MADAGASCAR CULTURE - AN ISLAND WITH RARE WILDLIFE

MADAGASCAR IS AN ISLAND IN THE INDIAN OCEAN ORIGINALLY CALLED MALAGASY REPUBLIC.   THE 4TH LARGEST  ISLAND IN THE WORLD.  MADGASCAR SPLIT FROM INDIA 88 MILLION YEARS AGO.  NATIVE PLANTS AND ANIMALS EVOLVED IN ISOLATION AND THE ISLAND HAS A BIODIVERSITY OF PLANTS.  MANY SPECIES OF WILDLIFE ARE NOT FOUND ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD. 

HUMANS SETTLED HERE IN 350 BC FROM BORNEO.  BANTU MIGRANTS ACROSSTHE MOZAMBIQUE IN ABOUT 1000 C.E.  THE GROUPS ARE DIVIDED INTO SUBGROUPS.  BY LATE 18TH CENTURY MADAGASCAR WAS RULED BY AN ASSORTMENT OF ALLIANCES AND SERIES OF MERINO NOBLES.  THEIR GOVERNMENT COLLAPSED IN 1890'S AND THE FRENCH ABSORBED THEM.  BY 1960 THE AUTONOMOUS STATE WAS FORMED.  SINCE 1990 MADAGASCAR HAS BEEN RUN BY DEMOCRACY.  THEIR POPULATION IS 22 MILLION.  90 % LIVE ON LESS THAN 2 DOLLARS PER DAY.

THEY MOSTLY ADHERE TO TRADITIONAL BELIEFS.  ECOTOURISM AND AGRICULTURE PAIRED  WITH INVESTMENTS  AND IN EDUCATIONTIONAL HEALTH AND PRIVATE ENTERPRISE, AND KEY ELEMENTS OF DEVELOPMENT.  THERE WAS ECONOMIC GROWTH BUT THE BENIFITS WERE NOT SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE POPULATION, PRODUCING TENSION AND A DECLINE  IN STANDARDS OF LIVING.

MADAGASCAR POPULATION WAS FROM EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES.  THE NAME WAS RECORDED BY THE VENETIANS EXPLORER MARCO POLO. 135 MILLION YEARS AGO A SUPER CONTINENT WAS GONDIVANA BROKE UP AND SEPARATED MADAGASCAR FROM AFRICA AND SOUTH AMERICA.  88 MILLION YEARS AGO  THIS COUNTRY MADE A SPLIT FROM INDIA.  ON ITS EAST COAST THERE IS A NARROW NARROW AND STEEP ESCARPMENT OF TROPICAL LOWLAND FOREST.  THE CENTRAL HIGHLANS IS THE HOME OF THE MERINO PEOPLE WHERE THEIR CAPITAL IS LOCATED.  THEY GROW RICE IN THE GRASSY HILLS

TO THE WEST IS THE INCREASING ARID TERRAIN THAT ENCOUNTERS  MANGROVE SWAMPS.  THEIR CLIMATE PRODUCES A SOUTHEAST TRADE WINDS AND N MONSOONS.  IT PRODUCES DESTRUCTIVE CYCLONES IN MAY TO OCTOBER..  TROPICAL CYCLONES CAN DAMAGE THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND LOCAL ECONOMIES.  ONE OF THE STRONGEST KILLED 172 IN 2004 AND LEFT 200,000 FOLKS HOMELESS.  ON ITS EAST COAST THERE IS A NARROW AND STEEP ESCARPMENT FROM OF TROPICAL LOWLAND FOREST. THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS IS THE HOME OF THE MERINO PEOPLE WHERE THEIR CAPITOL IS LOCATED. THEY GROW RICE IN THE GRASSY HILLS.

MANY OF THE PLANTS AND ANIMALS ARE NOT FOUND ON OTHER ISLANDS.  THIS INCLUDES BIRDS, LEMURS AND SOME PRIMATES.  IT HAS MUCH DIVERSITY AND 80% OF THE PLANTS ARE NOT FOUND ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD.    THESE INCLUDE SOME ORCHID SPECIES, PALMS, AND HERBAL PLANTS.  ITS FAUNA IS ALSO DIVERSE.  THE MONKEYS AND PRIMATES HAVE ADAPTED TO A WIDE RANE OF HABITATS.  AND THERE WERE 103 SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES OF LEMURS BY 2008.  ABOUT 17 SPECIES OF LEMURS HAVE BECOME EXTINCT.  THEY HAVE NUMEOUS CAMELEONS.  THEY USE SLASH AND BURN AGRICULTURE TECHNIQUES.  1400 YEARS AGO FORESTS BEGAN TO LOOSE THEIR COVERT GROWTH.  CATTLE WERE INTRODUCED ABOUT 1000 YEARS AGO.THEY THINNED THE FOREST FROM 1950 TO 2000. S SOME OF THE WOODS WERE STOLEN FROM THE NATIONAL PARKS HERE!

GIANT LEMUR SPECIES HAVE VANISHED SINCE HUMAN SETTLEMENT AND GROWTH IN HUMAN POPULATION.  BY 2007 6 OF THE NATIONAL PARKS WERE DECLARED A WORLD HERITAGE SITES.

ARCHAEOLOGITS ESTIMATE THAT SETTLERS ARRIVED HERE IN OUTRIGGER CANOESWITH VARIOUS WAVES THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD.  BY 600 C.E. GROUPS OF SETTLERS CLEARED THE FORESTS  OF THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS.  ARABS REACHED THIS ISLAND IN THE 7TH CENTURY.  THEY HAD ABOUT 100 YEARS OF SLAVE TRADE.  MADAGASCAR WAS ONE OF THE LAST CONTINENTS TO BE SETTLED  ON EARTH.  MADAGASCAR WAS AN IMPORTANT AMINISTRATIVE PROPERTY AND WA ESTABLISHED UNDER FRENCH RULE IN 2004 AND SUBDIVIDED INTO 22 REGIONS.

THEY HAD A WIDE RANGE OF ORAL TRADITIONS AND IT WAS A TRADING HUB.  THEIR FOREMOST ARY TRADITIONS ARE ORATORY AS EXPRESSED IN PUBLIC POETRY..  THEATRE AND DANCE ARE ALSO STRONG.  EUROPEAN CONTACT BEGAN IN 1500 WHEN THE PORTUGUESE SIGHTED THE ISLAND.  500,000
LIBERATED SLAVES REMAINED IN THEIR FORMER MASTERS HOMES AS SERVANTS.

RICE IS THEIR MAIN STAPLE AT EVERY MEAL.  RICE IS SERVED IN SOME KIND OF SAUCE WITH TOMATOES. OR ON THE COAST WITH COCONUTS AS THEY COOK IT.  SOUTH THEY HERD ZEBU'S AND THEIR MILK IS USED IN VEGETABLE DISHESTHEY ALSO EAT PORK , BEEF, FISH.  THEY ALSO EAT CHICKEN DISHE.

THEY USE SAKAYA SPICY CONDIMENT FROM RED AND GREEN PEPPERS.  THEY MAKE A SALAD OF GREEN BEANS CABBAGE , CARROTS AND ONIONS.  THEY ALSO EAT YAMS. AND TARO ROOTS.THEY ALSO EAT YAMS AND TARO ROOT.

FRANCE HEAVILY INFLUENCED THEIR ECONOMY AND SERVED AS A TRADING POST.  THEY DEVELOPED CONSUMERS COOPERTIVES.  GOVERNMENT GOVERNMENT AND RURAL PRAMS BOOSTED PRODUCTION OF COMMODITIES.

THEY HAVE 365,000 TOURISTS VISITING MADAGASCAR. IN 2008.  A POLITICAL CRISIS IN 2010  REDUCED THEIR ECONOMY.  THEIR RESOURCES INCLUDE  AGRICULTURE AND MINERALS.  RAFFIA, FISHING,  AND FORESTRY IS A MAINSTAY OF THEIR ECONOMY.  ITS THE WORLD'S PRINCIPAL SUPLIER OF VANILLA, CLOVES, AND YLANG-YANG OR A TREE VALUED FOR PERFUME.  THEIR MINERAL RESOURCES ARE SAPPHIRES, SOME PRECIOUS STONES, TITANIUM ORE, CHROMITE, COAL, IRON, COBALT, COPPER,  AND NICKEL. THEY MINE OILAND GAS AS WELL.

THEIR HEALTH CARE IS INADEQUATE. FOR 22 MILLION FOLKS.  THEIR CHILDREN ARE GETTING  VACCINES.  THE RURAL FOLKS HAVE LITTLE ACCES TO HEALTH CARE.

BEFORE 1800'S EDUCATION WAS WAS INFORMAL AND FAMILIES TAUGHT SOCIAL AND CULTURAL VALUES.  BY 1818 THE 1ST EUROPEAN STYLE SCHOOL WAS ESTABLISHED.  THEY HAD THE MOST DEVELOPED SCHOOL SYSTEM IN PRECOLONIAL AFRICA,  ACCESS TO SCHOOL WAS EXPANDED.THERE WERE SEVERAL MILITARY WARS.  THE FRENCH HAD QUITE A BIT IF POWER ERE IN LATE 1890'S.  THIS ISLAND OFMADAGASCAR HAS SEEN QUITE A BIT OF STRUGGLE BETWEEN FRANCE AND BRITAIN DURING THE 2 WORLD WARS.  FINALLY IN 1958 THEY MO\VED TOWARD INDEPENDENCE AND HAD A CONSTITUTION.

THEY HAVE 6 ADMINISTERS.  MOST FOLKS ARE EASTERN AFRICAN AND MALAYSIAN WITH SOME ARABS.  ABOUT 1/2 OF THE FOLKS PRACTICE A RELIGION THAT EMPHASIZES LINKS BETWEEN THE LIVING.  THEY SOMETIMES SOMETIMES REMOVE THEIR ANCESTORS BONES AND WRAP THEM IN SILK AND BURY THEM IN A TOMB.  THEY CELEBRATE THEIR LIFE WITH OTHER VILLAGES AND DRINK RUM WITH USICAL ENTERTAINMENT.

MISFORTUNES OFTEN HAPPEN TO ANCESTORS WHO HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED.ALMOST 1/2 ARE CHRISTIANS AND ROMAN CATHOLICS.  MANY CHRISTIANS BLEND TRADITIONAL BELIEFS WITH HONORING ANCESTRS  MUSLIMS ARE 7% OF THE POPULATION.  RECENTLY HINDUISM WAS INTRODUCED HERE. 

EACH OF THESE SUBGROUPS IN MADAGASCAR ADHERE TO THEIR OWN SET OF BELIEFS.  EACH OF THESE SUBGROUPS IN MADAGASCAR ADHERE TO THEIR OWN SET OF BELIEFS.  THE MADAGSCARS SHARE A SACRED LIFE FORCE.  THEYT SHARE STRONG KINSHIP TIES AND BELIEVE IN MAGIC, ASTROLOGY, AND WITCH DOCTORS.

THEY PLAY A BAMBOO TUBE ZITHER AND CARRIED TO MADAGASCAR FROM BORNEO.  THEY WEAVE SILK STILL.

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