MADAGASCAR

Madagascar is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the south east coast of Africa. It is divided up into

six provinces and 22 regions although the

government has plans to dissolve the provinces as of

this year. The capital Antananarivo with a

population of 1.5 million is also Madagascar’s largest

city. Madagascar’s geographic features are

characterized by rain forests on the eat coast,

savanna-like plains in the central region of the

country, and dry deserts in the southwest.

GOEGRAPHY

Madagascar’s economy is based primarily on fishing

and agriculture and its major exports are coffee, sugar cane, rice, beans, bananas, peanuts, and

vanilla. In fact Madagascar is the world’s largest producer of vanilla which lead to the collapse

of their economy when Coca-Cola switched to New

Coke which used less vanilla but soon returned with the appearance of

Coke Classic. Tourism and textile manufacturing are

also growing areas of production.

ECONOMY

The island experiences a hot, rainy season from

November to April and a cool and dry season from

May to October. Madagascar is

occasionally struck with cyclones. The country’s isolation from other land has caused a wide variety of animals and plants to

develop. Out of the 10,000 plant species in

Madagascar, 90% of them are found no where else in the world. Madagascar is also home to the fossa and

75 species of lemurs.

CLIMATE and FAUNA

Malagasy, French, English

48% traditional native religions22% Catholic

22% Protestant7% Islam

Malagasy franc

LANGUAGES

RELIGION

CURRENCY

CUISINEThe cuisine of Madagascar traditionally consists of a rice (vary) and an accompaniment (laoka) which can be anything from pork flavored peas to shredded cassava leaves with peanuts. Malagasy cuisine is also known for using vanilla to flavor savory rather than sweet dishes. Bread from this region is called mofo and is used in a variety of cakes and fritters. Tea and coffee are popular beverages and dessert usually contains at least one of the islands many different tropical fruits