Madagascar - political, economic, cultural, and geographic aspects

1. Madagascar

2. Political
aspects

3. Independence from France in 1960.
Source: http://www.indexmundi.com/madagascar/independence.html

4. The president of Madagascar, Mr. Andry Nirina Rajoelina
(born in 1974), is the youngest president in Africa.
Mr. Rajoelina became President in 2009.
Source
http://www.madagascar-presidency.gov.mg/president/
http://www.indexmundi.com/madagascar/executive_branch.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andry_Rajoelina

5. The government of Madagascar has
more than 30 ministers.
Source: http://www.madagascar-presidency.gov.mg/gouvernement/

6. Economic
issues

7. Relatively stable real GDP growth of about 7%
Source: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/13/11/40578194.pdf

8. GDP per capita world ranking:
# 211
Source
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html?countryName=Madagascar&countryCode=ma&regionCode=af&ran
k=211#ma

9. Export products
Coffee.
Vanilla.
Shellfish.
Sugar.
Cotton cloth.
Chromite.
Petroleum products.
Sources
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ma.html
http://www.ycsg.yale.edu/focus/papers/MDGMadagascar.pdf

10. Source: http://www.weforum.org/pdf/gcr/africa/investment/madagascar.pdf

11. Infrastructure

12. In 2005 an estimated 3.5 million school days
were lost in Madagascar due to diarrhoea and
other illnesses linked to poor sanitation.
This absenteeism contributes to the high
Malagasy school dropout rate, with six out of
ten children never finishing primary school.
Source
http://www.wsscc.org/fileadmin/files/pdf/publication/WASH_Case_Studies_Series_-_Madagascar.pdf

13. Throughout Madagascar only 38% of the population
has access to safe water and only 52% of houses
are equipped with latrines.
Source
http://www.wsscc.org/fileadmin/files/pdf/publication/WASH_Case_Studies_Series_-_Madagascar.pdf

14. Agriculture

15. Coffee Cloves
Sugarcane
Cocoa
Vanilla Agriculture Rice
products
Beans Peanuts
Cassava Livestock
(tapioca) Bananas products
Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ma.html

16. Energy

17. Only 4% of the country’s communities
are now served with electricity.
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/adsections/2009/pdf/01.22.09_mad.pdf

18. We would like that in 2020, 70% of the energy in
Madagascar should be renewable and 10% of
transportation will use renewable energy.
The capacity for solar energy is very good in
Madagascar, as well as wind energy in the north
and south and biomass. We are starting in those
directions to [develop] renewable energy.
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/adsections/2009/pdf/01.22.09_mad.pdf

19. Madagascar is home to the Bemolanga oil sands,
one of the world’s largest undeveloped bitumen
reserves at 16 billion barrels of oil. Total of France
and Madagascar Oil of the U.S. are developing the
site.
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/adsections/2009/pdf/01.22.09_mad.pdf

20. Madagascar also has coal, estimated at 135 million tons
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/adsections/2009/pdf/01.22.09_mad.pdf

21. Madagascar has the potential for 7,800 megawatts
from hydropower, but uses only 150 megawatts .
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/adsections/2009/pdf/01.22.09_mad.pdf

22. A cooperation deal between battery company Saft and
energy management specialist Schneider Electric is to
deliver a off-grid solar photovoltaic installation
providing the village of Marovato on Madagascar’s east
coast with energy for around six hours per day – mainly
in the evenings – as an alternative to the kerosene and
hand-gathered wood traditionally used by the 120
villagers.
Source
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/09/off-grid-solar-for-madagascar

23. Source: http://www.ingenieurtram.ch/index.php/filmbeitraege/filmarchiv

24. Minerals

25. Nickel Chromium
Copper
Gold Cobalt
Grapphite Petroleum
Minerals
Sappire Iron ore
Ruby
Titanium
Emerald
Zirconium
Diamonds
Cement
Source: http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2004/mamyb04.pdf

26. Madagascar holds half the world’s sapphires as
well as semiprecious gems such as amethyst and
beryl. It has iron, nickel, graphite, bauxite and
uranium. It has lesser-known minerals essential to
industry, such as vanadium, a metal used in high-
strength steels and titanium alloys, and ilmenite,
used in pigments and whiteners from toothpaste to
paint.
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/adsections/2009/pdf/01.22.09_mad.pdf

27. Mining companies in Madagascar
http://www.riotintomadagascar.com/
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/adsections/2009/pdf/01.22.09_mad.pdf

28. Cultural
issues

29. Population 20.6 million people
Life expectancy 63 years
Languages English (official)
French (official)
Malagasy (official)
Religion Indigenous beliefs 52%
Christian 41%
Muslim 7%
Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ma.html

30. Source: http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/pop_cou_450.pdf

31. Source: http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/pop_cou_450.pdf

32. Source: http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/pop_cou_450.pdf

33. Unlike much of the African mainland, Malagasy people
share a common language which is spoken throughout
the island, hence facilitating communication and trade.
French is widely used in the administration and in high
school instruction.
Source: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.58.4437&rep=rep1&type=pdf

34. The various Malagasy dialects are all closely related,
having diversified only in the last 2,000 years when
Madagascar was settled by an Indonesian people.
The languages contain some words of Bantu, Swahili,
Arab, English, and French origin. Since 1820 the Merina
dialect, written in the Roman alphabet, has been the
official language of the island.
Sources
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/359466/Malagasy-languages
http://www.wildmadagascar.org/media/PDFs/handout.pdf

35. Although most Malagasy are from mixed Asian and
African ancestry, people from coastal areas harbor
a historical resentment against people from the
central highlands who traditionally ruled the country.
Source: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.58.4437&rep=rep1&type=pdf

36. Geographical
aspects

37. Madagascar
587,041 km2.
14 times larger
than Switzerland.
World’s 4th largest
island.
Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/maps/ma_largelocator_template.html

38. Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/maps/maptemplate_ma.html

39. The island of Madagascar split away from the east
coast of Africa more than 120 million years ago
and evolved its own unique flora and fauna in quiet
isolation from the rest of the world.
Source
http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/genre/content.genre/malagasy_pop_747/en_US

40. Isalo National Park
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar

41. Source: http://www.wildmadagascar.org/media/PDFs/handout.pdf

42. 1 of 99 recognized species and subspecies
of lemur found only in Madagascar
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indri_Andasibe.JPG
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/rio_tintos_madagascar_mini_22102007.html