World Context: Madagascar

Source and mapping status

This page maps the site registry entry “Madagascar” to the supplied dataset entity “Madagascar.” Mapping status: exact-name. The source is a frozen 2025 snapshot; dates embedded in individual fields remain controlling.

• Source entity count: 1.
• Selected public fields present: 19.
• Independent corroboration in this page: none.

Place and environment

Location: Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Mozambique Area: total : 587,041 sq km; land: 581,540 sq km; water: 5,501 sq km Climate: tropical along coast, temperate inland, arid in south Terrain: narrow coastal plain, high plateau and mountains in center Natural hazards: periodic cyclones; drought; and locust infestation; volcanism: Madagascar's volcanoes have not erupted in recorded history Environmental issues: erosion and soil degradation from deforestation and overgrazing; desertification; agricultural fires; water pollution from raw sewage and other organic wastes; wildlife preservation

Population, settlement, and language context

Population: total: 31,345,040 (2025 est.); male: 15,647,362; female: 15,697,678 Population distribution: most of population lives on the eastern half of the island; significant clustering is found in the central highlands and eastern coastline, as shown in this population distribution map Urbanization: urban population: 40.6% of total population (2023); rate of urbanization: 4.26% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) Languages: Malagasy (official) 99.9%, French (official) 23.6%, English 8.2%, other 0.6% (2018 est.); note: shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census

Public and legal context

Capital: name: Antananarivo; geographic coordinates: 18 55 S, 47 31 E; time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time); etymology: the name means "City of the Thousand," from the Malagasy an - (a prefix denoting a place name), tanana (town), and arivo (thousand); in the 17th century, King ADRIANJAKA named the original fortress after the 1,000 soldiers stationed there Government type: semi-presidential republic Legal system: civil law system based on the old French civil code and customary law in matters of marriage, family, and obligation

Economy and connectivity context

Economic overview: low-income East African island economy; natural resource rich; extreme poverty; return of political stability has helped growth; sharp tax revenue drop due to COVID-19; leading vanilla producer; environmentally fragile Industries: meat processing, seafood, soap, beer, leather, sugar, textiles, glassware, cement, automobile assembly plant, paper, petroleum, tourism, mining Electricity access: electrification - total population: 36.1% (2022 est.); electrification - urban areas: 71.6%; electrification - rural areas: 10.9% Internet users: percent of population: 20% (2023 est.) Airports: 93 (2025) Ports: total ports: 13 (2024); large: 0; medium: 0; small: 2; very small: 11; ports with oil terminals: 5; key ports: Andoany, Antsiranana, Antsohim Bondrona, Iharana, Mahajanga, Maintirano, Manakara, Mananjary, Maroantsetra, Morondava, Toamasina, Tolanaro, Toliara

Interpretation and freshness boundary

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