Madagascar History, Geography, Economy and Important Events

People first settled in Madagascar 2000 years ago. The people of Madagascar were either Indonesians or people of mixed Indonesian / African descent. Arab traders arrived here around 800–900 AD. When merchants started trading along the northern coast. During the 1700s, the Sakalawa of the west coast established the first empire of Madagascar. In 1883, France invaded Madagascar and established its rule on the island by 1896, now it had become a French colony. In 1975, Didier Ratsiraka took control of the country. He ruled as a dictator until 1991, after a few years the country attained independence and it is a democratic state.

Madagascar is the 47th largest country in the world, the second largest island country and the fourth largest island. Madagascar's climate is highly variable due to its geography. Typically, Madagascar has two seasons: a warm, rainy season that lasts from November to April, and a cold, dry season that runs from May to October. Due to its geography, Madagascar's climate is highly variable. The central highlands are quite cold and dry, and it has most of Madagascar agriculture, especially rice farming. As a result of the island's long isolation from neighboring continents, Madagascar is home to various plants and animals found elsewhere on Earth. About 90% of all plant and animal species found in Madagascar are endemic. This specific ecology has led some ecologists to refer to Madagascar as the "eighth continent", and the island has been classified by Conservation International as a biodiversity hotspot.

The IMF forced the government of Madagascar to accept structural adjustment policies and liberalization of the economy when the country went bankrupt in 1982. The country was then gradually privatized to state-controlled industries in the 1980s. The 1991 political crisis led to the suspension of IMF and World Bank aid. The IMF agreed to write off half of Madagascar's debt in 2004 under the Rawlomanana administration. And finally Madagascar became the first country to benefit from the Millennium Challenge account in 2005. The main economic resources of Madagascar are tourism, textiles, agriculture and mining. Madagascar's natural resources include a variety of agricultural and mineral products. Agriculture (including growing of Rafia), mining, fishing and forestry are the mainstays of the economy. Madagascar is the world's leading supplier of vanilla, cloves and ylang-ylang.

The Malagasy language, of Austronesian origin, is commonly spoken throughout the island. The official languages ​​of Madagascar are Malagasy and French. Madagascar is a Francophone country, and French is spoken among the educated population of this former French colony. Among second-language speakers, Madagascar has more Malagasy speakers than French. In the first national constitution of 1958, Malagasy and French were designated the official languages ​​of the Republic of Malagasy.

Comoros [M] , France [M] , Mauritius [M] , Mozambique [M] , Seychelles [M] ,
Definition of international border: L = Land Border | M = Maritime Border