Where is Madagascar?
About Madagascar
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media
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Madagascar is a large island country to the east of mainland Africa. It is made up of one main island and several smaller ones.
Madagascar is in the Indian Ocean.
The land is a narrow coastal plain with mountains in the centre.
The geographical coordinates for the centre of Madagascar, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 20 00S
Longitude - 47 00E
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Check the weather in Antananarivo now.
This is the time in Antananarivo now
The Malagasy flag is two equal horizontal stripes of red, at the top, and green at the bottom with a vertical white band of the same width on the flagpole side..
Red represents sovereignty, green is for hope and white for purity.
The capital of Madagascar is Antananarivo.
Madagascar is a semi-presidential republic with a president as head of state and head of the government.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Madagascar is the ariary.
Malagasy and French are the official languages.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
Madagascar is a semi-presidential republic with a president as head of state and head of the government.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Madagascar is the ariary.
Malagasy and French are the official languages.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Madagascar to provide us with a detailed history of
their own country. Check how here.
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The total land area of Madagascar is 581,540 sq kms which is the 21st largest in Africa.
Madagascar has lakes, rivers and canals which total 5,501 sq kms.
Madagascar has no boundaries with another country
Madagascar has a coastline of 4,828 kms which is the longest in Africa.
The highest point in Madagascar is Maromokotro at 2,876 metres.
The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.
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The total population of Madagascar is 25.68 million people, making it the 25th largest country in Africa by population.
Of this number 12.84 million are females and 12.84 million are males.
A person from Madagascar is called a Malagasy.
To be a citizen of Madagascar, your father must be a citizen of Madagascar. It the father is unknown or not married to the mother then the mother must
be a citizen of Madagascar. It is not sufficient to be born in Madagascar. We have information on how many years you need to live in Madagascar before you can begin to apply for citizenship.
The largest five cities in Madagascar, by population are:-
- Antananarivo 1,391,433 people
- Toamasina 206,373
- Antsirabe 186,253
- Fianarantsoa 167,227
- Mahajanga 154,657
For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
37.2% of the people live in cities or towns.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
37.2% of the people live in cities or towns.
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The birth rate in Madagascar is 31.0 births per 1,000 of population
The death rate in Madagascar is 6.4 deaths per 1,000 people.
Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then
the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.
There are 36.2 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 43.8 deaths of boys.
The median age for females is 20.1 and for males is 19.7. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number
of people above the median age as below it.
The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 19.5.
The elderly dependency ratio is 5.1. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).
The potential support ratio is 19.6. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.
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Madagascar spends 3.0% of its total income on health care.
There are 0.18 doctors per 1,000 people.
There are 0.2 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
5.3% of the population are estimated as obese.
81.6% of the urban population and 35.3% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or
protected rainwater collection facility.
18.0% of the urban population and 8.7% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a
permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.
Madagascar releases 3.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 27th highest in Africa.
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Madagascar spends 2.8% of its total income on education.
Children usually start school at age 6 in Madagascar. Primary education is for five years until age 11 and secondary education can continue till 18. This may be followed
by further education at a university or college.
We are awaiting information about school terms in Madagascar
62.6% of females and 66.7% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.
1% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 1% are unemployed while with males 1% can't find work.
The total number of people available for work in Madagascar is 13.40 million.
We have no figures for the sectors in which they work.
1.8% of the workforce are unemployed.
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There are 26 paved airports in Madagascar, which is the 9th highest number in Africa.
There are 836 kilometres of railways in Madagascar, the 22nd longest in Africa.
There are 21,269 kilometres of roads in Madagascar, which means Madagascar is in 24th place for the most kilometres of roads in Africa.
There are 4 major national newspapers in Madagascar.
There are 8.73 million mobile phone users.
Less than 1% of the people have a fixed landline.
1.15 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).
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