http://RealAdventures.com/madagascar.htm Check out some of the recently updated travel & vacation listings on RealAdventures. Be inspired, go explore! en-us Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:34:52 GMT Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:34:52 GMT http://RealAdventures.com http://RealAdventures.com/madagascar.htm 100 100 http://RealAdventures.com/listings/1024421_Travel-Consideration-Madagascar http://RealAdventures.com/listings/1024421_Travel-Consideration-Madagascar Official Info Madagascar Mon, 30 Oct 2000 00:10:00 US State Department Travel Considerations for Madagascar -
US State Department Travel Considerations for Madagascar



Details & Reservations: Travel Consideration Madagascar
RealAdventures | Madagascar Official Info

]]> http://RealAdventures.com/listings/1024154_Background-Notes-Madagascar http://RealAdventures.com/listings/1024154_Background-Notes-Madagascar Official Info Madagascar Fri, 06 Oct 2000 00:10:00 U.S. Department of State information for the Republic of Madagascar. -
U.S. Department of State information for the Republic of Madagascar.


Madagascar's population is predominantly of mixed Asian and African origin. Recent research suggests that the island was uninhabited until Indonesian seafarers arrived in roughly the first century A.D., probably by way of southern India and East Africa, where they acquired African wives and slaves. Subsequent migrations from both the Pacific and Africa further consolidated this original mixture, and 18 separate tribal groups emerged. Asian features are most predominant in the central highlands people, the Merina (2 million) and the Betsileo (1 million) the coastal people are of African origin. The largest coastal groups are the Betsimisaraka (1 million) and the Tsimihety and Sakalava (500,000 each).

The Malagasy language is of MalayoPolynesian origin and is generally spoken throughout the island. French also is spoken among the educated of this former French colony.

Most people practice traditional religions, which tend to emphasize links between the living and the dead. They believe that the dead join their ancestors in the ranks of divinity and that ancestors are intensely concerned with the fate of their living descendants. This spiritual communion is celebrated by the Merina and Betsileo reburial practice of famadihana, or "turning over the dead." In this ritual, relatives' remains are exhumed, rewrapped in new silk shrouds, and reburied following festive ceremonies in their honor.

About 40% of the Malagasy are Christian, divided almost evenly between Roman Catholic and Protestant. Many incorporate the cult of the dead with their religious beliefs and bless their dead at church before proceeding with the traditional burial rites. They also may invite a pastor to attend a famadihana.

An historical rivalry exists between the predominantly Catholic coastal people (cotiers), considered to be underprivileged, and the predominantly Protestant Merina, who tend to prevail in the civil service, business, and professions. A new policy of decentralizing resources and authority is intended to enhance the development potential of all Madagascar's provinces.

The written history of Madagascar began in the seventh century A.D., when Arabs established trading posts along the northwest coast. European contact began in the 1500s, when Portuguese sea captain Diego Dias sighted the island after his ship became separated from a fleet bound for India. In the late 17th century, the French established trading posts along the east coast. From about 1774 to 1824, it was a favorite haunt for pirates, including Americans, one of whom brought Malagasy rice to South Carolina.

Beginning in the 1790s, Merina rulers succeeded in establishing hegemony over the major part of the island, including the coast. In 1817, the Merina ruler and the British governor of Mauritius concluded a treaty abolishing the slave trade, which had been important in Madagascar's economy. In return, the island received British military and financial assistance. British influence remained strong for several decades, during which the Merina court was converted to Presbyterianism, Congregationalism, and Anglicanism.

The British accepted the imposition of a French protectorate over Madagascar in 1885 in return for eventual control over Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania) and as part of an overall definition of spheres of influence in the area. Absolute French control over Madagascar was established by military force in 189596, and the Merina monarchy was abolished.

Malagasy troops fought in France, Morocco, and Syria during World War I. After France fell to the Germans in 1942, Madagascar was administered first by the Vichy Government and then by the British, whose troops occupied the strategic island to preclude its seizure by the Japanese. The Free French received the island from the United Kingdom in 1943.

In 1947, with French prestige at low ebb, a nationalist uprising was suppressed only after several months of bitter fighting. The French subsequently established reformed institutions in 1956 under the Loi Cadre (Overseas Reform Act), and Madagascar moved peacefully toward independence.

The Malagasy Republic was proclaimed on October 14, 1958, as an autonomous state within the French Community. A period of provisional government ended with the adoption of a constitution in 1959 and full independence on June 26, 1960.
Details & Reservations: Background Notes Madagascar
RealAdventures | Madagascar Official Info

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