Madagascar
Name
| Official name | Republic of Madagascar — Repoblikan'i Madagasikara · République de Madagascar |
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| Former names | The Kingdom of Madagascar (1817–1897) under the Merina; French Madagascar (1897–1958); the Malagasy Republic (1958–75); the Democratic Republic of Madagascar (1975–92) |
| Demonym | Malagasy; Madagascan also used |
| Meaning of the name | Madeigascar in Marco Polo's account of the 1290s, a confusion, most likely, with Mogadishu — the island's own name is Madagasikara, first written by the Portuguese as São Lourenço |
| Motto | "Fitiavana, Tanindrazana, Fandrosoana" — love, ancestral land, progress; on the seal since the Constitution of 2010 |
Quick facts
| Capital | Antananarivo — "the city of the thousand," Tana; founded by Andrianjaka about 1610 on the hill of Analamanga; 1,280 m; about 1.5 million, 3 million in the region |
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| Largest cities | Antananarivo; Toamasina, the port, about 350,000; Antsirabe, the spa city of the highlands; Fianarantsoa; Mahajanga; Toliara; Antsiranana, the old Diego Suarez; Ambovombe; Antanifotsy; Ambatondrazaka |
| Official languages | Malagasy — the national language, an Austronesian tongue of the Barito family of Borneo, the westernmost of its family, written in Latin letters since 1823; French — the second official language, of the courts, the schools and the elite; English removed as a third official language by the Constitution of 2010 |
| Currency | Ariary — MGA, Ar; since 1 January 2005 at 5 Malagasy francs, itself the successor of the CFA franc in 1963; one ariary is five iraimbilanja |
| Time zone | East Africa Time, UTC+3; no summer time |
| Calling code | +261 |
| Internet domain | .mg |
| ISO 3166 codes | MG · MDG · 450 |
| Vehicle registration code | RM |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 220 V, 50 Hz; plug types C and E |
| Independence | 26 June 1960, from France — Philibert Tsiranana the first president; the autonomous Malagasy Republic within the French Community proclaimed 14 October 1958 |
| National days | 26 June, Independence Day; 29 March, Martyrs' Day, for the uprising of 1947; 8 March; 1 May; the Christian feasts of Easter Monday, Ascension, Whit Monday, Assumption and All Saints, Christmas; the Muslim Eids since 2021; the Alahamady Be, the Malagasy new year of March |
| Constitution | 11 December 2010 — the Constitution of the Fourth Republic, approved by referendum on 17 November 2010 with 74% on a turnout of 53%, the candidates' age lowered to 35 for Rajoelina; SUSPENDED 14 October 2025 by the Council of the Presidency for the Refoundation of the Republic; a constitution for a Fifth Republic to be drafted and put to referendum under the roadmap of 28 February 2026 |
| Population | 25,674,196 at the census of 2018; about 33 million (UN, 2026 est.) — from 5.4 million in 1960 |
| Area | 587,041 km² (226,658 sq mi) — land 581,540 km², water 5,501 km²; the fourth-largest island |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | A white vertical band at the hoist and two horizontal bands of red over green — the white and red of the Merina kingdom's flags of the 1800s, the green of the Hova commoners and the peoples of the coast; adopted 14 October 1958, the day the republic was proclaimed within the French Community, two years before independence, and unchanged through four republics.Flag of Madagascar |
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| Seal of the republic | A red disc with the map of the island in white and gold above the head of a zebu, under the fanned leaves of the ravinala, the traveler's tree, with rice ears at the sides; "Repoblikan'i Madagasikara" above and the motto below; the seal of 1993, its motto changed in 2010 |
| National anthem | "Ry Tanindrazanay malala ô!" ("Oh, Beloved Land of Our Ancestors") — words by Pastor Rahajason, music by Norbert Raharisoa; adopted 27 April 1959, a year before independence |
| National motto | "Fitiavana, Tanindrazana, Fandrosoana" — from the "Tanindrazana, Fahafahana, Fandrosoana," ancestral land, liberty, progress, of 1992–2010 |
| National colors | White, red and green |
| National animal | The zebu, the humped ox of the seal, the wealth and the sacrifice of the highlands, about 10 million; the lemur — the ring-tailed lemur, the indri, the aye-aye — the island's own, more than 100 species found nowhere else; the fossa; widely cited |
| National tree | The ravinala — the traveler's tree, the fan of the seal and of the old airline, the emblem of the nation; the baobab of the west, six of the world's eight species the island's own, the Grandidier baobabs of the Avenue of Morondava; widely cited |
| National flower | The Madagascar periwinkle — the rosy periwinkle of the medicines against leukemia; the flamboyant; widely cited and unofficial |
| National dish | Vary — rice, at every meal, the Malagasy the largest eaters of it in the world by the head, about 120 kg a year; romazava, the beef and greens stew, the national dish by acclamation; ravitoto, the pounded cassava leaves with pork; koba, the peanut and rice cake in banana leaf; the zebu steaks; the vanilla; widely cited |
| National sport | Rugby union, the game of the highlands since 1900, the crowds of Mahamasina; moraingy, the bare-fisted fighting of the coasts; pétanque, the world champions of 1999 and 2016; football, the Barea of the 2019 African Cup quarterfinal; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag is fixed by the law of 1958 and the Constitution; the seal and anthem by law; the animals, tree, flower, dishes and sports widely cited |
Geography
| Location | The Indian Ocean off southeastern Africa — the island 400 km east of Mozambique across the Mozambique Channel, the Comoros to the northwest, Mauritius and Réunion to the east; a piece of Gondwana that left Africa about 160 million years ago and India about 88 million |
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| Land borders | None — an island; the Scattered Islands of the channel — the Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova, Europa and Bassas da India — held by France and claimed by Madagascar since 1973, the UN General Assembly's call of 1979 for their return, the joint commission of 2019 and Macron's visit of April 2025 without a settlement; France states its sovereignty, Madagascar its claim |
| Coastline | 4,828 km (3,000 mi) — the fourth-longest of Africa's; the coral of the west, the lagoons and the Île Sainte-Marie of the pirates and the humpback whales; the exclusive economic zone about 1.2 million km² |
| Highest point | Maromokotro, 2,876 m (9,436 ft), in the Tsaratanana massif of the north |
| Lowest point | The Indian Ocean, 0 m |
| Mean elevation | About 615 m (2,018 ft) |
| Rivers | The Mangoky, 564 km, the longest, from the highlands to the channel south of Morondava; the Betsiboka, 525 km, red with the eroded laterite at Mahajanga, its silt seen from orbit; the Tsiribihina of the tsingy; the Onilahy of the south; the Ikopa of Antananarivo; the Mangoro and the Mananara of the east; the Sofia; the Mahajamba |
| Lakes | Alaotra, about 900 km², the largest, the rice bowl and the home of the bamboo lemur, silting; Kinkony of the west; Itasy of the volcanoes; Tritriva, the crater lake of Antsirabe; Ihotry of the south; the Pangalanes canal of 650 km along the east coast, the lagoons joined by the French from 1896 |
| Terrain | The central highlands — the Hauts Plateaux — the spine of the island at 800–1,500 m, the eroded red hills of the Merina and the Betsileo, the rice terraces; the escarpment and the narrow wet coast of the east, the rainforest; the plains and the dry deciduous forests of the west with the limestone tsingy of Bemaraha and Ankarana; the spiny forest of the south, the Androy and its droughts; the volcanoes of Ankaratra and Itasy |
| Climate | Tropical along the coasts, temperate in the highlands, arid in the south — the rains of November to April and the cool dry season; Antananarivo about 1,400 mm and frosts in July; the east coast more than 3,000 mm; the south under 400 mm; the cyclones of the Indian Ocean season |
| Natural hazards | Cyclones — Enawo of 2017, Batsirai and Emnati of 2022, Freddy of 2023, Gamane of 2024, Fytia and GEZANI of 31 January and 10 February 2026 with 59 dead and three-quarters of Toamasina destroyed; the drought and the kere famine of the south — the WFP's warning of 2021 of a first famine driven by climate; the locusts; the floods of the capital; the earthquake of Itasy of January 2026 |
| Natural resources | Nickel and cobalt of Ambatovy; ilmenite of Fort-Dauphin; graphite, the largest African producer; chromite; sapphires of Ilakaka, half the world's; gold; bauxite; rare earths; coal; mica; the vanilla and cloves of the coast; the forests; hydropower; the moratorium of 2010 on new mining permits lifted 30 January 2026 except for gold |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 71%, most of it pasture for the zebu; forest about 21% — a third of the forest lost since 1953, the slash-and-burn tavy and the charcoal |
| National parks | About 43 protected areas of Madagascar National Parks on a tenth of the land after the Durban Vision of 2003 — Isalo of the sandstone canyons; Andasibe-Mantadia of the indri's song; Ranomafana of the golden bamboo lemur found in 1986; Ankarafantsika; Masoala, the largest, of the rainforest to the sea; Marojejy; Andringitra of Pic Boby, 2,658 m; Tsingy de Bemaraha; Ankarana; the Avenue of the Baobabs protected since 2007; the Berenty reserve of the ring-tails |
| Biodiversity | About 90% of the wildlife found nowhere else — more than 100 lemur species, half the world's chameleons, the fossa, the tenrecs, the tomato frog, the giraffe weevil, six of the eight baobabs, 11,000 plant species with 80% endemic, the Madagascar periwinkle, the ravinala; the elephant bird, the largest bird that ever lived, gone by 1200; the eighth continent of the biologists; a fifth of the forests gone since 1990 |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 3 — the Tsingy de Bemaraha nature reserve (1990), the limestone needles of the west; the Royal Hill of Ambohimanga (2001), the fortified village of the Merina kings above the capital; the Rainforests of the Atsinanana (2007), six national parks of the east from Marojejy to Andohahela, on the danger list since 2010 for the rosewood logging and the lemur hunting; the woodcrafting of the Zafimaniry (2003) and the Malagasy kabary oratory (2021) on the intangible list |
| Administrative divisions | 23 regions — faritra — since the creation of Vatovavy in 2021, in the six former provinces of Antananarivo, Antsiranana, Fianarantsoa, Mahajanga, Toamasina and Toliara abolished in 2009; 119 districts; about 1,695 communes; the fokontany of the villages |
People
| Population | 25,674,196 (census of 2018); about 33 million (2026 est.) |
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| Population density | About 56 per km² (145 per sq mi) — the highlands crowded, the west and south empty |
| Population growth | About 2.4% a year — the population doubling every 29 years |
| Median age | About 20 years |
| Life expectancy | About 66 years |
| Fertility rate | About 3.7 births per woman |
| Urban population | About 41% |
| Adult literacy | About 77% — the schools of the highlands, the herders of the south unschooled |
| Ethnic groups | Malagasy of 18 official groups — Merina about 26%, the highlanders of the old kingdom; Betsimisaraka about 15%, of the east coast; Betsileo about 12%, of the southern highlands; Tsimihety, Sakalava, Antaisaka, Antandroy, Antanosy, Bara, Antaimoro, Mahafaly, Antakarana, Vezo; the Comorians, the Indo-Pakistani Karana of the trade, the Chinese and the French, about 1% together; the côtiers and the highlanders the fault line of the politics |
| Origins | The Austronesians who sailed from Borneo across 6,000 km of ocean about 1,500 years ago, the greatest voyage of the ancient world, and the Bantu who crossed the channel from Africa — the genes half and half, the language of Borneo, the outrigger canoe, the rice terraces of Asia and the zebu of Africa; the first settlement about A.D. 350–550, among the last large lands on earth peopled |
| Languages | Malagasy by nearly all, the standard the Merina dialect of the capital, the dialects of the coasts; French by about a quarter, the language of the administration and the secondary schools; English by few; the Comorian of the northwest; the Gujarati and Urdu of the Karana |
| Religion | Christian about 85% — Roman Catholic about a third, Protestant about a third in the FJKM Reformed church of the London missionaries of 1818 and the Lutherans of the south, and the churches of the FFKM council that leads the national consultation; the traditional faith of the ancestors — the razana, the famadihana turning of the bones, the fady taboos — held by most beneath the churches and about 5% alone; Muslim about 3%, the Comorians and the Karana; a Christian queen since Ranavalona II's baptism of 1869 |
| Human Development Index | 0.487 (2023 data, 2025 report) — low; about 183rd of 193 |
| Poverty | About 75% of the people below the international poverty line of US$2.15 a day, the highest rate of any country not at war; the stunting of half the children; the kere of the south; the GDP per head lower in real terms than at independence |
| Sport | Rugby the passion of the highlands; the Barea of football, the 2019 Cup of Nations quarterfinal on their first appearance and the 2022 African Nations Championship bronze; pétanque, the world champions of 1999 and 2016; the women's 3x3 basketball champions of Africa of 2024 and 2025, the hosts of 2026; the two Winter Olympians of 2026 in alpine skiing; no Olympic medal ever |
| Diaspora | About 300,000 abroad — France first, Réunion, Mauritius, the Comoros, Canada; the Malagasy of Marseille and Paris |
Government
| Form of government | A military-led transition — the Council of the Presidency for the Refoundation of the Republic, of officers of the army, the gendarmerie and the police, under a president and a civilian government, since 14 October 2025, with the Constitution of 2010 suspended and the National Assembly alone kept of the institutions; before it the semi-presidential Fourth Republic of a president elected for five years, a prime minister and the two chambers |
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| President | Colonel Michael Randrianirina, since 17 October 2025 — sworn in before the High Constitutional Court as "President of the Refoundation of the Republic"; born 1974 at Sevohipoty in the Androy of the deep south, the commander of the CAPSAT corps that made the mutiny, governor of Androy in 2016–18, jailed at Tsiafahy in 2023 for offenses against state security and freed with a suspended sentence in February 2024; "we only answered the people's calls," he said, denying a coup; the pursuit of BRICS membership his stated aim |
| The uprising of 2025 | The protests of the young of 25 September 2025 over the cuts of water and power by the utility Jirama — the Gen Z of the May 13 Square under the flag of the One Piece pirates — met by the gendarmerie with at least 22 dead and more than 100 injured by the UN's count of 29 September, which the presidency called rumor; the government dismissed 29 September, General Ruphin Zafisambo made prime minister 6 October; the CAPSAT corps of Soanierana, the unit of the 2009 mutiny that had made Rajoelina, joined the protesters 11 October and named General Démosthène Pikulas chief of the armed forces; Rajoelina flown out 12 October on a French military aircraft from Sainte Marie by Reuters' account, an assassination attempt he said, an evacuation France did not confirm; his decree dissolving the Assembly 14 October, its impeachment of him by 130 votes to none that day, and Randrianirina's announcement at the Iavoloha palace that the army took power |
| Prime Minister | Mamitiana Rajaonarison, since 15 March 2026 — the head of SAMIFIN, the financial intelligence service, since 2021, of the anti-corruption bureau of Toliara before, a gendarmerie officer of the Antsirabe academy and the national administration school; named for his "integrity" six days after the whole government was dismissed; the would-be ministers screened by polygraph on the president's order of 19 March 2026, 17 of them kept, the Gen Z movement left out |
| The first transition government | Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, prime minister 20 October 2025 – 9 March 2026 — the chairman of the BNI bank, an economist of Toulouse; his mostly civilian cabinet of 28 October 2025 with Christine Razanamahasoa at foreign affairs and Fanirisoa Ernaivo at justice; dismissed with the whole government on 9 March 2026 without a stated reason |
| The transition | Elections promised within 18 to 24 months; the national consultation for a new order launched 10 December 2025 for six months under the FFKM council of churches; the SADC summit of December 2025 that asked for an inclusive dialogue, the return of the exiles and a roadmap by 28 February 2026, delivered that day — a 24-month transition of 2026–27, a constitution for the Fifth Republic put to referendum, a presidential election set for September 2027; the AU suspension of 15 October 2025 standing; the High Constitutional Court's dismissal on 28 May 2026 of a deputy's petition to remove the president; the arrest of 29 April 2026 of the former French soldier Guy Baret over an alleged plot to raise a mutiny; the conviction of 1 September 2026 of Richard Ravalomanana, the removed Senate president, to ten years' hard labor for complicity in the killing of the protesters |
| Rajoelina | Andry Rajoelina, the disc jockey and mayor of Antananarivo who took power with the same CAPSAT corps on 17 March 2009 at 34, the transition president to 2014, elected in December 2018 and re-elected 16 November 2023 with 58.95% in a first round boycotted by ten of his twelve rivals on a turnout of 46%; his French citizenship, taken in 2014 and revealed in 2023, the ground of the government's revocation of his Malagasy citizenship on 25 October 2025 under the law against dual nationality; in exile abroad, "on a mission to find solutions," he said |
| Parliament | The National Assembly — 163 members elected 29 May 2024 for five years, the IRMAR coalition of Rajoelina with 84 seats, the only institution kept by the takeover; Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko of the opposition, the judo chief of Toliara and the runner-up of 2023, its president since 15 October 2025; the Senate of 18 dissolved 14 October 2025, its president removed 12 October |
| The next election | The presidential election set for September 2027 by the roadmap, after the referendum on the new constitution |
| Defense | The Madagascar Armed Forces of about 13,500 — the army, the small navy and air force — with the National Gendarmerie of about 8,000; the CAPSAT corps of Soanierana the maker of 2009 and 2025; the officers' council in power; the French training and the Russian offers |
| Legal system | Civil law of the French code with the customary law of the fokonolona; the death penalty abolished 10 January 2015; the dina village codes; the High Constitutional Court that swore in the colonel and dismissed the challenge; the courts of the capital that tried the killings of 2025 |
| Local government | 23 regions with governors named by the president; the communes with elected mayors, the vote of 11 December 2024; Harilala Ramanantsoa (IRMAR) the mayor of Antananarivo since 2024; the fokontany of the neighborhoods |
| African Union | A founding member of the OAU of 1963 — suspended by the AU on 15 October 2025 for an unconstitutional change of government, as in 2009–14 |
| United Nations | Member since 20 September 1960; the Security Council seat of 1985–86; the UN's count of the dead of 2025; the WFP in the south |
| Other memberships | The SADC (2005), whose summit set the roadmap; the Indian Ocean Commission of 1984 at Ebène; the COMESA; the Francophonie, the summit of 2016 at Antananarivo; the Non-Aligned Movement; the WTO (1995) |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$18 billion (2025, IMF) |
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| GDP per capita | About US$570 (2025) — among the five lowest in the world |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$1,900 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 4% a year in 2024, cut to about 3% by the crisis of 2025 and the cyclones and energy shortage of 2026; inflation about 8%; the ariary about 4,500 to the dollar from 2,000 in 2010 |
| Economy by sector | Agriculture about 24%, industry about 20%, services about 56% — four in five workers on the land |
| Currency | Ariary (MGA) |
| Vanilla and the spices | The world's largest producer of vanilla — about 80% of the world's, from the SAVA region of the northeast around Sambava and Antalaha, the pods hand-pollinated since the slave Edmond Albius found the way on Réunion in 1841, about US$600 million a year in exports at the peak and the crash of 2023–25 as the price fell from US$600 a kilogram; cloves, the second in the world after Indonesia; ylang-ylang; pepper; the Sambirano cocoa of Ambanja; the lychees for Europe at Christmas; the coffee |
| Rice and the land | Rice on 1.2 million hectares, the staple that the country still imports; the cassava; the zebu of about 10 million, the wealth of the south and the prey of the dahalo rustlers; the shrimp of the west; the sugar; the sisal of Fort-Dauphin |
| Mining | Ambatovy — the nickel and cobalt mine and plant of Sumitomo and Korea Resources of 2012, about US$8 billion, the largest investment ever in the country; QMM of Rio Tinto, the ilmenite of Fort-Dauphin since 2009; the graphite of Molo and the flake for the batteries; the sapphires of Ilakaka found in 1998, half the world's; the gold, much of it smuggled; the moratorium of 2010 lifted 30 January 2026 for all but gold |
| Industry | The textiles of the free zones of Antananarivo and Antsirabe for Europe and the United States under AGOA and the tariff of 47% of April 2025 cut to 15%; the shrimp plants; the breweries of Star; the cement; the Toamasina refinery closed |
| Energy | Jirama, the state water and power utility, the failed monopoly whose cuts set off the uprising of 2025 — about 35% of the people with electricity, the lowest rates in the world, the diesel plants and the hydro of Andekaleka; the Sahofika and Volobe dams planned; the state of energy emergency of 7 April 2026 for 15 days as the war with Iran cut the fuel; the solar of the villages |
| Tourism | About 300,000 visitors a year before 2020, the lemurs, the baobabs, the tsingy and Nosy Be; the Air France and Emirates suspensions of October 2025 |
| Public finances | Public debt about 55% of GDP; aid about 40% of the budget, the World Bank the largest lender, the IMF program of 2024; the U.S. aid cut of 2025; the Chinese roads |
| Income classification | Low income (World Bank); a least developed country |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airports | Ivato International Airport at Antananarivo — the terminal of 2021, about 1 million passengers; Fascene at Nosy Be for the beaches; Toamasina; Mahajanga; Toliara; Antsiranana |
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| Airline | Madagascar Airlines, the state carrier since 2023, the successor of Air Madagascar of 1962 and its failed Tsaradia; Air France, Ethiopian, Air Austral and Emirates the links |
| Main port | Toamasina — Tamatave — the port of 80% of the trade on the east coast, enlarged by Japan's JICA, its town three-quarters destroyed by Cyclone Gezani on 10 February 2026; Ehoala at Fort-Dauphin for the ilmenite; Mahajanga; Antsiranana's deep bay of the old French naval base |
| Railways | About 854 km (531 mi) of meter gauge — the TCE line of 1913 from Toamasina to Antananarivo and Antsirabe, the freight; the FCE from Fianarantsoa to Manakara through the rainforest, the passenger train of 163 km and 67 bridges, the lifeline of the villages |
| Roads | About 31,600 km (19,600 mi), about 6,000 paved — the RN7 from Antananarivo to Toliara, the tourists' road of the south; the RN2 to Toamasina; the RN4 to Mahajanga; the taxi-brousse minibuses; the cable car of Antananarivo, the first in the capital, opened in 2024–25 above the jams |
| Waterways | The Pangalanes canal of the east coast; the pirogues of the Vezo; the ferries of the channel |
History in dates
| c. 350–550 | The first settlers from Borneo, and from Africa |
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| 1500 | Diogo Dias, the first European, 10 August |
| 1643 | The French at Fort-Dauphin |
| 1690s | The pirates of Île Sainte-Marie |
| 1787 | Andrianampoinimerina unites Imerina |
| 1810 | Radama I king — the kingdom of Madagascar |
| 1817 | The British treaty; the missionaries, 1818 |
| 1828 | Ranavalona I — the missionaries expelled, 1835 |
| 1869 | Ranavalona II baptized; the kingdom Christian |
| 1883 | The first French war, to 1885 |
| 1895 | The French take Antananarivo, 30 September |
| 1896 | Annexation, 6 August; the queen exiled, 1897 |
| 1942 | The British invasion, 5 May — Operation Ironclad |
| 1947 | The uprising, 29 March — tens of thousands dead |
| 1958 | The republic within the Community, 14 October; the flag |
| 1960 | Independence, 26 June — Tsiranana |
| 1972 | The May revolution; the generals |
| 1975 | Ratsiraka; the Democratic Republic, 30 December |
| 1991 | The general strike; the shooting of 10 August |
| 1992 | The Third Republic; Zafy, 1993 |
| 2002 | The two capitals; Ravalomanana confirmed |
| 2005 | The ariary |
| 2009 | Rajoelina takes power with CAPSAT, 17 March |
| 2010 | The Constitution, 11 December |
| 2013 | Rajaonarimampianina elected, 20 December |
| 2018 | Rajoelina elected, 19 December |
| 2021 | The kere famine of the south |
| 2023 | Rajoelina re-elected, 16 November, in a boycott |
| 2024 | The Assembly, 29 May; the cable car |
| 2025 | The protests, 25 September; the mutiny, 11 October; Rajoelina flees, 12 October; impeached, 14 October; Randrianirina, 17 October; AU suspension, 15 October; the consultation, 10 December |
| 2026 | Gezani, 10 February; the roadmap, 28 February; Rajaonarison, 15 March; the energy emergency, 7 April; Ravalomanana convicted, 1 September |
Records & firsts
| The fourth-largest island in the world | 587,041 km² |
|---|---|
| The world's vanilla | About 80% |
| The lemurs | More than 100 species, nowhere else |
| Wildlife found nowhere else | About 90% |
| A language from Borneo | Malagasy, 6,000 km from its kin |
| The largest bird that ever lived | The elephant bird, gone by 1200 |
| A currency not divided by ten | The ariary, five iraimbilanja |
| The largest eaters of rice by the head | About 120 kg a year |
| Six of the world's eight baobabs | The island's own |
| Half the world's chameleons | And half its sapphires |
| The first famine driven by climate, by the WFP | The south, 2021 |
| The Gen Z uprising that made a president | 25 September – 17 October 2025 |
| World champions of pétanque | 1999, 2016 |
| The greatest voyage of the ancient world | Borneo to Madagascar |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Madagascar?
The Republic of Madagascar — Repoblikan'i Madagasikara in Malagasy, République de Madagascar in French — independent of France on 26 June 1960 after 64 years as a colony, the Democratic Republic of the socialist years of 1975–92, the Third Republic of 1992 and the Fourth of the Constitution of 11 December 2010, suspended on 14 October 2025 by the officers who took power; a Fifth Republic is to be written by the transition. The name is Marco Polo's — his Madeigascar of the 1290s, a confusion, most likely, with Mogadishu; the island's own word is Madagasikara, and its people call themselves Malagasy.
What is the capital of Madagascar?
Antananarivo — "the city of the thousand," Tana for short — on the twelve sacred hills of the central highlands at 1,280 m, founded by the Merina king Andrianjaka about 1610, the royal city of the Rova palace above the rice fields and the lake of Anosy; about 1.5 million people in the city and 3 million in the region, the crowd of the May 13 Square where the republic's revolts of 1972, 1991, 2009 and 2025 were made. Toamasina, the port on the east coast, is the second city; Antsirabe, Fianarantsoa, Mahajanga and Toliara follow.
How big is Madagascar, and how many people live there?
About 587,041 km² (226,658 sq mi) — the fourth-largest island in the world after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo, nearly the size of Texas, 1,580 km long and 580 km wide, 400 km off Mozambique across its channel, split from Africa 160 million years ago and from India 88 million years ago. The census of 2018, the third since independence, counted 25,674,196 people; the UN estimates about 33 million for 2026, doubling every 25 years on a growth of 2.4 percent a year, a nation whose median age is about 20. The Malagasy are one people of eighteen groups, descended from the Austronesian sailors who came from Borneo some 1,500 years ago and the Bantu who came across the channel.
What are the highest and lowest points of Madagascar?
Maromokotro, 2,876 m (9,436 ft), in the Tsaratanana massif of the far north; and the Indian Ocean. The central highlands run the length of the island at 800 to 1,500 m, falling sharply to the narrow, rainy east coast and gently to the dry west and the spiny desert of the south; the Mangoky, 564 km, is the longest river and the Betsiboka, which bleeds red laterite into the sea at Mahajanga, the most seen; Lake Alaotra, 900 km², is the largest lake, the rice bowl.
What currency does Madagascar use?
The ariary (ISO code MGA, Ar), the currency since 1 January 2005, when it replaced the Malagasy franc at 5 francs to the ariary — the world's only currency, with Mauritania's ouguiya, not divided by ten: one ariary is five iraimbilanja, a coin no longer struck. About 4,500 ariary buy a U.S. dollar. Clocks keep East Africa Time, UTC+3, all year; Madagascar drives on the right.
Who governs Madagascar?
Colonel Michael Randrianirina, the commander of the army's CAPSAT corps, president since 17 October 2025 — sworn in before the High Constitutional Court after the protests of the young over water and power cuts that began on 25 September 2025 turned into a mutiny of his unit, President Andry Rajoelina fled the country and the National Assembly impeached him by 130 votes on 14 October; the officers call the change no coup, the African Union suspended the country for one. His prime minister since 15 March 2026 is Mamitiana Rajaonarison, the head of the financial intelligence service, who replaced the banker Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo; the ministers were screened by lie detector. The roadmap of 28 February 2026 promises a national consultation, a new constitution by referendum and a presidential election in September 2027.
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