Post on 05-Dec-2014
description
MADAGASCAR
Madagascar is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the south east coast of Africa. It is divided up into
six provinces and 22 regions although the
government has plans to dissolve the provinces as of
this year. The capital Antananarivo with a
population of 1.5 million is also Madagascar’s largest
city. Madagascar’s geographic features are
characterized by rain forests on the eat coast,
savanna-like plains in the central region of the
country, and dry deserts in the southwest.
GOEGRAPHY
Madagascar’s economy is based primarily on fishing
and agriculture and its major exports are coffee, sugar cane, rice, beans, bananas, peanuts, and
vanilla. In fact Madagascar is the world’s largest producer of vanilla which lead to the collapse
of their economy when Coca-Cola switched to New
Coke which used less vanilla but soon returned with the appearance of
Coke Classic. Tourism and textile manufacturing are
also growing areas of production.
ECONOMY
The island experiences a hot, rainy season from
November to April and a cool and dry season from
May to October. Madagascar is
occasionally struck with cyclones. The country’s isolation from other land has caused a wide variety of animals and plants to
develop. Out of the 10,000 plant species in
Madagascar, 90% of them are found no where else in the world. Madagascar is also home to the fossa and
75 species of lemurs.
CLIMATE and FAUNA
Malagasy, French, English
48% traditional native religions22% Catholic
22% Protestant7% Islam
Malagasy franc
LANGUAGES
RELIGION
CURRENCY
CUISINEThe cuisine of Madagascar traditionally consists of a rice (vary) and an accompaniment (laoka) which can be anything from pork flavored peas to shredded cassava leaves with peanuts. Malagasy cuisine is also known for using vanilla to flavor savory rather than sweet dishes. Bread from this region is called mofo and is used in a variety of cakes and fritters. Tea and coffee are popular beverages and dessert usually contains at least one of the islands many different tropical fruits