The democratic Republic of Madagascar (formerly known as St Laurence) is an island country in the Indian ocean east of Africa with a total area of 587,040 km2. The climate is tropical along the coast, temperate inland and arid in the south. The terrain is comprised of a narrow coastal plain, high plateau and mountains in the centre. Natural resources are graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, salt, quartz, tar sands, semi-precious stones, mica and fish. The religion is 52% indigenous beliefs; about 41% Christian and 7% Muslim. The official language is Malagasy with French also spoken. The island of Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world, the country of Madagascar also includes a number of smaller islands. The original inhabitants of Madagascar were probably Indonesians who arrived around 100 to 500 AD, and were soon followed by mainland Africans and Arabs. Europeans visited Madagascar during the 16th century, but failed to colonise the island, being fought off by the fierce inhabitants.
Until the 19th century, Madagascar was a collection of small kingdoms, then the country was united under the Merina people's kingdom before being annexed by France in 1896, though resistance pervailed until self-rule was reinstated in 1958 and full independence in 1960. Research Madagascar
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Research Madagascar