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Overview of Madagascar's History and Biodiversity

Madagascar is an island country located approximately 400 kilometres off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. As the fourth largest island in the world, Madagascar's diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife have evolved in relative isolation over millions of years, making it a biodiversity hotspot. However, the island's environments and species are now threatened by the growing human population. Madagascar was first settled by Austronesian and Bantu peoples between 350 BC and AD 550, and its population today includes descendants from diverse ethnic backgrounds. While fragmented for much of its early history, Madagascar began uniting in the early 19th century and gained independence from France in 1960, though it has since experienced political instability and

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14 views1 page

Overview of Madagascar's History and Biodiversity

Madagascar is an island country located approximately 400 kilometres off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. As the fourth largest island in the world, Madagascar's diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife have evolved in relative isolation over millions of years, making it a biodiversity hotspot. However, the island's environments and species are now threatened by the growing human population. Madagascar was first settled by Austronesian and Bantu peoples between 350 BC and AD 550, and its population today includes descendants from diverse ethnic backgrounds. While fragmented for much of its early history, Madagascar began uniting in the early 19th century and gained independence from France in 1960, though it has since experienced political instability and

Uploaded by

Dan Lihoacă
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Madagascar (/ˌmædəˈɡæskər, -kɑːr/; Malagasy: Madagasikara), officially the Republic of

Madagascar (Malagasy: Repoblikan'i Madagasikara Malagasy pronunciation: [republiˈkʲan


madaɡasˈkʲarə̥]; French: République de Madagascar), and previously known as the Malagasy
Republic, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately 400 kilometres (250 miles) off the
coast of East Africa. At 592,800 square kilometres (228,900 sq mi) Madagascar is the world's 2nd
largest island country.[11] The nation comprises the island of Madagascar (the fourth-largest island in
the world) and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of
the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from the Indian subcontinent around 88 million
years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. Consequently,
Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of its wildlifeis found nowhere else on Earth. The
island's diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the rapidly
growing human population and other environmental threats.
The archaeological evidence of the earliest human foraging on Madagascar may date up to 10,000
years ago.[12] Human settlement of Madagascar occurred between 350 BC and 550 AD
by Austronesian peoples, arriving on outrigger canoes from Borneo. These were joined around the
9th century AD by Bantu migrants crossing the Mozambique Channel from East Africa. Other groups
continued to settle on Madagascar over time, each one making lasting contributions to Malagasy
cultural life. The Malagasy ethnic group is often divided into 18 or more subgroups, of which the
largest are the Merina of the central highlands.
Until the late 18th century, the island of Madagascar was ruled by a fragmented assortment of
shifting sociopolitical alliances. Beginning in the early 19th century, most of the island was united
and ruled as the Kingdom of Madagascar by a series of Merina nobles. The monarchy ended in
1897 when the island was absorbed into the French colonial empire, from which the island gained
independence in 1960. The autonomous state of Madagascar has since undergone four major
constitutional periods, termed republics. Since 1992, the nation has officially been governed as a
constitutional democracy from its capital at Antananarivo. However, in a popular uprising in 2009,
president Marc Ravalomanana was made to resign and presidential power was transferred in March
2009 to Andry Rajoelina. Constitutional governance was restored in January 2014, when Hery
Rajaonarimampianina was named president following a 2013 election deemed fair and transparent
by the international community. Madagascar is a member of the United Nations, the African
Union (AU), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Organisation
Internationale de la Francophonie.
Madagascar belongs to the group of least developed countries, according to the United
Nations.[13] Malagasy and French are both official languages of the state. The majority of the
population adheres to traditional beliefs, Christianity, or an amalgamation of both. Ecotourism and
agriculture, paired with greater investments in education, health, and private enterprise, are key
elements of Madagascar's development strategy. Under Ravalomanana, these investments
produced substantial economic growth, but the benefits were not evenly spread throughout the
population, producing tensions over the increasing cost of living and declining living standards
among the poor and some segments of the middle class. As of 2017, the economy has been
weakened by the 2009–2013 political crisis, and quality of life remains low for the majority of the
Malagasy population.

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