MADAGASCAR                                                                      
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 587,040 km2; land area: 581,540 km2                                 
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Arizona                  
                                                                                
Land boundaries: none                                                           
                                                                                
Coastline: 4,828 km                                                             
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;                                                
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 12 nm                                                          
                                                                                
Disputes: claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands,              
Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island (all administered by France)           
                                                                                
Climate: tropical along coast, temperate inland, arid in south                  
                                                                                
Terrain: narrow coastal plain, high plateau and mountains in center             
                                                                                
Natural resources: graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, salt,                     
quartz, tar sands, semiprecious stones, mica, fish                              
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 4%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures              
58%; forest and woodland 26%; other 11%; includes irrigated 2%                  
                                                                                
Environment: subject to periodic cyclones; deforestation;                       
overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification                                      
                                                                                
Note: world's fourth-largest island; strategic location                         
along Mozambique Channel                                                        
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 12,185,318 (July 1991), growth rate 3.2% (1991)                     
                                                                                
Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 95 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                       
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 51 years male, 54 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 6.9 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Malagasy (sing. and pl.); adjective--Malagasy                
                                                                                
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                                                  
                                                                                
Religion: indigenous beliefs 52%, Christian about 41%, Muslim 7%                
                                                                                
Language: French and Malagasy (official)                                        
                                                                                
Literacy: 80% (male 88%, female 73%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1990 est.)                                                      
                                                                                
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)            
                                                                                
Organized labor: 4% of labor force                                              
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Democratic Republic of Madagascar                               
                                                                                
Type: republic                                                                  
                                                                                
Capital: Antananarivo                                                           
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: 6 provinces (plural--NA,                              
singular--faritanin); Antananarivo, Antsiranana, Fianarantsoa,                  
Mahajanga, Toamasina, Toliara                                                   
                                                                                
Independence: 26 June 1960 (from France; formerly Malagasy                      
Republic)                                                                       
                                                                                
Constitution: 21 December 1975                                                  
                                                                                
Legal system: based on French civil law system and traditional                  
Malagasy law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction                      
                                                                                
National holiday: Independence Day, 26 June (1960)                              
                                                                                
Executive branch: president, Supreme Council of the Revolution,                 
prime minister, Council of Ministers                                            
                                                                                
Legislative branch: unicameral Popular National Assembly                        
(Assemblee Nationale Populaire)                                                 
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme), High                             
Constitutional Court (Haute Cour Constitutionnelle)                             
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State--President Adm. Didier RATSIRAKA (since 15 June                  
1975);                                                                          
                                                                                
Head of Government--Prime Minister Guy RASANAMAZY (since                        
8 August 1991)                                                                  
                                                                                
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                                                   
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
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                  
                                                                                
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                               
                                                                                
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                                                       
                                                                                
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                         
                                                                                
Flag: two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a                  
vertical white band of the same width on hoist side                             
                                                                                
ECONOMY                                                                         
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.                                            
                                                                                
GDP: $2.4 billion, per capita $200; real growth rate 3.8% (1990                 
est.)                                                                           
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12% (1990)                                    
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: NA%                                                          
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $390 million; expenditures $525 million, including             
capital expenditures of $240 million (1990 est.)                                
                                                                                
Exports: $290 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--coffee 45%, vanilla 15%, cloves 11%, sugar, petroleum              
products;                                                                       
                                                                                
partners--France, Japan, Italy, FRG, US                                         
                                                                                
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                                         
                                                                                
External debt: $3.6 billion (1989)                                              
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate 5.2% (1990 est.); accounts                   
for 16% of GDP                                                                  
                                                                                
Electricity: 119,000 kW capacity; 430 million kWh produced,                     
40 kWh per capita (1989)                                                        
                                                                                
Industries: agricultural processing (meat canneries, soap                       
factories, breweries, tanneries, sugar refining plants), light consumer         
goods industries (textiles, glassware), cement, automobile assembly             
plant, paper, petroleum                                                         
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              
                                                                                
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis (cultivated and wild                
varieties) used mostly for domestic consumption                                 
                                                                                
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            
                                                                                
Currency: Malagasy franc (plural--francs);                                      
1 Malagasy franc (FMG) = 100 centimes                                           
                                                                                
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)                                                      
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 1,020 km 1.000-meter gauge                                           
                                                                                
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                                          
                                                                                
Ports: Toamasina, Antsiranana, Mahajanga, Toliara                               
                                                                                
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           
                                                                                
Civil air: 5 major transport aircraft                                           
                                                                                
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                                                           
                                                                                
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                                                                   
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Popular Armed Forces (includes Intervention Forces,                   
Development Forces, Aeronaval Forces--includes Navy and Air Force),             
Gendarmerie, Presidential Security Regiment                                     
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 2,637,866; 1,570,393 fit for                
military service; 119,882 reach military age (20) annually                      
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $37 million, 2.2% of GDP (1989 est.)                      
                                                                                
