Nationality: Malagasy
Religion
The majority of the population follow traditional religions. Christianity is the next largest religion. There is also a small Muslim population.
Culture and tourist attractions
Madagascar was a French colony for many years. Many people migrated to the country throughout its history, among these are southeast Africans, Arabs, South Indians and the Merina people. The Merina people describe encountering a population of people upon their arrival called the Vazimba which could have been descendants of Austronesians. Today there are many ethnic groups in the country.
Each ethnic group has their own beliefs and way of life. Malagasy cuisine has a lot of Southeast Asian influences. Rice is a main part of the meal, accompanied by flavoured vegetables or meat.
Popular sports are a type of martial art called Moraingy, wrestling of zebu cattle, known as tolon-omby and a traditional board game called fanorona.
The valiha is the national instrument made from bamboo. It generally has 21 to 24 strings.
Madagascar is full of wild adventures. It’s one of the best diving places in the world with the third-largest coral reef system on Earth, the Toliara coral reef, located off the south-western coast.
The east coast is a great place to spot humpback whales. The best times to see them are from July to September.
During your stay, you can see lemurs at Ranomafana National Park, go for a ride on the dirt roads of the Avenue of the Baobabs, or take a river tour on Tsiribihina River.
Famous people from Madagascar
Samoëla Rasolofoniaina: a vocalist and composer of contemporary folk fusion and roots music. He is known as Samoëla and typically sings and plays the acoustic guitar.
Radama II: was the son and heir of Queen Ranavalona I. He ruled from 1861 to 1863 over the Kingdom of Madagascar.
Did you know?
- Madagascar became independent from France on 26 June 1960.
- Madagascar is the world’s fourth-largest island.
- Geologists think that around 2 million years ago, Madagascar was part of a big landmass and broke off from what is now the continent of Africa.
- Because there are so many unique animals in Madagascar, it is sometimes called “the 8th continent.”
- Out of nine species of baobab trees, six can be found in Madagascar.
- Madagascar was home to the largest bird in the world, the elephant bird. It is believed to have been over 10 ft (3m)! It became extinct in the 17th century.
