Madagascar: All You know to know about the 4th Largest island in the world

 

The oldest island on the planet
Madagascar is possibly the oldest island on the planet since the break up of Gondwana continent.

A unique fauna and flora
The island is best known for its unique fauna and flora; it is populated by lemurs, fossas, Malagasy civets, chameleons, frogs, and weird aye-ayes.

Humpback whales
In its coastal waters, the island is a breeding and calving ground for humpback whales.

The elephant bird
Madagascar was home to the elephant bird, an extinct flightless creature; the Vorombe titan was the largest known bird in the world, with height up to 3m and weight up to 700kg.

Baobabs and traveler’s palms
Probably the most famous plants of Madagascar are the iconic baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri) and the traveler’s palm (Ravenala madagascariensis), a national landmark. The Allée des Baobabs, the dirt road lined with baobab trees, is probably the most photographed attraction in the country.

Rice
The chief food crop of Madagascar is rice.
Vanilla
About half of the world’s production of vanilla comes from Madagascar.

The Settlement of Madagascar
The settlement of Madagascar is one of the most unusual and least understood episodes in human prehistory. Madagascar was settled about 1200 years ago by a very small group of women (about 30), most of whom were of Maritime Southeast Asian descent (about 93%). ^{[The Royal Society]}

Even though 85% of Malagasy are Christians by name, ancestor worship (famadihana), folk beliefs and taboos (fady) are deeply rooted in society.
Image: Steve Evans

Queen Ranavalona I
Madagascar’s Queen Ranavalona I (reigned 1828-61) was dubbed the “Mad Queen” by British colonial powers for taking drastic measures to expand her empire while protecting Malagasy sovereignty from the aggressive advance of European influence, including that of British Protestant missionaries.

Face painting
Masonjoany is the application of sandalwood paste to the face, full face or in floral patterns, or both.

Lamba
Lambas are the traditional, woven garments of rectangular length (like a scarf or a sash) worn by both men and women.

Zanahary
In traditional beliefs, Zanahary is the creator god and supreme deity of the Malagasy pantheon. The god includes female and male aspects and manifests in both heavenly and earthly forms.

Fady
The daily life of the Malagasy people is dominated by thousands of cultural taboos (fady). Fady are (mainly superstitious) taboos, rules or behaviors that apply to a wide range of situations, people, places, or colors. To break a taboo, ritual negotiations with the ancestors would be necessary.

Famadihana
Famadihana is a family celebration of a special kind. An important part of the traditional celebration is that the remains of the ancestors are taken from their burial site, wrapped in fresh cloths and participate in the festivities.

Aloalo
The aloalo is the Malagasy version of a tombstone, a pole sculpture placed on the graves of important people in the southwestern region of Madagascar.

Salegy
Salegy is the popular contemporary music from Madagascar.

Moraingy
Moraingy is Madagascar’s combat sport, also known as Malagasy bare-knuckle boxing.

Libertalia and Antsiranana Bay
The Antsiranana Bay was used for shelter by a number of pirates and privateers during the Golden Age of Piracy. It was possibly the location of the legendary pirate colony Libertalia.

Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park“Tsingy” means where one cannot walk barefoot, which is a perfect name for this national park. Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park is essentially a big forest of jagged limestone stone spires that jut out of the ground like needles . It is believed these dramatic, UNESCO-designated monoliths date back to around five million years ago. Don’t worry about your feet, though, there are platforms build throughout the park so you can admire these natural formations up close.

Nosy Be

According to Wikipedia, As a result of the island’s long isolation from neighboring continents, Madagascar is home to various 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.Madagascar is classed as one of 17 megadiverse countries. The country is home to seven terrestrial ecoregions: Madagascar lowland forests, Madagascar subhumid forests, Madagascar dry deciduous forests, Madagascar ericoid thickets, Madagascar spiny thickets, Madagascar succulent woodlands, and Madagascar mangroves.

More than 80 percent 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 here 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; 165 of them are endemic.Many native plant species are used as herbal remedies for a variety of afflictions. The drugs vinblastine and vincristine are vinca alkaloids,used to treat Hodgkin’s disease, leukemia,and other cancers, were derived from the Madagascar periwinkle. The traveler’s palm, known locally as ravinala and endemic to the eastern rain forests, is highly iconic of Madagascar and is featured in the national emblem as well as the Air Madagascar logo.

Like its flora, Madagascar’s fauna is diverse and exhibits 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 lemur, 39 of which were described by zoologists between 2000 and 2008.They are almost all classified as rare, vulnerable, or endangered. At least 17 species of lemur have become extinct since humans arrived on Madagascar, all of which were larger than the surviving lemur species.

A number of other mammals, including the cat-like fossa, are endemic to Madagascar. Over 300 species of birds have been recorded on the island, of which over 60 percent (including four families and 42 genera) are endemic.The few families and genera of reptile that have reached Madagascar have diversified into more than 260 species, with over 90 percent 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, and researchers have proposed that Madagascar may be the origin of all chameleons.

Endemic fish of Madagascar include two families, 15 genera and over 100 species, primarily inhabiting the island’s freshwater lakes and rivers. Although invertebrates remain poorly studied in Madagascar, researchers have found high rates of endemism among the known species. All 651 species of terrestrial snail are endemic, as are a majority of the island’s butterflies, scarab beetles, lacewings, spiders, and dragonflies.

In 2007 six of the national parks were declared a joint World Heritage Site under the name Rainforests of the Atsinanana. These parks are Marojejy, Masoala, Ranomafana, Zahamena, Andohahela and Andringitra.

Madagascar is subdivided into 22 regions (faritra).The regions are further subdivided into 119 districts, 1,579 communes, and 17,485 fokontany.

Madagascar’s natural resources include a variety of agricultural and mineral products. Agriculture (including the growing of raffia), mining, fishing and forestry are mainstays of the economy. In 2017 the top exports were vanilla (US$894M), nickel metal (US$414M), cloves (US$288M), knitted sweaters (US$184M) and cobalt (US$143M).

Madagascar is the world’s principal supplier of vanilla, cloves and ylang-ylang.The island supplies 80% of the world’s natural vanilla.Other key agricultural resources include coffee, lychees and shrimp. Key mineral resources include various types of precious and semi-precious stones, and it currently provides half of the world’s supply of sapphires, which were discovered near Ilakaka in the late 1990s.

Madagascar has one of the world’s largest reserves of ilmenite (titanium ore), as well as important reserves of chromite, coal, iron, cobalt, copper and nickel. Several major projects are underway in the mining, oil and gas sectors that are anticipated to give a significant boost to the Malagasy economy. These include such projects as ilmenite and zircon mining from heavy mineral sands near Tôlanaro by Rio Tinto, extraction of nickel by the Ambatovy mine near Moramanga and its processing near Toamasina by Sherritt International,and the development of the giant onshore heavy oil deposits at Tsimiroro and Bemolanga by Madagascar Oil.

Culture

Each of the many ethnic subgroups in Madagascar adhere to their own set of beliefs, practices and ways of life that have historically contributed to their unique identities. However, there are a number of core cultural features that are common throughout the island, creating a strongly unified Malagasy cultural identity. In addition to a common language and shared traditional religious beliefs around a creator god and veneration of the ancestors, the traditional Malagasy worldview is shaped by values that emphasize fihavanana (solidarity), vintana (destiny), tody (karma), and hasina, a sacred life force that traditional communities believe imbues and thereby legitimates authority figures within the community or family. Other cultural elements commonly found throughout the island include the practice of male circumcision; strong kinship ties; a widespread belief in the power of magic, diviners, astrology and witch doctors; and a traditional division of social classes into nobles, commoners, and slaves.

Although social castes are no longer legally recognized, ancestral caste affiliation often continues to affect social status, economic opportunity, and roles within the community. Malagasy people traditionally consult Mpanandro (“Makers of the Days”) to identify the most auspicious days for important events such as weddings or famadihana, according to a traditional astrological system introduced by Arabs. Similarly, the nobles of many Malagasy communities in the pre-colonial period would commonly employ advisers known as the ombiasy (from olona-be-hasina, “man of much virtue”) of the southeastern Antemoro ethnic group, who trace their ancestry back to early Arab settlers.(Wikipidia)

The diverse origins of Malagasy culture are evident in its tangible expressions. The most emblematic instrument of Madagascar, the valiha, is a bamboo tube zither carried to Madagascar by early settlers from southern Borneo, and is very similar in form to those found in Indonesia and the Philippines today.

Traditional houses in Madagascar are likewise similar to those of southern Borneo in terms of symbolism and construction, featuring a rectangular layout with a peaked roof and central support pillar. Reflecting a widespread veneration of the ancestors, tombs are culturally significant in many regions and tend to be built of more durable material, typically stone, and display more elaborate decoration than the houses of the living.The production and weaving of silk can be traced back to the island’s earliest settlers, and Madagascar’s national dress, the woven lamba, has evolved into a varied and refined art.

The Southeast Asian cultural influence is also evident in Malagasy cuisine, in which rice is consumed at every meal, typically accompanied by one of a variety of flavorful vegetable or meat dishes.bAfrican influence is reflected in the sacred importance of zebu cattle and their embodiment of their owner’s wealth, traditions originating on the African mainland. Cattle rustling, originally a rite of passage for young men in the plains areas of Madagascar where the largest herds of cattle are kept, has become a dangerous and sometimes deadly criminal enterprise as herdsmen in the southwest attempt to defend their cattle with traditional spears against increasingly armed professional rustlers.(Wikipidia)

 Cuisine

Malagasy cuisine reflects the diverse influences of Southeast Asian, African, Indian, Chinese, and European culinary traditions. The complexity of Malagasy meals can range from the simple, traditional preparations introduced by the earliest settlers, to the refined festival dishes prepared for the island’s 19th-century monarchs. Throughout almost the entire island, the contemporary cuisine of Madagascar typically consists of a base of rice (vary) served with an accompaniment (laoka). The many varieties of laoka may be vegetarian or include animal proteins, and typically feature a sauce flavored with such ingredients as ginger, onion, garlic, tomato, vanilla, coconut milk, salt, curry powder, green peppercorns or, less commonly, other spices or herbs. In parts of the arid south and west, pastoral families may replace rice with maize, cassava, or curds made from fermented zebu milk. A wide variety of sweet and savory fritters as well as other street foods are available across the island, as are diverse tropical and temperate-climate fruits. Locally produced beverages include fruit juices, coffee, herbal teas and teas, and alcoholic drinks such as rum, wine, and beer. Three Horses Beer is the most popular beer on the island and is considered emblematic of Madagascar.

 

Sources: Wikipedia, Nationonline, Britannica, https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.worldatlas.com/amp/articles/the-culture-of-madagascar.html, 

https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-madagascar/,

https://www.touropia.com/tourist-attractions-in-madagascar/, 

https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/top-things-to-see-madagascar/, 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/traveltriangle.com/blog/places-to-visit-in-madagascar/amp/,

https://www.thediscoverer.com/blog/10-stunning-places-in-madagascar/XvHyVpKgiwAG5avl