POPULATION 16,473,477
CHRISTIAN 48 percent
TRADITIONAL RELIGION 46 percent
MUSLIM 5.4 percent
OTHER 0.6 percent

Country Overview

Introduction

The island of Madagascar, which lies in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa, was uninhabited before the Common Era. Scholars generally agree that the island was first occupied by migrants from the Indonesian archipelago—hence the basically Austronesian character of Malagasy culture. Elements of Arabic culture were introduced among the island's coastal kingdoms between 1100 and 1400. The slave trade brought other influences, mainly from Africa. Conversely, many Malagasy were exported as slaves to every part of the world as a result of endless internecine wars between early Malagasy kingdoms.

The official prohibition of the slave trade by King Radama I in 1817, after a deal with the British, did not mean the end of the trade, but it did bring tremendous social changes. One of them was the effective adoption of Christianity in its...