Eastern Africa · MDG
Madagascar
The story · 10 chapters
How it was drawn
A huge island settled from across the Indian Ocean, shared by Sakalava and Merina kingdoms, conquered by France in 1895 and independent since 1960.
Play the story Take the first lessonThrough the ages
Rivals in history
The kingdoms, empires and states Madagascar fought or stood against, from the first to today.
- French East India Company1643 to 1674
The French post at Fort Dauphin, in the south east, lives in constant conflict with the Antanosy over cattle, land and slaving. After years of raids, the surviving settlers abandon it in 1674.
- Sakalava kingdoms1820 to 1897
The Sakalava kingdoms of Boina and Menabe, long the strongest powers in the west, resist Merina expansion. Radama I takes Mahajanga, the main port of Boina, in 1824, but much of the Sakalava west stays outside Merina control.
- French Third Republic1883 to 1897
Two Franco Malagasy wars, from 1883 to 1885 and in 1895, pit the Merina kingdom against France. The second ends with the capture of Antananarivo in September 1895, annexation in 1896 and the exile of Queen Ranavalona III in 1897.
- French Fourth Republic1947 to 1948
The 1947 uprising against colonial rule is put down by French and colonial troops. Tens of thousands of Malagasy die in the fighting or from hunger in the forests, and nationalist deputies are put on trial.
Madagascar claims the Scattered Islands, kept by France at independence. The UN General Assembly backed the claim in 1979, and a joint commission began talks in 2019, without agreement so far.
Today
Madagascar now
Madagascar was one of the last major habitable landmasses on earth to be settled by humans. D. 350 and 550 with settlers from present-day Indonesia. D. 1000. Madagascar was a pirate stronghold during the late 17th and early 18th centuries and served as a slave trading center into the 19th century. From the 16th to the late 19th century, a native Merina Kingdom dominated much of Madagascar.
- Capital
- Antananarivo
- Government
- semi-presidential republic
- Head of government
- Mamitiana Rajaonarison
- Head of state
- Michael Randrianirina
- Languages
- Malagasy, French
- Area
- 591,896 km²
Through time
Then and now
- Population31.2 million2023 · 4.0 million in 1950
- Life expectancy63.6 years2023 · 39.7 years in 1950
- GDP per person$1,3672022 · $1,516 in 1950
- Living in cities33%2025 · 8% in 1950
- Literacy75%2021 · 33% in 1950
- Political regimeClosed autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
- Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
- Military spending0.6% of GDP2025
- War deathsNone2025
Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.
Relations
Close partners and tensions
Close partners
- France
- United States
- India
- China
Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.