Madagascar

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    Madagascar Map

    Latitude: -18.76695 Longtitude: 46.86911

    Location:
    Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Mozambique

    Border Countries:


    Terrain:
    narrow coastal plain, high plateau and mountains in center

    Geography:
    world's fourth-largest island; strategic location along Mozambique Channel

    Capital:
    Antananarivo

    About Madagascar
    Formerly an independent kingdom, Madagascar became a French colony in 1896 but regained independence in 1960. During 1992-93, free presidential and National Assembly elections were held ending 17 years of single-party rule. In 1997, in the second presidential race, Didier RATSIRAKA, the leader during the 1970s and 1980s, was returned to the presidency. The 2001 presidential election was contested between the followers of Didier RATSIRAKA and Marc RAVALOMANANA, nearly causing secession of half of the country. In April 2002, the High Constitutional Court announced RAVALOMANANA the winner. RAVALOMANANA is now in his second term following a landslide victory in the generally free and fair presidential elections of 2006.

    Population:
    20,042,552 (July 2008 est.)

    Language:
    English (official), French (official), Malagasy (official)

    Religion:
    indigenous beliefs 52%, Christian 41%, Muslim 7%

    Phone Service:
    system is above average for the region; Antananarivo's main telephone exchange modernized, but the rest of the analogue-based telephone system is poorly developed; planning to add 50,000 new private-subscriber fixed lines beginning in 2005

    Currency:
    ariary (MGA)

    Climate:
    tropical along coast, temperate inland, arid in south

    Natural Hazards:
    periodic cyclones, drought, and locust infestation