Africa
East African Islands

Madagascar

Madagascar is a country in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of . It is known for its particularly unique wildlife and flora. Madagascar split from India approximately 88 million years ago, and as a result of its long isolation it is home to a massive number of unique plant and animal species, with over 90% of its wildlife and 80% of its plants found nowhere else on the planet.
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madagascar.gov.mg
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Wikipedia
Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
Photo: Bgag, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Antananarivo and Toamasina.

Photo: Zigomar, CC BY-SA 3.0.
, also known as Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. It has more universities, nightclubs, art venues, and medical services than any other city on the island.

Photo: Hanspeter Limacher, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a port city on the east coast of Madagascar. It is still commonly called Tamatave, which was its official name until 1977. The population of was just over 500,000 as of 2023.

Photo: OlivierXav, CC BY-SA 4.0.
, named Diego-Suarez prior to 1975, is a city in the far north of Madagascar. is the capital of . It had an estimated population of 115,015 in 2013.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Antananarivo Province and Antsiranana Province.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a former province of Madagascar with an area of 58,283 square kilometres. It had a population of 5,370,900 in 2004. Its capital was , which is also the capital of the country.

Photo: Regiondiana, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a former province in the north of the island state of Madagascar. In 2007, the province was divided into two regions: Diana in the west and Sava in the east.

Photo: Gavinevans, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a region in the southwest of Madagascar. It is the poorest region of the country, but home to many nature parks and reserves.

Photo: Chris, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a former province of Madagascar. It has an area of 103,272 km2 and population of 3,366,291. Its capital was . The province along with the 5 other was abolished in 2007 in favour of creation of smaller regions to facilitate administration.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.
The is a former province of Madagascar with an area of 71,911 km2. It had a population of 2,855,600. Its capital was , the most important seaport of the country.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.
Mahajanga was a former province of Madagascar that had an area of 150,023 km2. It had a population of 1,896,000. Its capital was , the second largest city in Madagascar.
Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Madagascar

  • Type: Country with 22,000,000 residents
  • Description: island sovereign state off the coast of Southeast Africa, in the Indian Ocean
  • Also known as: “Democratic Republic of Madagascar”, “Grande-Île”, “Grande-Terre”, “Île Rouge”, “La Grand Île de Madagascar”, “MAD”, “Madagascar and Dependencies”, “Malagascar”, “Malagash Republic”, “Malagaskar”, “Malagasy Republic”, “Malgache”, “Malgache Republic”, “MDG”, “mg”, “Repoblika Demokratika Malagasy”, “Repoblika Malagasy”, “Republic of Madagascar”, “République Démocratique de Madagascar”, “République Malgache”, “Territoire de Madagascar”, and “Territoire de Madagascar et Dépendances”
  • Languages: French and Malagasy
  • Neighbors: , , , and
  • Categories: sovereign state, island country, unitary state, and locality
  • Location: ,
  • View on Open­Street­Map
Latitude of center
-19.311° or 19° 18′ 40″ south
Longitude of center
46.67° or 46° 40′ 12″ east
Population
22,000,000
Area
587,040 km² (226,657 miles²)
Elevation
1,678 metres (5,505 feet)
Capital
Currency
Ariary (MGA)
Phone code
.mg
Internet domain
261
Open­Street­Map ID
node 432425028
Open­Street­Map feature
place=­country
Geo­Names ID
1062947
Wiki­data ID
Q1019
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover Madagascar from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Abkhazian to Zulu—“Madagascar” goes by many names.
  • Abkhazian: “Ареспублика Мадагаскар”
  • Abkhazian: “Мадагаскар”
  • Achinese: “Madagaskar”
  • Afrikaans: “Madagaskar”
  • Akan: “Madagaska”
  • Albanian: “Madagaskar”
  • Albanian: “Madagaskari”
  • Albanian: “Madegaskari”
  • Amharic: “ማዳጋስካር”
  • Amis: “Madagascar”
  • Angika: “माडागास्कार”
  • Arabic: “مدغشقر”
  • Arabic: “ملجاش”
  • Aragonese: “Madagascar”
  • Armenian: “Մադագասկար”
  • Arpitan: “Madagascâr”
  • Assamese: “মাদাগাস্কাৰ”
  • Asturian: “Madagascar”
  • Atayal: “Madagascar”
  • Azerbaijani: “Madaqaskar”
  • Balinese: “Madagaskar”
  • Bambara: “Madagasikari”
  • Bambara: “Madagaskar”
  • Banjar: “Madagaskar”
  • Bashkir: “Мадагаскар”
  • Basque: “Madagaskar”
  • Batak Toba: “Madagaskar”
  • Bavarian: “Madagaskar”
  • Belarusian: “Мадагаскар”
  • Belarusian: “Мадаґаскар”
  • Bengali: “মাদাগাস্কার”
  • Betawi: “Madagaskar”
  • Bhojpuri: “मेडागास्कर”
  • Bishnupriya: “মাদাগাস্কার”
  • Bislama: “Madagaskar”
  • Bosnian: “Madagaskar”
  • Breton: “Madagaskar”
  • Bulgarian: “Мадагаскар”
  • Burmese: “မဒဂတ်စကာ”
  • Burmese: “မဒါဂတ်စကား”
  • Burmese: “မဒါဂတ်စကားနိုင်ငံ”
  • Catalan: “Madagascar”
  • Catalan: “República de Madagascar”
  • Cebuano: “Madagascar”
  • Central Bikol: “Madagaskar”
  • Central Kurdish: “ماداگاسکار”
  • Chavacano: “Madagascar”
  • Chechen: “Мадагаскар”
  • Cheyenne: “Madagascar”
  • Chinese: “Madagascar”
  • Chinese: “Mǎdájiāsījiā”
  • Chinese: “馬達加斯加”
  • Chinese: “马达加斯加 / 馬達加斯加”
  • Chinese: “马达加斯加”
  • Chuvash: “Мадагаскар Республики”
  • Cornish: “Madagaskar”
  • Corsican: “Madagascara”
  • Crimean Tatar: “Madagaskar”
  • Croatian: “Madagaskar”
  • Czech: “Madagaskar”
  • Dagbani: “Madagascar”
  • Danish: “Madagascar”
  • Danish: “Madagaskar”
  • Dhivehi: “މަޑަގަސްކަރަ”
  • Dimli (individual language): “Madagaskar”
  • Dinka: “Madagathkar”
  • Dotyali: “मडागास्कर”
  • Dutch: “Madagaskar”
  • Dutch: “MDG”
  • Dutch: “MG”
  • Dutch: “Republiek Madagaskar”
  • Dzongkha: “མ་དཱ་གེས་ཀར”
  • Eastern Mari: “Мадагаскар”
  • Egyptian Arabic: “مادجاسكار”
  • Esperanto: “Madagaskaro”
  • Esperanto: “Respubliko Madagaskaro”
  • Estonian: “Madagaskar”
  • Estonian: “Madagaskari Vabariik”
  • Ewe: “Madagascar”
  • Ewe: “Madagaska nutome”
  • Ewe: “Malagasi”
  • Extremaduran: “Madagascal”
  • Farefare: “Madagascar”
  • Faroese: “Madagaskar”
  • Fiji Hindi: “Madagascar”
  • Fijian: “Madagasikar”
  • Fijian: “Madaqasika”
  • Finnish: “Madagaskar”
  • Finnish: “Madagaskarin tasavalta”
  • Fon: “Madagascartò”
  • French: “la République de Madagascar”
  • French: “Madagascar”
  • French: “MG”
  • French: “République de Madagascar”
  • Fulah: “Madagaska”
  • Fulah: “Madagaskaar”
  • Fulah: “Madagaskar”
  • Ga: “Madagaska”
  • Gagauz: “Madagaskar”
  • Galician: “Madagascar”
  • Ganda: “Madagascar”
  • Ganda: “Madagasika”
  • Georgian: “მადაგასკარი”
  • German: “Madagaskar-Staat”
  • German: “Madagaskar”
  • German: “Republik Madagaskar”
  • German: “Staat Madagaskar”
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “Madagascar”
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “Malagascar”
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “Malagaskar”
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “Republic of Madagascar”
  • Gilaki: “ماداگاسکار”
  • Greek: “Δημοκρατία της Μαδαγασκάρης”
  • Greek: “Μαδαγασκάρη”
  • Guarani: “Madagaka”
  • Guarani: “Mandagaka”
  • Guianese Creole French: “Madagaskar”
  • Gujarati: “મડાગાસ્કર”
  • Gujarati: “મેડાગાસ્કર”
  • Haitian: “Madagaskar”
  • Hakka Chinese: “Madagascar”
  • Hausa: “Madagaskar”
  • Hebrew: “מדגסקר”
  • Hindi: “मदागास्कर”
  • Hindi: “मेडागास्कर”
  • Hindi: “मैडागास्कर”
  • Hungarian: “Madagaszkár”
  • Hungarian: “Madagaszkári Köztársaság”
  • Hungarian: “Malgas Köztársaság”
  • Icelandic: “Madagaskar”
  • Ido: “Madagaskar”
  • Igbo: “Madagascar”
  • Igbo: “Madagaskar”
  • Iloko: “Madagascar”
  • Inari Sami: “Madagaskar täsiväldi”
  • Inari Sami: “Madagaskar”
  • Indonesian: “Madagaskar”
  • Interlingua: “Madagascar”
  • Interlingue: “Madagascar”
  • Irish: “Madagascar”
  • Italian: “Madagascar”
  • Italian: “MDG”
  • Italian: “MG”
  • Jamaican Creole English: “Madagiaska”
  • Japanese: “マダガスカル”
  • Japanese: “マダガスカル共和国”
  • Javanese: “Madagaskar”
  • Javanese: “Madhagaskar”
  • Kabiyè: “Madakasɩkarɩ”
  • Kabyle: “Madagaskar”
  • Kalaallisut: “Madagascar”
  • Kalaallisut: “Madagaskar”
  • Kalmyk: “Мадагаскармудин Орн”
  • Kannada: “ಮಡಗಾಸ್ಕರ್”
  • Kara-Kalpak: “Madagaskar”
  • Karachay-Balkar: “Мадагаскар”
  • Kashmiri: “مَڈَغاسکر”
  • Kashmiri: “میڑاگاسکار”
  • Kashmiri: “मडगास्कर”
  • Kashubian: “Madagaskar”
  • Kazakh: “Мадагаскар”
  • Khmer: “ម៉ាដាហ្កាស្កា”
  • Khmer: “ម៉ាដាហ្គាស្កា”
  • Khmer: “ម៉ាដាហ្គាស្ការ”
  • Kikuyu: “Bukini”
  • Kikuyu: “Madagascar”
  • Kinyarwanda: “Madagasikari”
  • Kirghiz: “Мадагаскар Республикасы”
  • Kirghiz: “Мадагаскар”
  • Kölsch: “Maddajaßka”
  • Kongo: “Malagasi”
  • Korean: “마다가스까르”
  • Korean: “마다가스카르”
  • Korean: “마다카스카르”
  • Kotava: “Madagasikara”
  • Kurdish: “Madagaskar”
  • Kurdish: “ماداگاسکار”
  • Ladin: “Madagascar”
  • Ladino: “Madagaskar”
  • Lao: “ປະເທດມາດາກັສກາ”
  • Lao: “ມາດາກາສະກາ”
  • Latgalian: “Madagaskars”
  • Latin: “Madagascaria”
  • Latvian: “Madagaskara”
  • Ligurian: “Madagascar”
  • Limburgan: “Madagaskar”
  • Lingala: “Madagasikari”
  • Lingua Franca Nova: “Madagasicara”
  • Literary Chinese: “馬達加斯加”
  • Lithuanian: “Madagaskaras”
  • Livvi: “Madagaskar”
  • Lombard: “Madagascar”
  • Low German: “Madagaskar”
  • Lower Sorbian: “Madagaskar”
  • Luba-Katanga: “Madagasikari”
  • Lule Sami: “Madagáskar”
  • Luxembourgish: “Madagaskar”
  • Macedonian: “Мадагаскар”
  • Malagasy: “Madagasikara”
  • Malagasy: “Repoblikan’i Madagasikara”
  • Malay: “Madagascar”
  • Malay: “Madagaskar”
  • Malayalam: “മഡഗാസ്കര്‍”
  • Malayalam: “മഡഗാസ്കർ”
  • Maltese: “Madagascar”
  • Maltese: “Madagaskar”
  • Maltese: “Repubblika ta’ Madagascar”
  • Manipuri: “ꯃꯦꯗꯒꯥꯁ꯭ꯀꯔ”
  • Manx: “Madagascar”
  • Maori: “Marakāhia”
  • Marathi: “मादागास्कर”
  • Mazanderani: “ماداگاسکار”
  • Min Dong Chinese: “Madagascar”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Madagascar”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Madagaskar”
  • Minangkabau: “Madagaskar”
  • Mingrelian: “მადაგასკარი”
  • Moksha: “Мадагаскар”
  • Mongolian: “Мадагаскар”
  • Moroccan Arabic: “ماداڭاسكار”
  • Moroccan Arabic: “ماداݣاسكار”
  • N'Ko: “ߡߊ߬ߘߜ߭ߊߛߑߞߊߙ”
  • Nauru: “Madagascar”
  • Navajo: “Magí Bitseeʼ Noodǫ́zí Bikéyah”
  • Navajo: “Mágí Bitseeʼ Noodǫ́zí Bikéyah”
  • Nepali: “माडागास्कर”
  • Newari: “माडागास्कर”
  • Newari: “मादागास्कर”
  • Nigerian Pidgin: “Madagaska”
  • North Ndebele: “Madagaska”
  • Northern Frisian: “Madagaskar”
  • Northern Luri: “ماداگاسکار”
  • Northern Sami: “Madagaskar dásseváldi”
  • Northern Sami: “Madagaskar”
  • Northern Sami: “Madagaskara dásseváldi”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Madagaskar”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Republikken Madagaskar”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Madagaskar”
  • Norwegian: “Madagaskar”
  • Novial: “Madagaskar”
  • Nupe-Nupe-Tako: “Madagascar”
  • Nyanja: “Madagascar”
  • Obolo: “Madagasika”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Madagascar”
  • Old English (ca. 450-1100): “Madagascar”
  • Old English (ca. 450-1100): “Madaȝascar”
  • Oriya: “ମାଡାଗାସ୍କର୍”
  • Oriya: “ମେଡାଗାସ୍କର”
  • Oromo: “Madagascar”
  • Oromo: “Madagaskaar”
  • Ossetian: “Мадагаскар”
  • Pali: “मडगास्कर”
  • Pampanga: “Madagascar”
  • Pampanga: “Madagaskar”
  • Panjabi: “ਮਾਦਾਗਾਸਕਰ”
  • Panjabi: “ਮੈਡਾਗਾਸਕਰ”
  • Papiamento: “Madagascar”
  • Pedi: “Madagascar”
  • Pennsylvania German: “Madagascar”
  • Persian: “ماداگاسکار”
  • Persian: “مادغاسکر”
  • Picard: “Madagascar”
  • Piemontese: “Madagascar”
  • Pitcairn-Norfolk: “Madagascar”
  • Pitcairn-Norfolk: “MG”
  • Polish: “Madagaskar”
  • Pontic: “Μαδαγασκάρην”
  • Portuguese: “MAD”
  • Portuguese: “Madagascar”
  • Portuguese: “Madagáscar”
  • Portuguese: “mg”
  • Portuguese: “Repoblikan’i Madagasikara”
  • Portuguese: “República de Madagáscar”
  • Portuguese: “República Malgaxe”
  • Portuguese: “République de Madagascar”
  • Pushto: “مادغاسکر”
  • Pushto: “مدغاسکر”
  • Quechua: “Madagascar”
  • Quechua: “Madagaskar”
  • Quechua: “Mathaqaskar”
  • Romanian: “Madagascar”
  • Romansh: “Madagascar”
  • Rundi: “Madagasikari”
  • Russia Buriat: “Мадагаскар”
  • Russian: “Мадагаскар”
  • Russian: “Республика Мадагаскар”
  • Sakizaya: “Madagascar”
  • Samoan: “Madagascar”
  • Samogitian: “Madagaskars”
  • Sango: “Madagaskära”
  • Sanskrit: “मडगास्कर”
  • Santali: “ᱢᱟᱫᱟᱜᱟᱥᱠᱟᱨ”
  • Sardinian: “Madagascàr”
  • Saterfriesisch: “Madagaskar”
  • Scots: “Madagascar”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Madagascar”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Madagasgar”
  • Serbian: “Madagaskar”
  • Serbian: “Мадагаскар”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Madagaskar”
  • Shan: “မိူင်းမၢတ်ႈတႃႇၵၢတ်ႈသၵႃႇ”
  • Shona: “Madagascar”
  • Shona: “Matagadzikwa”
  • Sicilian: “Madagascar”
  • Silesian: “Madagaskar”
  • Sindhi: “مدگاسڪر”
  • Sindhi: “مڊگاسڪر”
  • Sinhala: “මැඩගස්කරය”
  • Skolt Sami: “Madagaskaar tääʹssväʹldd”
  • Skolt Sami: “Madagaskar”
  • Slovak: “Madagaskar”
  • Slovak: “Madagaskarská republika”
  • Slovenian: “MAD”
  • Slovenian: “Madagaskar”
  • Slovenian: “mg”
  • Slovenian: “Republika Madagaskar”
  • Somali: “Madagaskar”
  • South Azerbaijani: “ماداقاسکار”
  • Southern Sotho: “Madagascar”
  • Spanish: “Madagascar”
  • Spanish: “Republica de Madagascar”
  • Spanish: “República de Madagascar”
  • Spanish: “República Malgache”
  • Standard Moroccan Tamazight: “ⵎⴰⴷⴰⴳⴰⵙⴽⴰⵔ”
  • Sundanese: “Madagaskar”
  • Swahili: “Bukini”
  • Swahili: “Madagaska”
  • Swati: “IMadagasikha”
  • Swedish: “Madagaskar”
  • Swedish: “Republiken Madagaskar”
  • Swiss German: “Madagaskar”
  • Sylheti: “ꠝꠣꠖꠣꠉꠣꠡ꠆ꠇꠣꠞ”
  • Tachelhit: “Madaɣacqar”
  • Tagalog: “Madagascar”
  • Tagalog: “Madagaskar”
  • Tahitian: “Madagascar”
  • Tahitian: “Matatatihata”
  • Tajik: “Мадагаскар”
  • Talysh: “Madagaskar”
  • Tamil: “மடகாசுகர்”
  • Tamil: “மடகாஸ்கர்”
  • Taroko: “Madagascar”
  • Tatar: “Мадагаскар”
  • Telugu: “మడగాస్కర్”
  • Thai: “ประเทศมาดากัสการ์”
  • Thai: “มาดากัสการ์”
  • Thai: “สาธารณรัฐมาดากัสการ์”
  • Tibetan: “མ་ད་གཱ་སི་ཀར།”
  • Tibetan: “མ་དཱ་གྷསྐཱར།”
  • Tigrinya: “ማዳጋስካር”
  • Tonga (Tonga Islands): “Matakasika”
  • Tosk Albanian: “Madagaskar”
  • Tsonga: “Madagascar”
  • Tumbuka: “Madagascar”
  • Tunisian Arabic: “مدغشقر”
  • Turkish: “Madagaskar”
  • Turkmen: “Madagaskar”
  • Tyap: “Mada̱ga̱si̱ka”
  • Tyap: “Ri̱pobi̱lik Mada̱ga̱si̱ka”
  • Udmurt: “Мадагаскар”
  • Uighur: “ماداغاسقار”
  • Uighur: “ماداگاسكار”
  • Ukrainian: “Мадагаскар”
  • Ukrainian: “Мадаґаскар”
  • Ukrainian: “Республіка Мадагаскар”
  • Upper Sorbian: “Madagaskar”
  • Urdu: “مڈغاسکر”
  • Uzbek: “Madagaskar”
  • Venetian: “Madagascar”
  • Veps: “Madagaskar”
  • Vietnamese: “Ma-đa-gát-xca (Madagascar)”
  • Vietnamese: “Ma-đa-gát-xca”
  • Vietnamese: “Madagascar”
  • Vlaams: “Madagaskar”
  • Vlax Romani: “Madagascar”
  • Volapük: “Malagaseän”
  • Võro: “Madagaskar”
  • Walloon: “Madagascar”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Madagascar”
  • Welsh: “Madagascar”
  • Welsh: “Madagasgar”
  • Western Armenian: “Մատակասքար”
  • Western Frisian: “Madagaskar”
  • Western Frisian: “Madeiaskar”
  • Western Mari: “Мадагаскар”
  • Western Panjabi: “مڈغاسکر”
  • Wolof: “Madagaskaar”
  • Wu Chinese: “馬達加斯加”
  • Yakut: “Мадагаскар”
  • Yiddish: “מאדאגאסקאר”
  • Yiddish: “מאַדאַגאַסקאַר”
  • Yoruba: “Madagásíkà”
  • Yoruba: “Madagáskàr”
  • Yoruba: “Madasika”
  • Yue Chinese: “馬達加斯加”
  • Zeeuws: “Madahaskar”
  • Zhuang: “Madagascar”
  • Zulu: “i-Madagascar”
  • Zulu: “IMadagasika”
  • “ma Malakasi”
  • “MAD”
  • “Madagascar”
  • “Madagaskar”
  • “Madagaskars”
  • “MDG”
  • “MG”
  • “मेडागास्कर”

East African Islands: Must-Visit Destinations

Delve into Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, and Réunion.

Explore These Curated Destinations

Discover places selected for their distinct character and enduring appeal.
About Mapcarta. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors and available under the Open Database License". Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Madagascar”. Photo: Bgag, CC BY-SA 3.0.