precipitous mountain ridges, the old part of the city is dominated by the Manjakamiadana palace and has an extremely picturesque, almost medieval appearance.

Resources

The Great Red Island disappointed those who hoped to discover precious metals in large quantities. Considerable small-scale gold mining was conducted toward the end of the 19th century, by both French and Malagasy prospectors. There is a wide variety of semiprecious stones, but deposits are not of significant economic importance. Mineral deposits include chromite, which is found north of Antananarivo and in the southeast at Ranomena; ilmenite (titanium ore), found on the southeast coast at Tôla&numl;aro, a source thought to represent the world's largest reserve of titanium; low-grade iron ore, found in scattered deposits in the southern half of the island; low-grade coal north of Toliara and inland from Besalampy; nickel near Fianarantsoa; and copper north of Ampanihy and near Ambilobe. There also are smaller deposits of zircon, monazite, bauxite, lead, graphite, quartzite, jasper, gold, uranothorianite, bentonite, kaolin, and alunite. The various gems include garnet, amethyst, tourmaline, beryl, and columbite.

The eastern evergreen forest and the scattered remnants of deciduous forest are valuable for their timber. Except for fish and crustaceans, the indigenous animal life is of little economic importance. Domestic animals include the humped zebu (cattle of Asiatic derivation, doubtless brought from Africa), of great religious importance; goats; fat-tailed sheep; dogs; poultry; and pigs.

Although there are many narrow valleys and magnificent waterfalls, especially on the eastern escarpment, only a small number of them have been harnessed for electric power generation. Hydroelectric power stations provide about two-thirds of the country's electricity requirements; the remainder is supplied by coal-burning thermal stations. Many mines and factories also generate their own electricity with diesel- or steam-powered generators. Bituminous shales have been discovered at Bemolanga, oil at Tsimiroro, and natural gas off the coast of Morondava. The development of these resources remains commercially questionable, however.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

Madagascar's hilly terrain, heavily terraced to grow rice and other crops. [Credit: © Christopher Call Productions]

Slash-and-burn techniques (the temporary clearance of land for agriculture) are used in the escarpment forest and along the east coast. In the river valleys of the west, cultivation is permanent; irrigation techniques are heavily utilized.

Sugarcane is grown on plantations in the northwest, around Mahajanga, and on the east coast near Toamasina. Cassava (manioc) is a staple grown all over the island, and potatoes and yams are cultivated mainly in the highland region of Ankaratra. Bananas are produced commercially on the east coast, and corn (maize) is grown mainly on the central plateau, in the south, and in the west. Fruits include apples, grapefruits, avocado pears, plums, grapes, oranges, litchis, pineapples, guavas, pawpaws, passion fruits, and bananas. Robusta coffee is grown on the east coast and arabica coffee on the plateau. Other significant crops are beans, peanuts (groundnuts), pois du cap (lima beans), coconuts, pepper, vanilla, cacao, sisal, raffia, tobacco, copra, cotton, and castor beans.

Cattle (mainly zebu) are distributed throughout the island. The large numbers of pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys are found mainly on the plateau. The hoarding of cattle as a sign of wealth and for religious sacrifice has frustrated government efforts to increase the use of cattle for domestic meat consumption and for export.

Area of deforestation, Madagascar. [Credit: © Christopher Call Productions]

Fisheries are poorly developed and depend mostly on small traditional fishing communities on the west coast; production is badly adjusted to the island's needs and to the potential market. In the late 20th century, however, the industrialization of marine fishing was begun, and rivers, lakes, and irrigated rice fields were stocked with breeding fish. The inshore waters are fished, while the distant offshore waters are neglected; inland distribution of the fish caught is poor, except in main towns. The bulk of the catch is composed of fresh fish and crustaceans; some fish are dried. There is also considerable raising of fish in the irrigated rice fields, mainly for home consumption.

Industry

Mining and quarrying are little developed. The most important products are graphite, mica, monazite, quartz, garnet, amethyst, salt, and chromite. Less valuable amounts of gold, tourmaline, citrine, beryl, ilmenite, columbite, zircon, and jasper are produced as well. Merina jewelers polish and set semiprecious stones at small workshops in most of the towns of the plateau.

The country's manufacturing consists mainly of rice mills and small industrial establishments. More than half of the manufacturing is located in and around Antananarivo. Products include wood, paper pulp, cotton cloth, fertilizer, oils, soap, sugar, cigarettes and tobacco, sisal rope and mats, bricks, processed foods, and beverages. A small printing industry and several motor-vehicle assembly plants are also located there.

Finance and trade

The official currency is the ariary, which replaced the Malagasy franc in 2003. Prior to that, the Malagasy franc had replaced the CFA (Communauté Financière Africaine) franc in 1963, and Madagascar was a member of the Franc Zone until 1973. The Central Bank issues all currency.

The value of exports is derived mainly from coffee, cloves and clove oil, vanilla, sisal, raffia, sugar, rice, pepper, tobacco, peanuts, and petroleum products. Despite their variety, many of these, like coffee, cloves, vanilla, and sisal, are threatened by world overproduction or by the manufacture of synthetic substitutes. Imports include crude petroleum, chemical and metal products, machinery, vehicles, electrical equipment, cotton textiles, and essential foods. After 1972, trade with France fell sharply, although France remains Madagascar's main trading partner. Other important trading partners include the United States, Japan, and Italy.

Administration of the economy

Before 1972 the government had established producers' cooperatives, which collected and processed most of the rice crop (at prices that were bitterly resented by the peasants); state farms intended to increase the commercial production of rice, cattle, coffee, oil palms, cotton, and silk; a rural development program; and a national consumers' cooperative with retail shops located in most towns.

After a period of prolonged domestic turbulence from 1972 to 1975, a new emergent military regime replaced the already constrained free-trade economy with one whose goal was to achieve “a socialist paradise under divine protection” by the year 2000. Nationalization made state corporations out of foreign firms, transforming the five French banks into three state banks for agriculture, industry, and trade. In addition, foreign insurance companies were converted into two state insurance corporations, and state monopolies were formed for import-export trading and shipping and for the textile, cotton, and power industries, as well as for the new agencies created for the extension of irrigation.

The economy responded with a relentless decline. Exports fell, inflation rose, and debt expanded from $89 million in 1970 to $250 million in 1978 and $3.3 billion in 1988. Debt services took more than half of the country's export earnings, and imports nearly ceased for lack of foreign exchange. Industrial production fell to a quarter of the 1975 level, and foreign investment declined to almost nothing. Devaluation reduced the value of the Malagasy franc by 80 percent. Under these adverse conditions the country's infrastructure and social services deteriorated greatly. The rural population was reduced to subsistence levels, bartering with cattle and bags of paddy. By 1982 the country was technically bankrupt, forced to adopt a program of structural adjustment imposed by the International Monetary Fund and face a humiliating turnabout to reliberalize the economy. Abolition of the state monopolies was accepted, and any state enterprise that could not pay its way was threatened with privatization. Private business took years to regain any confidence, however.

Taxation is mainly indirect and is derived largely from various customs, import and export duties, and excise taxes. Direct taxes take the form of taxes on company income, registration fees, stamp duties, and personal taxes; the latter bear heavily on the peasants.

Most union members hold office jobs or work in industry. A popular and extensive trade union is the Union des Syndicats Autonomes de Madagascar, but the Sendika Kristianina Malagasy (Christian Confederation of Malagasy Trade Unions) claims more affiliated unions. The main employers' association is the Union des Syndicats d'Intérêt Économique de Madagascar.

Transportation

Transport facilities serve primarily the plateau and the east coast. Facilities are rudimentary on the western half of the island, although the country's best natural harbours are located there.

The majority of roads are unpaved. Roads down the eastern escarpment and across the western coastal strip, as well as minor roads everywhere, become impassable during the wet season. The main paved road runs south from Antananarivo to Fianarantsoa, where it branches southwest to Toliara, southeast to Tôla&numl;aro via Ihosy, and east to Mananjary and Manakara. Paved roads run east from Antananarivo toward Toamasina, west to Analavory, and north to Mahajanga and Antsiranana.

Two railways connect the plateau with the east coast; they run from Antananarivo to Toamasina and from Fianarantsoa to Manakara. Plateau routes run from Antananarivo south to Antsirabe, to Fianarantsoa, and north to Ambatondrazaka.

Dockside scene at Toamasina, Madagascar [Credit: J. Cannon—Ostman Agency]

Airfields are found throughout the island. The main international airport is at Ivato, near Antananarivo, and some international flights make secondary landings at Toamasina, Nosy Be, and Mahajanga. Air Madagascar provides internal service; its international flights are supplemented by those of several foreign airlines.

Government

The Malagasy Republic became independent in 1960, after a brief period as an autonomous republic in the French Community from 1958 (&see; History). Between 1972 and 1975 Madagascar was under military rule. Socialist political and economic reorganization was instituted in 1975, and a new constitution was implemented later that year for the renamed Democratic Republic of Madagascar. The public grew increasingly dissatisfied with the political and economic conditions of the country, and by the early 1990s the demand for change lead to a gradual transition to democracy and a free market economy. In 1992 the country adopted a new name, the Republic of Madagascar, along with a new constitution that was later revised in 1998.

Madagascar's current constitution provides for a president as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of government. The president is elected by popular vote to no more than three five-year terms. He appoints the prime minister and then appoints members of the Council of Ministers with the prime minister's recommendations. The legislative branch is bicameral and consists of the National Assembly and the Senate. The members of the National Assembly are directly elected for five-year terms, while the members of the Senate—some who are presidential appointments, others who are elected by local officials—all serve six-year terms.

Madagascar is divided into six autonomous provinces, which are further divided into regions and communes. Each province is administered by a governor and a provincial council.

Justice

The former Merina state that ruled the island throughout the 19th century had an elaborate system of laws, courts, and justice. The present legal system, however, is based upon French codes and practices. There is a Constitutional High Court, a High Court of Justice, a Supreme Court, a Court of Appeal, criminal tribunals, and tribunals of first instance.

The armed forces

The army played no direct political role in Madagascar until 1972, although the presence of French army units had bolstered the former government. The French troops were withdrawn in 1973, and the French naval base at Antsiranana was handed over to Madagascar in 1975. The Malagasy armed forces consist of an army, a navy, and an air force. There is also a large paramilitary force, as well as a secret police. Detachments of local police are stationed at the headquarters of each administrative division, as well as in Antananarivo. The whole force is under unified command and falls within the responsibility of the ministry of the interior.

Education

The educational system consists of primary and secondary schools, technical institutes, teacher-training colleges, and a university system. Enrollment at the University of Madagascar (founded in 1955) and its five regional branches has increased dramatically in the late 20th century. There has been an increased use of the Malagasy language in teaching, although some coastal peoples have objected because of the language's close relationship to the Merina people.

The level both of school attendance and of educational attainment is higher on the plateau than in the coastal areas. Protestant and Roman Catholic missions have been providing education since the 19th century, and the missions continue to educate a large proportion of the schoolchildren, although the government now maintains official schools at all levels and is attempting to phase out private education. In the main towns there are other privately run schools, catering to those unable to enter either government or mission schools. About two-thirds of Madagascar's population is literate, and the majority of illiterate persons are female.

Health and welfare

Malagasy doctors began to practice Western medicine in 1880; and a medical school was established in Antananarivo. The health system includes principal and secondary hospitals, dispensaries, and medical centres. Medical personnel include doctors, as well as pharmacists, dentists, midwives, social assistants, visiting nurses, and health assistants.

Hospitals and specialists are mainly in the towns, apart from some rural hospitals run by Christian missions. Health insurance and other social benefits are available mainly to better-paid workers and professionals among the employed population.

The extension of health services is largely credited for the steady population increase. Infant mortality remains high, but infant deaths from malaria, which is endemic all over the island, have been cut by half. Debilitating parasitic diseases, such as schistosomiasis, an infection of the bladder or intestines, remain serious and are hard to control since their breeding grounds are the irrigated rice fields and the streams that feed them. Venereal disease is also widespread, especially in its incipient form.

Housing

Houses surrounded by rice terraces, Madagascar. [Credit: James Martin—Stone/Getty Images]

The government-sponsored housing authority conducts research into design, materials, and production methods and is seeking to promote inexpensive urban housing, but the problem of overcrowding is expected to increase with continued urban growth. The existence of a well-established craft of house construction, however, may successfully alleviate housing pressures without resorting to imported materials or relying on foreign enterprise.

Social and economic divisions

Traditionally, society was divided into three castes—the nobles, the freemen, and the former slaves and their descendants. These social distinctions are no longer strict and are manifest only on ceremonial occasions, such as weddings and funerals. They do, however, form the basis of other economic and social distinctions. During the 19th century, the Merina elite conquered the island, established themselves as rulers, and adopted Protestant Christianity; in the late 1800s, some became Roman Catholics. Under French rule in the 20th century, the Merina retained their supremacy in education, business, and the professions, while the remainder of the population retained its sense of “difference” from the dominant peoples and some adopted Roman Catholicism.

A further distinction is made between the peoples of the plateau and those of the coast, who are called côtiers. The coastal peoples feel deprived of the education, power, and wealth that is concentrated on the plateau. Since independence, the government has been composed of côtiers, and a conscious effort has been made to keep the Merina elite of the plateau from power.

The cultural milieu

The culture is basically Indonesian. Arabic and Islamic contributions include an intricate system of divination, or sikidy, and calendrical features, such as the Arabic-derived names of the days of the week, which also apply to the markets held on those days. The coastal areas of the west, north, and south might be expected to show African cultural elements, but, apart from some Bantu words, these are often difficult to identify conclusively.

The state of the arts

The conquest of the plateau peoples by the French and their subsequent assimilation of Western values have deprived them of most of their traditional institutions. In music, however, Western dance and musical instruments have been adapted to Malagasy rhythms. The tube zither, the conch, and the cone drum are of Indonesian origin, while other types of drums and animal horns suggest African influence. Folk music has been retained, but much of the singing consists of Western church hymns and chants adapted to the distinctive Malagasy musical style.

Social and religious life on the plateau centres upon the church congregation, and the cultural emphasis on ancestral tombs is now largely expressed in Christian terms. More time, money, and care are spent on building tombs than houses. The dead are always brought back to their ancestral tombs, however long or far away they have spent their lives. Tombs are opened every few years, the remains taken out and carried in procession with much ceremony, then replaced after being rewrapped in new shrouds, which are still woven from locally produced silk, coloured with natural, herbal dyes. The male peasants wear cloth trousers with tunics reaching to the knees. Women wear cloth dresses but wrap a silk cloth under one arm and over the other shoulder, even when wearing Western fashions.

The coastal peoples have retained more of their traditional customs. Funeral practices are similar to those of the plateau, with local variations of detail. In the eastern forests men wear shorts rather than trousers, and many still wear the short tunic that is woven from raffia fibres. In the far south some older men wear a homespun silk cloth that is wrapped around the waist and between the legs, but most have adopted imported cotton clothes.

The Mahafaly have a remarkable wood-carving industry, and their tombs of coloured stones and carved wooden posts are the most beautiful on the island. The Betsileo also have a thriving wood-carving industry, making inlaid furniture of valuable hardwoods. They also produce ornamental cloths of very finely woven raffia and have become specialists in the production of coloured straw hats. Betsileo and Merina women have become experts in French-style embroidery, sewing, and dressmaking.

The Malagasy language is rich in proverbs, and there is now an extensive written literature including poetry, legend, history, and scholarly works, as well as contemporary themes. Literary production is aided by an excellent printing industry, for which the Merina have shown a flair since learning it from the London Missionary Society in the 1820s. The peoples of the southeast still preserve their manuscripts in Arabic script with great reverence; few can be more than 200 years old, although some may be copies of much earlier manuscripts.

Cultural institutions

The government encourages the blending of old and new cultural expressions, and a number of new seasonal festivals have been promoted, including the Festival of Rice, the Festival of the Trees, the Festival of the Party, and Independence Day. Towns, churches, schools, and private groups hold concerts or dances, and in the cities there are cultural associations based on the members' home districts.

Madagascar narrow-striped mongoose, one of the many animals unique to Madagascar in the Tsimbazaza &elipsis; [Credit: © Christopher Call Productions]

Sports and recreation

Mahamasina Stadium (foreground) and Lake Anosy (background), Antananarivo, Madag. [Credit: © Christopher Call Productions]

Tourists viewing a group of indri (a type of lemur, not pictured), an animal unique to Madagascar. [Credit: AP]

The press and broadcasting

There are daily and other newspapers published in French and Malagasy, and a government gazette is also published. The island receives radio, television, and telephone service.

Aidan William Southall

Early history

Major divisions of the Austronesian languages. [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]

As a people, the Malagasy represent a unique blend of Asian and African cultural features found nowhere else in the world. Although on the whole Asian features predominate, African ancestry is prevalent and African influences in Malagasy material and nonmaterial culture are widespread. The most plausible theory for this circumstance is that the seafarers from Indonesia who settled Madagascar initially arrived by way of eastern Africa and the Comoros after these areas had already been colonized by Bantu-speaking Africans. There is also some evidence that Bantu speakers inhabited portions of western Madagascar prior to the 17th century, only to eventually become completely assimilated into Malagasy culture. Even before &AD; 1000, important Afro-Arab influences entered Madagascar and spread through much of the island. Apart from the colonial French, settlers from overseas appear to have stopped coming to Madagascar by roughly 1600.

The kingdom of Madagascar

The French period

The colonial period (1896–1945)

French occupation soon extended to the entire part of the island conquered by the Merina. But, in Imerina itself, armed guerrilla bands (the Menalamba, or “Red Togas”) resisted modernization and French rule. The French parliament voted the annexation of the island on August 6, 1896, and sent General Joseph-Simon Gallieni first as military commander, then as governor-general. Slavery was abolished. Gallieni put down the insurrection, subdued the oligarchy, and sent the queen into exile on February 27, 1897. In 1898 the old Merina kingdom was pacified; Gallieni then undertook the difficult task of subjugating the independent peoples. Two insurrections, in the northwest (1898) and in the southeast (1904), were quickly put down, and, when he left the island in 1905, unification had been achieved. The Merina governors had been replaced by French administrators with leaders taken from local peoples. The teaching of French in the schools was made compulsory. Customs duties favoured French products, though Malagasy enterprise was also encouraged. The Tamatave-Antananarivo railroad was begun, roads were built, and a modern health service was inaugurated.

Monument to Malagasy soldiers who fought for France during World War I, Antananarivo, Madag. [Credit: © Christopher Call]

The economic development of the island continued under Gallieni's successors. The railroad and its branch lines were completed in 1913. A second line, the Fianarantsoa-Manakara, was finished in 1935. Automobile roads increased after 1920, airlines after 1936. The cities and seaports were built up and equipped, and loans were contracted in France. Exports were confined to agricultural products and raw materials for industry. Rice, cassava (manioc), rubber, raffia, meat, and graphite predominated at first. Between World Wars I and II, coffee, vanilla, cloves, and tobacco, introduced by the Europeans and then taken up by native planters, became more important. Three-quarters of all trade was with France. Material aspects of life became Westernized, especially in the cities, and half the population became Christianized.

In 1915 a nationalist secret society, the Vy Vato Sakelika (VVS), was outlawed. In 1920 a teacher, Jean Ralaimongo, launched a campaign in the press to give the Malagasy “subjects” French citizenship and to make Madagascar a French département. When France failed to respond to the demand for assimilation, the movement turned toward nationalism. In 1940 Madagascar, though hesitant at first, rallied to the Vichy government. Then came a blockade, occupation by the British and South Africans (1942), and finally a return to Free France.

The Malagasy Republic

The opposition regrouped under the name of Congress Party for the Independence of Madagascar (Ankoton'ny Kongresy ny-Fahaleovantena Malagasy), which included both Protestant Merina dissidents and communists. Antananarivo was this party's stronghold; it also had some support in the provinces but, owing to the electoral system established by the PSD, held only three seats in the legislature.

The PSD also settled the provincial question: executive power in the local assemblies was vested in a minister delegated by the central government. Tsiranana was elected president of the republic, and he was instrumental in obtaining its independence on June 26, 1960. Tsiranana and the PSD remained in power until 1972. Under his regime, successive development plans were inspired, according to Tsiranana, by a “grassroots socialism” and were aimed at improving the lot of the peasantry. In foreign policy, the bond with France remained strong, and close relations were established with the United States, West Germany, Taiwan, South Africa, and other anticommunist powers.

Tsiranana was reelected in January 1972, but political and labour unrest and his own poor health led him to appoint Major General Gabriel Ramanantsoa as prime minister with full powers of government. A plebiscite on October 8, 1972, confirmed Ramanantsoa as head of government; there was no longer a president after Tsiranana resigned on October 11. The new head of government initiated radically different foreign and domestic policies. Under new agreements with France, French military and naval forces were removed from the island, and all French citizens were to be treated as aliens. Ties were established with the Soviet Union and other communist nations, and the country was withdrawn from the Franc Zone. In 1973 a rural reorganization program—in which elected committees would sell produce to state-owned companies—was initiated, and the government began to take control of joint French-Malagasy organizations.

In the wake of political and social unrest, on February 5, 1975, Ramanantsoa handed power over to a former minister of the interior, Colonel Richard Ratsimandrava. He assumed the titles of president and prime minister but was assassinated six days later. A military directorate was then established; it dissolved on June 15, after naming Lieutenant Commander Didier Ratsiraka president and head of the Revolutionary Council. A referendum on December 21, 1975, approved Ratsiraka as president under a new constitution that set up the Democratic Republic of Madagascar. Ratsiraka, sworn in as president on January 4, 1976, continued the policies begun by Ramanantsoa. He nationalized the banks, insurance companies, and the nation's mineral resources and solidified his nation's ties with the communist powers. The formation in 1976 of the National Front for the Defense of the Revolution—a coalition of formerly banned political parties headed by Ratsiraka—further increased the president's control of the government and of Madagascar's political life.

Ratsiraka was reelected without opposition in 1983. Under the banner of scientific socialism he further extended government control over the economy. Despite several loans from the International Monetary Fund to help keep it afloat, however, the country's economy declined drastically. In 1986 Ratsiraka reversed the country's course completely. Laws were altered across the board to allow for a free market economy. In June 1990 France responded by forgiving Madagascar its huge debt of four billion French francs.

Hubert Jules Deschamps

Raymond K. Kent

Political unrest continued to plague Madagascar in the 1990s and 2000s, as it had for previous decades. Protests led to multiparty elections, and Albert Zafy became president in 1993. In July 1996 the National Assembly voted to impeach him for various constitutional violations. Despite this, Zafy declared himself a candidate for presidential elections held in November 1996, but he was narrowly defeated by Ratsiraka. During this term as president, Ratsiraka oversaw significant constitutional revisions.

The presidential election in 2001 brought forth the most serious political crisis in the country's history since independence. Although the election results did not indicate that any one candidate received the necessary number of votes to declare victory, Ratsiraka's main opponent, Marc Ravalomanana, claimed that he was the clear winner of the December election and that the results had been tampered with. Ravalomanana's supporters staged numerous demonstrations as well as a national strike that lasted several weeks. In February 2002 Ravalomanana declared himself president and began establishing his administration, despite the fact that the international community did not recognize him as the legitimate leader of the country and Ratsiraka still claimed the presidency. His supporters fought with those of Ratsiraka, with each side eventually controlling various sections of the country. In late April the country's Constitutional High Court declared Ravalomanana the winner of the disputed election, but fighting between the two sides did not cease until midsummer, when Ravalomanana's forces were able to take control over areas previously held by Ratsiraka's supporters, and Ratsiraka fled the country.

The political crisis weakened the country's economy and overall stability. Ravalomanana promptly addressed the situation, implementing economic reforms and working tirelessly to entice foreign investors back to the country; his efforts won praise from foreign donors and international organizations. Ravalomanana was gradually recognized by the international community as the legitimate leader of Madagascar, but he still had to deal with periodic unrest at home, including a failed coup attempt in 2003.

Ed.