Following the prehistoric breakup of the
supercontinentGondwana, Madagascar split from Africa during the Early Jurassic, around 180 million years ago, and split from the
Indian subcontinent around 90 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation; consequently, it is a
biodiversity hotspot and one of the world's 17
megadiverse countries, with over 90% of
wildlife being endemic. The island has a subtropical to tropical maritime climate. Madagascar was first settled during or before the mid-first millennium AD by
Austronesian peoples, presumably arriving on
outrigger canoes from present-day
Indonesia. These were joined around the ninth 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. 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 the
annexation by France, from which Madagascar gained independence in 1960. The country 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. (Full article...)
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Ranavalona I (born Rabodoandrianampoinimerina (also called Ramavo); 1778 – 16 August 1861), also known as Ranavalo-Manjaka I and the "Mad Monarch of Madagascar" was sovereign of the
Kingdom of Madagascar from 1828 to 1861. After positioning herself as queen following the death of her young husband,
Radama I, Ranavalona pursued a policy of
isolationism and self-sufficiency, reducing economic and political ties with European powers, repelling a French attack on the coastal town of
Foulpointe, and taking vigorous measures to eradicate the small but growing
Malagasy Christian movement initiated under Radama I by members of the
London Missionary Society.
She 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 realm. The combination of regular warfare, disease, difficult forced labor and harsh
tangenatrials by ordeal using a poisonous nut from the
Cerbera manghas shrub resulted in a high mortality rate among both soldiers and civilians during her 33-year reign, with Madagascar's population reducing from 5 million in 1833 to 2.5 million in 1839. (Full article...)
Madagascar, then officially known as
French Madagascar, was a French colony at the outbreak of the
Second World War, having been under French administration since 1885. It played an important role in the war due to the presence of critically important harbors, the contribution of Malagasy troops, and was also the scene of fighting between
Allied and
Vichy French forces in 1942. After the
fall of France in 1940, Madagascar became a crucial flashpoint in contention between the
Free French movement and
Vichy France. The island was also consequential in the
Pacific theater of the war as
Imperial Japanese naval forces operated unopposed off the island for some time.
In 1942, the British and several other Allied forces launched an
invasion of Madagascar, seeking to protect its position as an important juncture in Allied shipping and deny its use to the
Axis. In addition to its role as a key link in the Allied supply lines and major provider of troops,
Madagascar was also briefly considered as the solution to the
Jewish Question by the government of
Nazi Germany who openly floated deporting Europe's Jewish population to the island in 1940. This scheme known as the
Madagascar Plan never came to fruition because of the British takeover. The island was officially handed over from the British to
Free France in 1943 under whose control it remained for the remainder of the war. (Full article...)
With a head and body length of 130 to 136 mm (5.1 to 5.4 in), Eliurus petteri is a moderately large species of Eliurus. Its upperparts are gray-brown to gray and contrast sharply with the white underparts. The tail tuft, a characteristic feature of Eliurus, is weakly developed. The skull is delicate and the
incisive foramina (openings in the front part of the
palate) are short and narrow. The
incisors are weak. (Full article...)
The following are images from various Madagascar-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1Malagasy ancestry reflects a blend of Southeast Asian, Oceanian and Bantu (Southeast African) roots. (from Madagascar)
Image 2Matatana, represented in a picture of 1613, regarding a settlement of the beginning of the 16th century, in the Book of Humberto Leitão" (from Madagascar)
Image 3Map of Madagascar and the western portion of the East Indies, circa 1702–1707 (from History of Madagascar)
Image 14Vaγimba- "Those of the forest" in Proto–Southeast Barito, the reconstructed ancestor of the Southeast
Barito languages, which includes the languages spoken by the
Dayak peoples of the
Barito River in
Borneo (pictured) (from History of Madagascar)
Image 15Canoe-sarcophagus of the Dayak: a burial that recalls the Malagasy tradition that former Ntaolo Vazimba and Vezo buried their dead in canoe-sarcophagi in the sea or in a lake (from History of Madagascar)
Image 16Radama I, the first monarch of the kingdom unified central Madagascar. (from History of Madagascar)
Image 18Moraingy is a traditional martial art of Madagascar. (from Madagascar)
Image 19An Austronesian
outrigger canoe; Malagasy vahoaka "people" is from
Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*va-waka "people of the canoe". The Vahoaka Ntaolo, the first Austronesian ancestors of the Malagasy, probably used similar canoes to reach the great island from the
Sunda Islands (from History of Madagascar)
Image 20A news stand in Antananarivo (from Madagascar)
Image 21Land coverage (left) and topographical (right) maps of Madagascar (from Madagascar)
Image 25Malagasy Embassy to Europe in 1863. Left to right: Rainifiringa Ralaimaholy, Rev. John Duffus and Rasatranabo aka Rainandrianandraina. (from History of Madagascar)
Image 38The
taro (saonjo in Malagasy) is, according to an old Malagasy proverb, "the elder of the rice" (Ny saonjo no zokin'ny vary), and was also a staple diet for the proto-Austronesians (from History of Madagascar)
Image 39Moraingy is a traditional martial art of Madagascar. (from Culture of Madagascar)
Image 44A Sumatran village showing several traditional houses (Malagasy levu). The vahoaka ntaolo villages of Madagascar were probably similar in the first millennium AD. This model is still currently present on every coast and in the remote inland areas and forests. (from History of Madagascar)
Image 45In many places oxcarts are an important medium of transport, like in
Ambatolampy (from Madagascar)
Image 46Men in an Outrigger Canoe Headed for Shore, an oil painting by Arman Manookian depicting the
Vezo people,
c. 1929 (from History of Madagascar)
Image 47National monument in
Moramanga commemorating the beginning of the
Malagasy Uprising on 29 March 1947. Between 11,000 and 90,000 Malagasy died during the uprising which lasted nearly two years. (from Madagascar)
Image 48Landing of the 40th Battaillon de Chasseur à Pieds in
Majunga, between 5 May and 24 May 1895. (from History of Madagascar)
Image 49Map of Madagascar and surroundings, circa 1702–1707 (from History of Madagascar)
Image 50A street vendor selling fresh potato chips and traditional kaka pizon snacks (from Culture of Madagascar)
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