Madagascar is a large island country off the east coast of Africa, settled by Indonesians in AD 200. Europeans tried to settle but failed due to hostile tribes. Pirates used Madagascar as a base. The Merina Kingdom unified and ruled the island until the French invaded in the late 19th century. Madagascar gained independence in 1950 and went through a period of socialism before becoming a democracy in 1992. The country is known for its unique wildlife and pristine beaches.
Madagascar is a huge island country off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. It covers 226,000 square miles (587,000 sq km), making it about twice the size of the state of Arizona. It is across a strait from the African nation of Mozambique.
The first to settle on this island were almost certainly from Borneo, in the Indonesian archipelago, almost 4,000 miles away. This settlement occurred sometime after AD 200, making it one of the last major landmasses in the world to be settled by humans. In the 7th century some Arabs began establishing temporary trading posts along the northern part of the island, but they never worked their way south or inland. It was only at the end of the 15th century that Europeans came into contact with Madagascar.
For the next two centuries both the French and the British tried unsuccessfully several times to establish settlements on the island. Diseases such as dysentery and fever played a part in this difficulty, but the major cause was the hostility of the various tribes of Madagascar, who endured little of the European settlers before attacking them.
Because of this lack of European settlement and the island’s proximity to the Mughal shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean, the pirates found Madagascar an ideal base of operations. These pirates settled mainly in the northern part of the island and especially allied themselves with one tribe, the Betsimisaraka. This tribe, thanks to its newfound access to muskets and gunpowder, was able to overwhelm most of its neighbors and conquer much of the northeast of the island. On the west coast, another tribe, the Sakalava, also managed to turn its ties to European slavers into guns, helping them conquer the western side of the island.
In the early part of the 1800s a small kingdom in the highlands of Madagascar, the Merina Kingdom, began a series of conquests that would lead to the unification and subjugation of nearly all of the island. One king of this dynasty, King Radama I, entered into formal negotiations with the British, who recognized him as sole ruler of the island. For the next century this dynasty would continue to rule the island, with the fates of British missionaries and colonists resting on the whims of the current leader.
This state of affairs lasted until the late 19th century, when the French, angry at the government’s confiscation of French property, invaded Madagascar. The French took the capital and were soon in control of the island, a situation the British recognized in exchange for rights to Zanzibar. French rule would continue until the late 1919s when the island gained autonomy and finally independence in 1950.
It avoided the normal move toward communism for the first few years of its independence, but by 1975 it was forging strong ties with the Soviet Union and implementing socialist reforms across the country. This lasted until the late 1980s, when the country began to move in the opposite direction, finally accepting a democratic constitution in 1992. Madagascar continues to remain democratic, and although violence occasionally erupts, the country is relatively stable.
Tourists often find Madagascar’s greatest appeal in the nearly limitless species that inhabit its stunning forests. It is home to an incredible number of animals that cannot be found anywhere else on Earth, the most famous of which are the numerous lemur species found only on the island. While rampant deforestation is a serious problem, the forests will still seem endless to most visitors. The beaches along the coast, particularly at Ifaty, are some of the most pristine on the planet, and whales can be seen off the coast in July and August. The ideal time to visit is during the winter months when the appalling summer temperatures have stabilized.
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