Madagascar

Madagascar (Malagasy: Madagasikara), officially the Republic of Madagascar (Malagasy: Repoblikan'i Madagasikara), is an island nation located in the Indian Ocean and geographically part of the African continent, from which it is separated by the Mozambique Channel. 1,580 km long and 580 km wide, Madagascar covers an area of ​​587,000 km², making it the fourth largest island in the world, after Greenland, New Guinea, and Borneo. Its capital is Antananarivo, and the country's currency is the ariary. Its inhabitants, the Malagasy people, are descended from a mixture of Austronesian and East African (Bantu) populations with Arab, Indian, and European influences, to varying degrees depending on the region, but they speak a Malayo-Polynesian language: Malagasy. The country is surrounded by other islands and archipelagos: the Comoros (including Mayotte), the Mascarene Islands (including Réunion and Mauritius), the Scattered Islands and the Seychelles. A claim to the Scattered Islands, formerly part of the French protectorate of Madagascar, was made by Madagascar in 1973 [ref. to be confirmed].
For most of the 19th century, the island was administered by the Kingdom of Madagascar. This administration was exercised within the framework of the French protectorate of Madagascar after 1883, following the first expedition to Madagascar. Considering the protectorate's poor implementation by the Malagasy government, France organized a second military expedition beginning in 1895. The French settlements of Diego-Suarez, Nosy Be, and Île Sainte-Marie were annexed to the protectorate on January 28, 1896. The unrest resulting from the French military intervention led, in 1897, to the end of Malagasy autonomy, the annexation of the island by France, and the merging of the former protectorate and other French territories into the colony of Madagascar and its dependencies.
The first autonomous Malagasy government was reborn on October 14, 1958, when the Republic of Madagascar was proclaimed on the territory of the former protectorate (the territory of the former Merina kingdom and the former French settlements of Diego-Suarez, Nosy Be, and Île Sainte-Marie), while remaining a member of the French Community. In 1960, like other French-speaking African countries, the Malagasy Republic gained independence, making it one of the first countries to become sovereign in this region of the Indian Ocean.
The country is divided into six ancient historical provinces (faritany), named after their capitals: Antananarivo (or Tananarive), Antsiranana (or Diego-Suarez), Fianarantsoa, ​​Majunga (or Mahajanga), Tamatave (or Toamasina) and Toliara (or Tuléar).
For twenty centuries, Madagascar has been shaped by peoples from diverse backgrounds (Africa, Southeast Asia (Indonesia), the Near East, Europe, etc.) to create the multicultural Malagasy society of today. This country of over 30 million inhabitants is very culturally diverse and has 18 distinct ethnic groups (foko = "group", "tribe", "caste"), or indigenous nations, each speaking a Malagasy dialect, as well as three minorities who arrived during the last three centuries: the Karanes, the Sinoas, and the Vazahas.
Madagascar belongs to the group of least developed countries according to the UN. Indeed, Madagascar faces insufficient growth and persistent poverty, largely due to weaknesses in governance.

Source: Wikipedia

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