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Madagascar
Area: 587,040 sq.km
Population: 18.6 million (est.2006)
Capital city: Antananarivo
People: Malagasy
Languages: Malagasy, French
Religion(s): Christianity (41%) & indigenous beliefs; Islam (7%)
Currency: Ariary. (The old Malagasy Franc ceased to exist in January 2006).
Major political parties: Tiako I Madagasikara (TIM), Firaisankinam-pirenena, Association pour la renaissance de Madagascar (AREMA), Leader-Fanilo, Renovation du partie social democrate (RPSD)
Head of State: President Marc Ravalomanana
Prime Minister: Jacques Sylla
Membership of International Groupings/Organisations: African Union (AU), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC), Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Francophone Organisation (OIF).
GEOGRAPHY
The world's fourth largest island, about 2.5 times the size of the UK, Madagascar lies in the South West Indian Ocean some 400 km. off the coast of Mozambique. Climatically sub-tropical, temperatures vary; daytime temperatures on the high central plateau are 31C in January and 15C in July. Most of the country has adequate rainfall except the south, the poorest and driest region. Regular cyclones cause extensive flooding and damage.
Madagascar is known for its bio-diversity and high proportion of endemic species. But, because of slash and burn agriculture and poor management, only 26% of the land is forested.
HISTORY
Although Madagascar is geographically close to mainland Africa, its history and culture are distinct. The first settlers are believed to have arrived from the area of Indonesia in about the fifth century. The forebears of the present population were from South-East Asia and from East Africa in equal measure, with the Asian element predominant in the highlands, and the African (and Arab) element predominant in the coastal areas. While people and culture represent a unique blend, the nearest relation to the Malagasy language, which bears few African traces, is today spoken only in southern Borneo: In contrast to most African countries where linguistic diversity is the rule, Madagascar has a single common language.
A strong independent Merina monarchy developed on the central plateau from the eighteenth century. It conquered the whole island in the 19th century, with British help, developed links with the British royal family and concluded an anti-slaving treaty with Britain. Protestantism brought by the London Missionary Society (LMS) was adopted as the official religion. The LMS created a written language, and together with French and other missionaries, developed the educational system and introduced industrialisation. The last Queen, Ranavalona III, was exiled in 1895 when France imposed protectorate status.
In 1942, British and Commonwealth forces ousted the Vichy French. Following the return to French control at the end of WWII, there was a serious uprising against French colonialism in 1947 in which 15-20,000 Malagasy were killed and many more died of starvation in the eastern forests.
Madagascar became independent in 1960, under the conservative leadership of President Philibert Tsiranana. Following civil disturbances, he relinquished power to the military in 1972. In 1975, the Head of State, Colonel Richard Ratsimandrava, was assassinated. Admiral Didier Ratsiraka, who replaced him, returned Madagascar to civilian rule under the banner of 'revolutionary socialism', establishing links with the Communist world. Existing political parties were grouped into a ruling 'Front' led by Ratsiraka. But the real move to multi-party democracy only started in the late 1980s. After months of strikes and pro-democracy demonstrations in 1990/91, a new Third Republic Constitution inaugurating a parliamentary system was introduced in 1992.
POLITICS
Prof. Albert Zafy, who defeated Ratsiraka in the 1992 presidential elections, was impeached by parliament and removed from office four years later, in September 1996. In the electoral contest that followed, Ratsiraka defeated Zafy and returned to the Presidency for a five-year term of office. However the next set of presidential elections in December 2001 pitched the country into crisis. Amid mutual accusations of cheating and vote-rigging in the first round, a second round run-off took place between the two leading candidates, President Ratsiraka and the Mayor of Antananarivo, Marc Ravalomanana. Both candidates and their supporters became embroiled in a period of civil unrest that lasted for several months, and which had a huge impact on the people and economy of Madagascar. Although the African Union (AU), President Wade of Senegal, and the UN attempted to mediate a peaceful settlement between the two parties, events on the ground overtook these efforts.
Following a meeting between the two candidates in Dakar in mid-April 2002, Madagascar's High Constitutional Court carried out a recount of the first round votes and declared Ravalomanana the winner: he became the first highlander (Merina) ever to have gained the Presidency in Madagascar, breaking the mould of Malagasy politics. He was inaugurated as President on 7 May 2002. Ratsiraka refused to accept this decision. His supporters continued a campaign to isolate the capital by blowing up bridges and maintaining barricades on the main roads. However the armed forces increasingly lent support to Ravalomanana who gained control of large parts of the island. Several members of the international community including the United States, France and the UK acknowledged Ravalomanana as President. In July 2003 the AU belatedly did the same.
A coup attempt in November 2006 by a dissident army general was suppressed without major incident. In December 2006 President Ravalomanana was re-elected for a second, five-year term.
Legislative elections were held on 15 December 2002. President Ravalomanana's TIM won an outright victory taking 102 out of 160 seats. Their National Alliance partner, Firaisankinam-pirenena, took 22 seats. A number of smaller parties took the remaining 34 seats. Former President Ratsiraka's party, AREMA, boycotted the election, although some candidates stood as independents and won 2 seats. The next legislative elections are due in December 2007.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Human rights have been generally respected. Madagascar has signed or ratified five of the six principal international human rights treaties. The death penalty remains in force, but it has not been invoked for over 40 years. Prison conditions are harsh, although a good deal of work has been done to improve some prisons. The UK has provided funds in support of these improvements.
Human Rights Annual Report 2006
ECONOMY
Basic economic facts
GDP: US \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$ 5 billion (2005 est)
GDP per head: US \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$ 900 (2005)
Annual growth: 4.7% (2006 est)
Inflation: 18.3% (2005)
Major industries: Mining, fishing, paper, garment-manufacturing, tourism, food/tobacco, chemicals, petrol refining, cement, metal work
Main Imports: Machinery & transport equipment, mineral fuels, foodstuffs, consumer goods
Main Exports: Coffee, shellfish, vanilla, fish, textiles/garments (Free Zone), cloves, pepper, cotton, chromite, graphite, sapphires
Main trading partners: France, US, Germany, Mauritius, China
Exchange rate: Ariary: US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$ (2005 av.) – 2,010.3
Madagascar is rich in mineral resources, with sapphires, emeralds and ilmenite: a diamond exploration company has recently reported the discovery of the first 2 known kimberlites there. However agriculture dominates the Malagasy economy, accounting for a third of GDP, though manufacturing is of growing importance. Although traditional crops of coffee, vanilla, cloves and pepper continue to make up a large part of agricultural exports, fish and particularly prawns have moved up the list.
According to the World Bank, for over three decades Madagascar recorded the fifth-lowest rate of GDP growth in the world (0.5% per annum). In recent years, however, this has improved, due in part to economic liberalisation and the establishment of a Free Zone, concentrating mainly on garment manufacture. In the period 1999-2001, GDP growth rose from 4% to almost 6% p.a. However, during the political crisis of 2002, many companies stopped operating and a large majority of the 160,000 Free Zone employees lost their jobs. GDP growth has now resumed.
DEVELOPMENT
About a quarter of Madagascar's 18m people live in urban areas, but most of the population depends on subsistence farming, based on rice and cattle. The population growth rate is about 3%.
The mountainous terrain, bisected by deep river valleys, has hindered the development of adequate communications in the interior while along the coast infrastructure is prone to cyclone damage. The island also suffers deforestation and severe soil erosion.
The UK makes a substantial contribution to the development of Madagascar through multilateral programmes run by the European Union (EU), IMF, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), UN and African Development Bank (AfDB) multilateral aid programmes.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
The political crisis of 2002 temporarily blighted Madagascar's links with other African countries until the AU took the decision in July 2003 to recognise the Ravalomanana presidency and re-admit Madagascar to full membership of the AU, from which it had been suspended for one year. Madagascar was admitted to full membership of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in August 2005. Madagascar enjoys good relations with its island neighbours, especially Mauritius, which invests in the Malagasy Free Zone and was an early proponent of recognising the Ravalomanana regime. It is a founder member of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and hosted the third IOC Summit in Antananarivo on 22 July 2005; President Ravalomanana is current IOC Chairman. Madagascar also hosted the Summit of the Organisation of Francophone Countries (OIF) in November 2005.
Madagascar also maintains warm relations with the US and EU and with Asian economic and trading partners like China, Japan, and Thailand (from which it imports rice). Special links with Indonesia derive from cultural and linguistic affinities. President Ravalomanana participated with other African and Asian leaders in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)'s 50th anniversary celebrations at Bandung and launch of the New Africa Asia Strategic Partnership in Jakarta in April 2005.
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