Posted under by admin on lunedì 29 marzo 2010 at 15:54

Madagascar also called officially as the Republic of Madagascar and formerly called as Malagasy Republic is located in the Indian Ocean on islands off the coast of Africa in the direction of the southeast. The largest island of the Republic of Madagascar also called as Madagascar is the fourth largest on the planet and houses 5% of the world’s flora and fauna. The capital city as well as the largest city of the Republic of Madagascar is called Antananarivo. The total area of the Republic of Madagascar is approximately587, 041 km² or 226,597 sq miles and ranks on number 45 amongst all the countries of the world. The total percentage of water in this is about 0.13% while the total population of the country is about 19,448,815 with a population density of 33/km². The estimated GDP of the Republic of Madagascar is about $5 billion with a Per capita income of $290. The country was part of the East Gondwana and separated from Africa approximately 160 million years ago. Official languages of the Republic of Madagascar are Malagasy, French and English. The evidence of inhabitation of the island of Madagascar dates back to 200 AD and 500 AD. The oldest inhabitants of Madagascar were seafarers from the Borneo and Southern Celebs followed by the Bantu settlers.

The documented history of Madagascar dates back to the 7th century when the Muslims explored the area as a trading post and converted the Malagasy transcripts into Sorabe. The area became an important route of trade for the Arabs and thus started progress into the small settlements of Malagasy.

From the year 1774 to 1824 the present day Republic of Madagascar was the den of the including American who took rice from the Malagasy island to the state of South Carolina. The islands were also famous for ship wrecking especially of European ships the accounts of which have been documented in many journals of the travelers of those days.