MADAGASCAR
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 587,040 km2; land area: 581,540 km2
Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Arizona
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 4,828 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands,
Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island (all administered by France)
Climate: tropical along coast, temperate inland, arid in south
Terrain: narrow coastal plain, high plateau and mountains in center
Natural resources: graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, salt,
quartz, tar sands, semiprecious stones, mica, fish
Land use: arable land 4%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
58%; forest and woodland 26%; other 11%; includes irrigated 2%
Environment: subject to periodic cyclones; deforestation;
overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Note: world's fourth-largest island; strategic location
along Mozambique Channel
PEOPLE
Population: 12,185,318 (July 1991), growth rate 3.2% (1991)
Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 95 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 51 years male, 54 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 6.9 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Malagasy (sing. and pl.); adjective--Malagasy
Ethnic divisions: basic split between highlanders of predominantly
Malayo-Indonesian origin (Merina 1,643,000 and related Betsileo 760,000)
on the one hand and coastal tribes, collectively termed the Cotiers,
with mixed African, Malayo-Indonesian, and Arab ancestry (Betsimisaraka
941,000, Tsimihety 442,000, Antaisaka 415,000, Sakalava 375,000), on the
other; there are also 11,000 European French, 5,000 Indians of French
nationality, and 5,000 Creoles
Religion: indigenous beliefs 52%, Christian about 41%, Muslim 7%
Language: French and Malagasy (official)
Literacy: 80% (male 88%, female 73%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 4,900,000; 90% nonsalaried family workers engaged in
subsistence agriculture; 175,000 wage earners--agriculture 26%, domestic
service 17%, industry 15%, commerce 14%, construction 11%, services 9%,
transportation 6%, other 2%; 51% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor: 4% of labor force
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Democratic Republic of Madagascar
Chief of State--President Adm. Didier RATSIRAKA (since 15 June
1975);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Guy RASANAMAZY (since
8 August 1991)
Political parties and leaders: a presidential decree issued early
last year, legalized the existence of political parties outside of the
Ruling Front; some thirty political parties now exist in Madagascar, the
most important of which are the
Advance Guard of the Malagasy Revolution (AREMA), Didier RATSIRAKA;
Congress Party for Malagasy Independence (AKFM), RAKOTOVAO-ANDRIATIANA;
Congress Party for Malagasy Independence-Revival (AKFM-R), Pastor Richard
ANDRIAMANJATO;
Movement for National Unity (VONJY), Dr. Marojama RAZANABAHINY;
Malagasy Christian Democratic Union (UDECMA), Norbert ANDRIAMORASATA;
Militants for the Establishment of a Proletarian Regime (MFM), Manandafy
RAKOTONIRINA;
National Movement for the Independence of Madagascar (MONIMA), Monja
JAONA;
Socialist Organization Monima (VSM, an offshoot of MONIMA), Tsihozony
MAHARANGA
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
President--last held on 12 March 1989 (next to be held March 1996);
results--Didier RATSIRAKA (AREMA) 62%, Manandafy RAKOTONIRINA (MFM/MFT)
20%, Dr. Jerome Marojama RAZANABAHINY (VONJY) 15%, Monja JAONA
(MONIMA) 3%;
Popular National Assembly--last held on 28 May 1989 (next to
be held May 1994);
results--AREMA 88.2%, MFM 5.1%, AKFM 3.7%, VONJY 2.2%, other 0.8%;
seats--(137 total) AREMA 120, MFM 7, AKFM 5, VONJY 4, MONIMA 1
Communists: Communist party of virtually no importance; small and
vocal group of Communists has gained strong position in leadership of
AKFM, the rank and file of which is non-Communist
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Pierrot Jocelyn
RAJAONARIVELO; Chancery at 2374 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC
20008; telephone (202) 265-5525 or 5526; there is a Malagasy Consulate
General in New York;
US--Ambassador Howard K. WALKER; Embassy at 14 and 16 Rue
Rainitovo, Antsahavola, Antananarivo (mailing address is B. P. 620,
Antananarivo); telephone 212-57, 209-56, 200-89, 207-18
Flag: two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a
vertical white band of the same width on hoist side
ECONOMY
Overview: Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world.
During the period 1980-85 it had a population growth of 3% a year and
a - 0.4% GDP growth rate. Agriculture, including fishing and forestry, is
the mainstay of the economy, accounting for over 40% of GDP, employing
about 80% of the labor force, and contributing to more than 70% of total
export earnings. Industry is largely confined to the processing of
agricultural products and textile manufacturing; in 1990 it accounted for
only 16% of GDP and employed 3% of the labor force. In 1986 the
government introduced a five-year development plan that stresses
self-sufficiency in food (mainly rice) by 1990, increased production for
exports, and reduced energy imports.
GDP: $2.4 billion, per capita $200; real growth rate 3.8% (1990
est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12% (1990)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $390 million; expenditures $525 million, including
capital expenditures of $240 million (1990 est.)
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis (cultivated and wild
varieties) used mostly for domestic consumption
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $136
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $2.9 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $491 million
Currency: Malagasy franc (plural--francs);
1 Malagasy franc (FMG) = 100 centimes
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 1,020 km 1.000-meter gauge
Highways: 40,000 km total; 4,694 km paved, 811 km crushed stone,
gravel, or stabilized soil, 34,495 km improved and unimproved
earth (est.)
Inland waterways: of local importance only; isolated streams and
small portions of Canal des Pangalanes
Ports: Toamasina, Antsiranana, Mahajanga, Toliara
Merchant marine: 14 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 59,416
GRT/82,869 DWT; includes 9 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 petroleum,
oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 1 liquefied gas
Civil air: 5 major transport aircraft
Airports: 148 total, 115 usable; 30 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 42 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: above average system includes open-wire lines,
coaxial cables, radio relay, and troposcatter links; submarine cable to
Bahrain; satellite earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Atlantic
Ocean INTELSAT; over 38,200 telephones; stations--14 AM, 1 FM, 7 (30
repeaters) TV
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Popular Armed Forces (includes Intervention Forces,
Development Forces, Aeronaval Forces--includes Navy and Air Force),
Gendarmerie, Presidential Security Regiment
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 2,637,866; 1,570,393 fit for
military service; 119,882 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: $37 million, 2.2% of GDP (1989 est.)
