Madagascar

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

Civil air

5 major transport aircraft

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

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

Ports

Toamasina, Antsiranana, Mahajanga, Toliara

Railroads

1,020 km 1.000-meter gauge

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

Branches

Popular Armed Forces (includes Intervention Forces, Development Forces, Aeronaval Forces--includes Navy and Air Force), Gendarmerie, Presidential Security Regiment

Defense expenditures

$37 million, 2.2% of GDP (1989 est.)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 2,637,866; 1,570,393 fit for military service; 119,882 reach military age (20) annually

Agriculture

accounts for 40% of GDP; cash crops--coffee, vanilla, sugarcane, cloves, cocoa; food crops--rice, cassava, beans, bananas, peanuts; cattle raising widespread; almost self-sufficient in rice

Budget

revenues $390 million; expenditures $525 million, including capital expenditures of $240 million (1990 est.)

Currency

Malagasy franc (plural--francs); 1 Malagasy franc (FMG) = 100 centimes

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

Electricity

119,000 kW capacity; 430 million kWh produced, 40 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates

Malagasy francs (FMG) per US$1--1,454.6 (December 1990), 1,494.1 (1990), 1,603.4 (1989), 1,407.1 (1988), 1,069.2 (1987), 676.3 (1986), 662.5 (1985)

Exports

$290 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.); commodities--coffee 45%, vanilla 15%, cloves 11%, sugar, petroleum products; partners--France, Japan, Italy, FRG, US

External debt

$3.6 billion (1989)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$2.4 billion, per capita $200; real growth rate 3.8% (1990 est.)

Illicit drugs

illicit producer of cannabis (cultivated and wild varieties) used mostly for domestic consumption

Imports

$436 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.); commodities--intermediate manufactures 30%, capital goods 28%, petroleum 15%, consumer goods 14%, food 13%; partners--France, FRG, UK, other EC, US

Industrial production

growth rate 5.2% (1990 est.); accounts for 16% of GDP

Industries

agricultural processing (meat canneries, soap factories, breweries, tanneries, sugar refining plants), light consumer goods industries (textiles, glassware), cement, automobile assembly plant, paper, petroleum

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

12% (1990)

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.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Climate

tropical along coast, temperate inland, arid in south

Coastline

4,828 km Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Comparative area

slightly less than twice the size of Arizona

Disputes

claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island (all administered by France)

Environment

subject to periodic cyclones; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Land boundaries

none

Land use

arable land 4%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 58%; forest and woodland 26%; other 11%; includes irrigated 2%

Natural resources

graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, salt, quartz, tar sands, semiprecious stones, mica, fish

Note

world's fourth-largest island; strategic location along Mozambique Channel

Terrain

narrow coastal plain, high plateau and mountains in center

Total area

587,040 km2; land area: 581,540 km2

Administrative divisions

6 provinces (plural--NA, singular--faritanin); Antananarivo, Antsiranana, Fianarantsoa, Mahajanga, Toamasina, Toliara

Capital

Antananarivo

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

Constitution

21 December 1975

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

Executive branch

president, Supreme Council of the Revolution, prime minister, Council of Ministers

Flag

two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a vertical white band of the same width on hoist side

Independence

26 June 1960 (from France; formerly Malagasy Republic)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (Cour Supreme), High Constitutional Court (Haute Cour Constitutionnelle) Chief of State--President Adm. Didier RATSIRAKA (since 15 June 1975); Head of Government--Prime Minister Guy RASANAMAZY (since 8 August 1991)

Legal system

based on French civil law system and traditional Malagasy law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral Popular National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale Populaire)

Long-form name

Democratic Republic of Madagascar

Member of

ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day, 26 June (1960)

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 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

Type

republic

Birth rate

47 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

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

Infant mortality rate

95 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

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)

Language

French and Malagasy (official)

Life expectancy at birth

51 years male, 54 years female (1991)

Literacy

80% (male 88%, female 73%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality

noun--Malagasy (sing. and pl.); adjective--Malagasy

Net migration rate

0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor

4% of labor force

Population

12,185,318 (July 1991), growth rate 3.2% (1991)

Religion

indigenous beliefs 52%, Christian about 41%, Muslim 7%

Total fertility rate

6.9 children born/woman (1991)