Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country in the Indian Ocean that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's fourth-largest island, the second-largest island country, and the 46th-largest country overall. Its capital and largest city is Antananarivo. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from Africa during the Early Jurassic period, around 180 million years ago, and from the Indian subcontinent approximately 90 million years ago. This isolation allowed native plants and animals to evolve in relative seclusion. As a result, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot and one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries, with over 90% of its wildlife being endemic. The island has a subtropical to tropical maritime climate. Madagascar was first permanently settled during or before the mid-first millennium CE (roughly 500 to 700) by Austronesian peoples, presumably arriving on outrigger canoes from present-day Indonesia. These were joined around the ninth century by Bantu groups 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. Consequently, there are 18 or more classified peoples of Madagascar, the most numerous being 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 it was united and ruled as the Kingdom of Madagascar by a series of Merina nobles. The monarchy was ended in 1897 by France's annexation of Madagascar, from which the country gained independence in 1960. It has since undergone four major constitutional periods, termed republics, and has been governed as a constitutional democracy since 1992. Following a political crisis and military coup in 2009, Madagascar underwent a protracted transition towards its fourth and current republic, with constitutional governance being restored in January 2014. In 2025, a series of mass protests resulted in a military coup and the installation of Michael Randrianirina as president of a military junta. Madagascar is a member of the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. Malagasy and French are both official languages of the state. Christianity is the country's predominant religion, with a significant minority still practicing traditional faiths. Madagascar is classified as a least-developed country by the UN. Ecotourism and agriculture, paired with greater investments in education, health, and private enterprise, are key elements of its development strategy. Despite substantial economic growth since the early 2000s, income disparities have widened, and quality of life remains low for the majority of the population. As of 2021, 68.4% of the population was considered to be multidimensionally poor.
Etymology In the Malagasy language, the island of Madagascar is called Madagasikara (Malagasy pronunciation: [madaɡasʲˈkʲarə̥]) and its people are referred to as Malagasy. The origin of the name is uncertain, and is likely foreign, having been propagated in the Middle Ages by Europeans. If this is the case, it is unknown when the name was adopted by the inhabitants of the island. No single Malagasy-language name predating Madagasikara appears to have been used by the local population to refer to it, although some communities had their name for part or all of the lands they inhabited. One hypothesis relates Madagascar to the word Malay, referring to the Austronesian origin of the Malagasy people in modern-day Indonesia. In a map by Muhammad al-Idrisi dating from the year 1154, the island is named Gesira Malai, or "Malay island" in Arabic. The inversion of this name to Malai Gesira, as it was known by the Greeks, is thought to be the precursor of the island's modern name. The name "Malay island" was later rendered in Latin as Malichu, an abbreviated form of Malai Insula, in the medieval Hereford Mappa Mundi as the name of Madagascar. Another hypothesis is that Madagascar is a corrupted transliteration of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia and an important medieval Indian Ocean port. This would have resulted from the 13th-century Venetian explorer Marco Polo's confusion of the two locations in his memoirs, in which he mentions the land of Madageiscar to the south of Socotra. This name would then have been popularized on Renaissance maps by Europeans. One of the first documents written that might explain why Marco Polo called it Madagascar is in a 1609 book on Madagascar by Jerome Megizer. Megizer describes an event in which the kings of the sultanates of Mogadishu and Adal traveled to Madagascar with a fleet of around 25,000 men in order to invade the wealthy islands of Taprobane and Sumatra. However, a tempest threw them off course and they landed on the coasts of Madagascar, conquering the island and signing a treaty with its inhabitants. They remained for eight months and erected eight pillars at different points of the island on which they engraved Magadoxo, a name which later, by corruption, became Madagascar. Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, a Dutch traveler who copied Portuguese works and maps, confirmed this event by saying, "Madagascar has its name from 'makdishu' (Mogadishu)" whose "shayk" invaded it. The name Malagasikara, or Malagascar, is also historically attested. An English state paper in 1699 records the arrival of 80 to 90 passengers from "Malagaskar" to what eventually became New York City. An 1882 edition of the British newspaper The Graphic referred to "Malagascar" as the name of the island, stating that the word was etymologically of Malay origin and might be related to the name of Malacca. In 1891, Saleh bin Osman, a Zanzibari traveler, referred to the island as "Malagaskar" when recounting his journeys, including part of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. In 1905, Charles Basset wrote in his doctoral thesis that Malagasikara was the way the island was referred to by its natives, who emphasized that they were Malagasy, and not Madagasy.
History
Early period
Traditionally, archeologists have estimated that the earliest settlers arrived in successive waves in outrigger canoes from South Borneo, possibly throughout the period between 350 BCE and 550 CE, whereas others are cautious about dates earlier than 250 CE. In either case, these dates make Madagascar one of the most recent major landmasses on Earth to be settled by humans, predating the settlement of Iceland and New Zealand. It has been proposed that Ma'anyan people were brought as laborers and slaves by Javan and Sumatran-Malays in their trading fleets to Madagascar. Dates of settlement of the island earlier than the mid-first millennium CE are not strongly supported; however, there is scattered evidence for much earlier human visits and presence. Upon arrival, early settlers practiced slash-and-burn agriculture to clear the coastal rainforests for cultivation. The first settlers encountered Madagascar's abundance of megafauna, including 17 species of giant lemurs; the large flightless elephant birds (including possibly the largest bird to ever exist, Aepyornis maximus); the giant fossa; and several species of Malagasy hippopotamus, which have since become extinct because of hunting and habitat destruction. According to the General History of Africa, these first settlers, the tompontany (masters of the soil/land), are thought to have been the Kimosy in south-central Madagascar, the Antevinany in the southeast, the Antankoala and Kajemby in the northwest, and the Rasikajy in the northeast. Newer arrivals formed marriage alliances with the tompontany, facilitating their gradual assimilation. By 600 CE, groups of these early settlers had begun clearing the forests of the Central Highlands. According to the General History of Africa, by the 8th century the Vazimba (a "way of life" rather than ethnic group) had absorbed or violently displaced the first settlers, and had come to refer to themselves as tompontany. Malagasy popular belief, however, regards the Vazimba as the island's first inhabitants. Arab traders first reached the island between the 7th and 9th centuries, and introduced Islam and the Arabic script (adapted as sorabe for the Malagasy language). Indian Ocean trade along Madagascar's Northwestern Coast came to be controlled by the Antalaotra, Muslim Swahili-speakers who had migrated to the region around the 10th century and intermarried with the locals, forming city-states such as Mahilaka and Irodo. A wave of Bantu-speaking migrants from southeastern Africa arrived around the year 1000. Around this time, zebu cattle from South India were first brought, intermingling with sanga cattle found in East Africa. By 1100, all regions of Madagascar were inhabited, although the total population remained small. Societies, driven by hasina organized, after which they competed with one another over the island's estuaries and bridgeheads. Oral histories describe bloody clashes and earlier settlers were often pushed along the coast or inland. An Arab geographer wrote in 1224 that the island consisted of a great many towns and kingdoms, with kings making war on each other. Assisted by climate change, the peoples gradually transformed the island from dense forest to grassland for cultivation and zebu pastoralism.
Rise of early kingdoms and contact with Europeans The period from 1500 to 1800 saw Madagascar's populations go from being mobile and unsettled to being organized largely into states. On the northern coast, Mahilaka was abandoned and replaced by Vohemar in the 15th century as one of the island's main trading ports, accompanied by Mazalagem Nova in the late 16th century. Portuguese navigators reached Madagascar around 1500, and sacked the port city of Sada (part of the Guingemaro kingdom) in 1506. Over the following centuries, the slave trade grew in importance as slaves were traded for firearms. In the late 17th century, Madagascar had an influx of pirates who had been expelled from the Caribbean, some of whom participated in local wars and married local women, although they were routed by the British navy in the 1720s. The origin of the Maroserana, the dynasty of the Sakalava Empire, is uncertain, with Sakalava traditions holding that they originated from overseas and migrated to southwest Madagascar. The proto-Sakalava are thought to have originated from Sadia (located at the mouth of the Manambolo River). Historian Solofo Randrianja considers the Maroserana to have lived in south-central Madagascar, whereas Raymond Kent thought they originated in the southwest and first came to power among the Mahafaly. Mahafaly tradition has Olembetsitoto as the first Maroserana sacred ruler in the 16th century, who was protected by an ombiasy (priest). Prior to 1600, only the north of the island was integrated into Indian Ocean trade; but in the mid-to late-16th century, European merchants (vazaha; "foreigners") began using the newly-named St. Augustine Bay in the southwest as a stopping point and traded with the communities there. The British attempted to found a colony at the Bay in 1645 but were expelled by the Malagasy. Kent considered the Maroserana to have migrated and met the proto-Sakalava near the Mangoky River, who all traditions agree were skilled warriors. Sakalava traditions detail how a kingdom was founded along the Morondava River before 1600, called Menabe ("very red") after the red soil. In the late 16th or early 17th century, Andriamandazoala centralized the Kingdom of Menabe. Andriandahifotsy expanded the state and monopolized coastal trade. After initial hostility, he established relations with European merchants. Around 1685, a succession dispute brought Andriamanetriarivo to power in Menabe when he expelled his brother Andriamandisoarivo. Taking this opportunity to expand north with his followers, Andriamandisoarivo conquered port cities along the coast, capturing Mazalagem Nova and killing the Antalaotra sultan, establishing his commercial capital at Majunga in the early-18th century and founding the Kingdom of Boina. How the Sakalava acquired territory in the south is disputed. Jane Hooper considers another expelled brother to have expanded south and founded Toliara in the Fiherenana Valley as an Andrevola tributary, whereas Randrianja thought the Maroserana to have come to rule there during their initial migration. Kent considered a brother, Andriamandresy, to have migrated east and founded the Antesaka kingdom on the southeast coast in accordance with Antesaka tradition. Hooper writes that Andriandahifotsy re-established relations with his brothers as the Sakalava came to control Madagascar's west coast and dominate trade. In the southwest and south, conflict between the Mahafaly and Antandroy kingdoms in the mid-17th century caused the death of two Antandroy kings and saw Mahafaly split in two: Menarandra and Sakatovo, with Menarandra soon splitting further to produce Linta. In the early 18th century, a Menarandra king expanded east to conquer the Western Antandroy, though yet another split produced Onilahy. On the East Coast, when the Antemoro settled their lands they found Muslim settlers, the Zafiraminia, already there since around 1500. A conflict between the two broke out, and the Zafiraminia had come to rule the Antemoro kingdom by the mid-16th century. In the southeast, the French founded Fort Dauphin in 1642. They intervened in local conflicts and raided for cattle, provoking insecurity. The Antanosy attacked the colony, although they were defeated by Flacourt's forces. Another attack destroyed the colony and resulted in the killing of French settlers who remained in 1674. In the Central Highlands, Merina traditions hold that they encountered the Vazimba when gradually settling the highlands from the southeast, thought to have been completed by the 15th century. After peacefully coexisting for several generations, the Alasora king Andriamanelo, son of a Vazimba queen and a Merina man, launched a campaign to conquer the Vazimba. Of his successors, Ralambo founded the Merina Kingdom, and Andrianjaka completed the expulsion and assimilation of the Vazimba by the early 17th century. Traditions attribute the conquest of the Vazimba to the need to acquire more land for rice cultivation. Archeological research places the beginning of this expansion in the 14th century. In the mid-17th century a Mahafaly king invaded Bara territory and appointed his relatives, the Zafimanely, as rulers, who gained independence of various kinglets after his death. Betsileo kingdoms such as Arindrano and Isandra were likely founded in the mid-17th century, and the Betsileo derive their name from King Besilau, who repelled a Sakalava-Menabe invasion in the 1670s. By the 18th century, the Betsileo were the island's most proficient cultivators of rice. By 1720, the Sakalava-Boina king Toakafo is considered to have been the most powerful ruler in Madagascar, and possibly ruled the entire northern third of the island. In the 18th century, the French established various trading posts along the east coast in order to supply the Mascarenes. On the northeast coast, the Tsikoa tribe coalesced under a single ruler and invaded the Antavaratra (Northerners) c. 1710, intent on capturing their lucrative ports. Ratsimilaho, a son of an English pirate and a Malagasy woman who had been Toakafo's chief minister, managed to unite the Antavaratra, repel the Tsikoa, and drive them south. Ratsimilaho founded the Betsimisaraka Confederation, and by the 1730s was one of the most powerful kings in Madagascar, although the state disintegrated soon after his death in 1754. The French attempted to set up trading posts on the northwest coast, resulting in conflict with the Sakalava in the 1770s that ended inconclusively. The Merina king Andriamasinavalona expanded the kingdom further and ruled much of the Central Highlands during his reign, though in the early 18th century he abdicated and divided the state between four of his sons. A fierce civil war ensued characterized by slave-raiding and -trading, and it was not until the 1790s that the kingdom was reunited by means of conquest and diplomacy by Andrianampoinimerina.
19th century and the Kingdom of Madagascar
After reuniting Imerina and seated at the Rova of Antananarivo, Andrianampoinimerina rapidly expanded his rule over neighboring principalities. He used the ports' reliance on the supply of slaves from the highlands to gain control over trade on the Eastern Coast. His ambition to bring the entire island under his control was largely achieved by his son and successor, King Radama I (r. 1810–28). The 18th century had seen rivalry between the French and the British over the wider Indian Ocean trade, of which Malagasy trade had proved decisive during the Carnatic Wars. Radama expanded east to control Toamasina on the coast, and concluded a treaty in 1817 with the British governor of Mauritius to abolish the lucrative slave trade in return for British military and financial assistance, and recognition as the "King of Madagascar". Artisan missionary envoys from the London Missionary Society began arriving in 1818. They established schools, transcribed the Malagasy language using the Roman alphabet, and translated the Bible. In response, the Sakalava and French found themselves as natural allies. Radama embarked on successive campaigns to conquer the island, subduing the east coast, dismantling Iboina and expelling its ruler, and achieving Menabe's nominal submission. By 1828 he controlled two-thirds of the island (excepting the Bara, Mahafaly, and Antandroy), although Merina rule was far from secure and widespread resistance continued. Radama's successor, Queen Ranavalona I (r. 1828–61), responded to increasing political and cultural encroachment on the part of Britain and France by issuing a royal edict prohibiting the practice of Christianity in Madagascar and pressuring most foreigners to leave the territory. The queen made heavy use of the traditional practice of fanompoana (forced labor as tax payment) to complete public works projects and develop a standing army of between 20,000 and 30,000 Merina soldiers, whom she deployed to pacify outlying regions of the island and further expand the Merina Kingdom to encompass most of Madagascar. Residents of Madagascar could accuse one another of various crimes, including theft, Christianity, and especially witchcraft, for which the ordeal of tangena (a poison trial) was routinely obligatory. Between 1828 and 1861, the tangena ordeal caused about 3,000 deaths annually. The combination of regular warfare, disease, difficult forced labor, and harsh measures of justice resulted in a high mortality rate among soldiers and civilians alike during the queen's 33-year reign. The population of Madagascar is estimated to have declined from around 5 million to 2.5 million between 1833 and 1839. In 1839, Boina queen Tsiomeko, having fled to the island of Nosy Be, requested French assistance against Merina attacks. In accordance with France's conditions, she signed over Nosy Be and part of the mainland to the French, which they then declared as France's protectorate. Among those who continued to reside in Imerina were Jean Laborde, an entrepreneur who developed munitions and other industries on behalf of the monarchy, and Joseph-François Lambert, a French adventurer and slave trader, with whom then-Prince Radama II signed a controversial trade agreement termed the Lambert Charter. Succeeding his mother, Radama II attempted to relax the queen's stringent policies but was overthrown two years later by Prime Minister Rainivoninahitriniony and an alliance of Andriana (noble) and Hova (commoner) courtiers, who sought to end the monarch's absolute power. Following the coup, the courtiers offered Radama's queen, Rasoherina, the opportunity to rule, if she would accept a power-sharing arrangement with the prime minister: a new social contract that would be sealed by a political marriage between them. Queen Rasoherina accepted, first marrying Rainivoninahitriniony, then later deposing him and marrying his brother, Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony, who would go on to marry Queen Ranavalona II and Queen Ranavalona III in succession. Over the course of Rainilaiarivony's 31-year tenure as prime minister, numerous policies were adopted to modernize and consolidate the central government's power. Schools were constructed throughout the island and attendance was made mandatory. Army organization was improved and British consultants were employed to train and professionalize soldiers. Polygamy was outlawed and Christianity, declared the official religion of the court in 1869, was adopted alongside traditional beliefs among a growing portion of the populace. Legal codes were reformed on the basis of British common law and three European-style courts were established in the capital city. In his joint role as commander-in-chief, Rainilaiarivony also successfully ensured the defense of Madagascar against several French colonial incursions. The French devised plans in 1842 and the 1860s to land troops in Madagascar and assist the Sakalava, who continued to resist, in a war against Imerina; however, they did not materialize.
French colonization and the colonial period
In 1883 after diplomatic fallout, France began the First Franco-Hova War by bombing Majunga, during which Madagascar suffered under blockade and diplomatic isolation as it was ignored by the nominally allied British. In 1885, an ambiguous peace treaty was signed that allowed the two parties to interpret it to their benefit: Madagascar viewed it as affirming its sovereignty, France viewed it as establishing protectorate status. Although the British accepted the full formal imposition of a French protectorate on the island in 1890, French authority was not acknowledged by the government of Madagascar. To force capitulation, the French bombarded and occupied the harbor of Toamasina on the east coast and Majunga on the west coast in December 1894 and January 1895, respectively. A French military flying column then marched toward Antananarivo, losing many men to malaria and other diseases. Reinforcements came from Algeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. Upon reaching the city in September 1895, the column bombarded the royal palace with heavy artillery, causing heavy casualties and leading Queen Ranavalona III to surrender. Popular resistance to the French capture of Antananarivo—known as the Menalamba rebellion—broke out in December 1895 and was not suppressed until the end of 1897. France annexed Madagascar in 1896 and declared the island a colony the following year, dissolving the Merina monarchy and sending the royal family into exile to the island country of Réunion and Algeria. The conquest was followed by 10 years of civil war, due to the Menalamba insurrection. The "pacification" carried out by the French administration lasted more than 15 years, in response to the rural guerrillas scattered throughout the country. The French campaign against Menabe began with the Ambiky massacre in 1897, ending in 1902. The Antandroy and Mahafaly continued to oppose colonial rule, though yielded in 1904. In total, the repression of this resistance to colonial conquest caused several tens of thousands of Malagasy victims. Under colonial rule, plantations were established for the production of a variety of export crops. Slavery was abolished in 1896, freeing approximately 500,000 slaves, though many remained in their former masters' homes as servants or as sharecroppers. In many parts of the island strong discriminatory views against slave descendants are still held today. Wide paved boulevards and gathering places were constructed in the capital city of Antananarivo and the Rova palace compound was turned into a museum. Additional schools were built, particularly in rural and coastal areas where the schools of the Merina had not reached. Education became mandatory between the ages of 6 and 13, focusing primarily on the French language and practical skills.
Huge mining and forestry concessions were granted to large companies. Native chiefs loyal to the French administration were also granted part of the land. Forced labor was introduced in favor of the French companies and peasants were encouraged, through taxation, to work for wages (especially in the colonial concessions), to the detriment of small individual farms. However, the colonial period was accompanied by movements fighting for independence: the Menalamba, the Vy Vato Sakelika, and the Democratic Movement for Malagasy Renovation (MDRM). In 1927, major demonstrations were organized in Antananarivo, notably on the initiative of the communist activist François Vittori, who was imprisoned as a result. The 1930s saw the Malagasy anti-colonial movement gain further momentum. Malagasy trade unionism began to appear underground and the Communist Party of the Madagascar region was formed. But in 1939, all these organizations were dissolved by the administration of the colony, which opted for the Vichy regime. The MDRM was accused by the colonial regime of being at the root of the 1947 insurrection and was pursued by violent repression. The Merina royal tradition of taxes paid in the form of labor was continued under the French and used to construct a railway and roads linking key coastal cities to Antananarivo. Malagasy troops fought for France in World War I. In the 1930s, Nazi political thinkers developed the Madagascar Plan that had identified the island as a potential site for the deportation of Europe's Jews. During World War II, the island was the site of the Battle of Madagascar between the Vichy French and an Allied expeditionary force. The occupation of France during the Second World War tarnished the prestige of the colonial administration in Madagascar and galvanized the growing independence movement, leading to the Malagasy Uprising of 1947. This movement led the French to establish reformed institutions in 1956 under the Loi Cadre (Overseas Reform Act), and Madagascar moved peacefully towards independence. The Malagasy Republic was proclaimed on 14 October 1958, as an autonomous state within the French Community. A period of provisional government ended with the adoption of a constitution in 1959 and full independence on 26 June 1960.
Independent state
Since regaining independence, Madagascar has transitioned through four republics with corresponding revisions to its constitution. The First Republic (1960–72), under the leadership of French-appointed President Philibert Tsiranana, was characterized by a continuation of strong economic and political ties to France. Many high-level technical positions were filled by French expatriates; and French teachers, textbooks, and curricula continued to be used in schools around the country. Popular resentment over Tsiranana's tolerance for this "neo-colonial" arrangement inspired a series of farmer and student protests that overturned his administration in 1972. Gabriel Ramanantsoa, a major general in the army, was appointed interim president and prime minister that same year but low public approval forced him to step down in 1975. Colonel Richard Ratsimandrava, appointed to succeed him, was assassinated six days into his tenure. General Gilles Andriamahazo ruled after Ratsimandrava for four months before being replaced by another military appointee, Vice Admiral Didier Ratsiraka, who ushered in the Marxist–Leninist Second Republic that ran under his tenure from 1975 to 1993. This period saw a political alignment with the Eastern Bloc countries and a shift toward economic insularity. These policies, coupled with economic pressures stemming from the 1973 oil crisis, resulted in the rapid collapse of Madagascar's economy and a sharp decline in living standards, and by 1979 the country had become completely bankrupt. The Ratsiraka administration accepted the conditions of transparency, anti-corruption measures, and free market policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and various bilateral donors in exchange for their bailout of the nation's broken economy. Ratsiraka's dwindling popularity in the late 1980s reached a critical point in 1991 when presidential guards opened fire on unarmed protesters during a rally. Within two months, a transitional government had been established under the leadership of Albert Zafy (1993–96), who went on to win the 1992 presidential elections and inaugurate the Third Republic (1992–2010). The new Madagascar Constitution established a multi-party democracy and a separation of powers placing significant control in the hands of the National Assembly. The constitution also emphasized human rights, social and political freedoms, and free trade. Zafy's term, however, was marred by economic decline, allegations of corruption, and his introduction of legislation to give himself greater powers. Consequently, he was impeached in 1996 and an interim president, Norbert Ratsirahonana, was appointed for the three months prior to the next presidential election. Ratsiraka was then voted back into power on a platform of decentralization and economic reforms for a second term lasting from 1996 to 2001. The contested 2001 presidential elections in which the then-mayor of Antananarivo, Marc Ravalomanana, eventually emerged victorious, caused a seven-month standoff in 2002 between supporters of Ravalomanana and Ratsiraka. The negative economic impact of the political crisis was gradually overcome by Ravalomanana's progressive economic and political policies encouraging investments in education and ecotourism, facilitated foreign direct investment, and cultivated trading partnerships both regionally and internationally. The national GDP grew at an average rate of 7% per year under his administration. In the latter half of his second term, however, Ravalomanana was criticized by domestic and international observers who accused him of increasing authoritarianism and corruption. Opposition leader and then-mayor of Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina, led a movement in early 2009 in which Ravalomanana was pushed from power in an unconstitutional process widely condemned as a coup d'état. In March 2009, Rajoelina was declared by the Supreme Court as president of the High Transitional Authority, an interim governing body responsible for moving the country toward presidential elections. In 2010, a new constitution was adopted by referendum, establishing a Fourth Republic, which sustained the democratic, multi-party structure established in the previous constitution. Hery Rajaonarimampianina was declared the winner of the 2013 presidential election, which the international community deemed fair and transparent. In 2018 the first round of Malagasy's presidential election was held on 7 November and the second on 10 December. Three former presidents and the most recent president were the main candidates. Rajoelina won the second round of the elections. Although Ravalomana lost that round, he did not accept the results because of allegations of fraud. Rajaonarimampianina received very modest support in the first round. In January 2019, the High Constitutional Court declared Rajoelina as the winner of the elections and the new president. In the June 2019 parliamentary elections, Rajoelina won an absolute majority of the seats of the National Assembly. It received 84 seats and the supporters of former president Ravalomana got only 16 seats of 151 seats of the National Assembly. Fifty-one seats of deputies were independent or represented small parties. Rajoelina could rule as a strongman. Mid-2021 marked the beginning of the 2021–2022 Madagascar famine, which, due to a severe drought, caused hundreds of thousands of people to face food insecurity and leaving over one million on the verge of famine. In November 2023, Rajoelina was re-elected to another term with 58.95% of the vote in the first round of the election amid an opposition boycott and a controversy about his acquisition of French citizenship and subsequent eligibility. The turnout was 46.36%, the lowest in a presidential election in the country's history. Power and water cuts, as well as general distrust of Rajoelina's administration, sparked a series of protests in 2025 culminating in his flight and impeachment with the military taking control of the country. On 17 October 2025, Colonel Michael Randrianirina was sworn in as Madagascar's new president to succeed Rajoelina.
Geography
With 592,800 square kilometres (228,900 sq mi), Madagascar is the world's 46th-largest country, the second-largest island country and the fourth-largest island. The country lies mostly between latitudes 12°S and 26°S and longitudes 43°E and 51°E. Neighboring islands include the French territory of Réunion and the country of Mauritius to the east, as well as the state of Comoros and the French territory of Mayotte to the northwest. The nearest mainland state is Mozambique, located to the west. The prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana resulted in the separation of East Gondwana (comprising Madagascar, Antarctica, Australia and the Indian subcontinent) and West Gondwana (Africa and South America) during the Jurassic period, around 185 million years ago. The Indo-Madagascar landmass separated from Antarctica and Australia around 125 million years ago, and Madagascar from the Indian landmass about 84 to 92 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous Period. This long history of separation from other continents has allowed plants and animals on the island to evolve in relative isolation. Along the length of Madagascar's Eastern Coast runs a narrow and steep escarpment containing much of the island's remaining tropical lowland forest. To the west of this ridge lies a plateau in the center of the island ranging in altitude from 750 to 1,500 m (2,460 to 4,920 ft) above sea level. These Central Highlands, traditionally the homeland of the Merina people and the location of their historic capital at Antananarivo, are the most densely populated part of the island, characterized by terraced, rice-growing valleys lying between grassy hills and patches of the subhumid forests that formerly covered the highland region. To the west of the highlands, the increasingly arid terrain gradually slopes down to the Mozambique Channel and mangrove swamps along the coast.
Madagascar's highest peaks rise from three prominent highland massifs. Maromokotro 2,876 m (9,436 ft) in the Tsaratanana Massif is the island's highest point, followed by Boby Peak 2,658 m (8,720 ft) in the Andringitra Massif, and Tsiafajavona 2,643 m (8,671 ft) in the Ankaratra Massif. To the east, the Canal des Pangalanes is a chain of human-made and natural lakes connected by canals built by the French just inland from the east coast and running parallel to it for some 600 km (370 mi). The western and southern sides, which lie in the rain shadow of the Central Highlands, are home to dry deciduous forests, spiny forests, and deserts and xeric shrublands. Due to their lower population densities, Madagascar's dry deciduous forests have been better preserved than the Eastern Rainforests or the original woodlands of the Central Plateau. The Western Coast features many protected harbors, but silting is a major problem caused by sediment from the high levels of inland erosion carried by rivers crossing the broad Western Plains.
Climate
The combination of southeastern trade winds and northwestern monsoons produces a hot rainy season (November–April) with frequently destructive cyclones, and a relatively cooler dry season (May–October). Rain clouds originating over the Indian Ocean discharge much of their moisture over the island's Eastern Coast and the heavy precipitation supports the area's rainforest ecosystem. The Central Highlands are both drier and cooler. The west is drier still, and a semi-arid climate prevails in the island's southwest and southern interior. Tropical cyclones cause damage to infrastructure and local economies as well as loss of life. In March 2004, Cyclone Gafilo became the strongest cyclone ever recorded to hit the country. The storm killed 172 people, left 214,260 homeless, and caused more than US$250 million in damage. In February 2022, Cyclone Batsirai killed 121 people, weeks after Cyclone Ana killed 55 and displaced 130,000. A 2022 analysis found that in order to adapt to and avert the environmental consequences of climate change, Madagascar would have to spend 15% of its GDP.
Biodiversity and conservation
As a result of the island's long isolation from neighboring continents, Madagascar is home to various endemic plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth. Approximately 90% of all plant and animal species found in Madagascar are endemic. This distinctive ecology has led some ecologists to refer to Madagascar as the "eighth continent", and the island has been classified by Conservation International as a biodiversity hotspot. It is classed as one of 17 megadiverse countries. The country is home to seven terrestrial ecoregions: lowland forests, subhumid forests, dry deciduous forests, ericoid thickets, spiny forests, succulent woodlands, and mangroves. More than 80% of Madagascar's 14,883 plant species are found nowhere else in the world, including five plant families. The family Didiereaceae, composed of four genera and 11 species, is limited to the spiny forests of southwestern Madagascar. Four-fifths of the world's Pachypodium species are endemic to the island. Three-fourths of Madagascar's 860 orchid species are found there alone, as are six of the world's nine baobab species. The island is home to around 170 palm species, three times as many as on all of mainland Africa, of which 165 are endemic. Many native plant species are used as herbal remedies for a variety of afflictions. For instance, the drugs vinblastine and vincristine are vinca alkaloids—which are used to treat Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, and other cancers— were derived from the Madagascar periwinkle. The traveler's palm, known locally as Ravenala and endemic to the Eastern Rainforests, is highly iconic of Madagascar and featured in the national emblem as well as the Madagascar Airlines logo.
Like its flora, Madagascar's fauna are diverse and exhibit a high rate of endemism. Lemurs have been characterized as "Madagascar's flagship mammal species" by Conservation International. In the absence of monkeys and other competitors, these primates have adapted to a wide range of habitats and diversified into numerous species. As of 2012, there were officially 103 species and subspecies of the lemur, 39 of which were described by zoologists between 2000 and 2008. Almost all of these are classified as rare, vulnerable, or endangered. Since the arrival of humans on Madagascar, at least 17 species of lemur have become extinct, all of which were larger than the surviving lemur species. A number of other mammals, including the catlike fossa, are endemic to Madagascar. Over 300 species of birds have been recorded on the island, of which over 60%—including four families and 42 genera—are endemic. The few families and genera of reptiles that have reached Madagascar have diversified into more than 260 species, with over 90% of these being endemic, including one endemic family. The island is home to two-thirds of the world's chameleon species, including the smallest known. Endemic fish of Madagascar include two families, 15 genera, and over 100 species, primarily inhabiting the island's freshwater