Madagascar is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, off the SE coast of the continent of Africa. It is about the size of 1.5 California’s and appears to have first been inhabited by Indo-Malay voyagers about 2,000 years ago. The 23+ million current Malagasy inhabitants speak Malagasy, while French and English are also official languages of this country. Their religious affiliations include Christianity (~41%), traditional beliefs (~52%), and Islam (~7%). Other important things to know about Madagascar are:
- it’s beautiful
- it is a focus of conservation efforts, because of its high rate of species endemism (organisms found nowhere else on earth) and low economic wealth
- Some of its major exports include raw nickel, vanilla, and cloves