Country profile: Madagascar

Madagascar is the world's fourth biggest island after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo. Because of its isolation most of its mammals, half its birds, and most of its plants exist nowhere else on earth.

The island is heavily exposed to tropical cyclones which bring torrential rains and destructive floods, such as the ones in 2000 and 2004, which left thousands homeless.

Overview

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The Malagasy are thought to be descendents of Africans and Indonesians who settled on the island more than 2,000 years ago. Malagasy pay a lot of attention to their dead and spend much effort on ancestral tombs, which are opened from time to time so the remains can be carried in procession, before being rewrapped in fresh shrouds.

AT-A-GLANCE Politics: In January 2009 political unrest erupted into violence. President Ravalomanana resigned in March following a fierce power struggle with opposition leader Andry Rajoelina, who then assumed power with military backing. Economy: Many areas suffer food shortages. Madagascar is to benefit from a G8 pledge to write off debts of 18 poor countries. The president has set out a road map for economic recovery International: Plans by Rio Tinto to start coastal strip mining in the south-east have alarmed environmentalists Timeline

After sometimes harsh French colonial rule, which included the bloody suppression of an uprising in 1947, Madagascar gained independence in 1960. The military seized power in the early 1970s with the aim of achieving a socialist paradise.

This did not materialise. The economy went into decline and by 1982 the authorities were forced to adopt a structural adjustment programme imposed by the International Monetary Fund.

The World Bank has estimated that 70% of Malagasy live on less than $1 per day. Poverty and the competition for agricultural land have put pressure on the island's dwindling forests, home to much of Madagascar's unique wildlife and key to its emerging tourist industry.

The island has strong ties with France as well as economic and cultural links with French-speaking West Africa.

Facts

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• Full name: Republic of Madagascar
• Population: 20.2 million (via UN, 2008)
• Capital: Antananarivo
• Area: 587,041 sq km (226,658 sq miles)
• Major languages: Malagasy (official), French
• Major religions: Indigenous beliefs, Christianity
• Life expectancy: 58 years (men), 61 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: Ariary
• Main exports: Vanilla, coffee, seafood, cloves, petroleum products, chromium, fabrics
• GNI per capita: US $320 (World Bank, 2007)
• Internet domain: .mg
• International dialling code: +261

Leaders

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President: Marc Ravalomanana (resigned)

President Marc Ravalomanana stepped down on 17 March 2009 following a months-long power struggle with the opposition.

Following his resignation, opposition leader and former Antananarivo mayor Andry Rajoelina assumed power with military backing. He suspended parliament and set up two transitional bodies to run the island.

However, there has been widespread international condemnation of Mr Rajoelina's army-backed takeover, with the US cutting off non-humanitarian aid and the African Union suspending Madagascar's membership.

Protesters calling for Mr Ravalomanana's return have clashed with Mr Rajoelina's supporters. In April 2009 the transitional authorities issued an arrest warrant for the exiled Mr Ravalomana, whose supporters announced the creation of a rival government.

Marc Ravalomanana, a wealthy businessman, won a second five-year term after taking 54.8% of the vote in elections in December 2006.

President Ravalomanana quit following a fierce power struggle

His first term saw free-market reforms which were welcomed by donors and investors. Aid increased and foreign debt was cancelled. But poverty remained endemic and protesters took to the streets over rising prices.

For his second term, Mr Ravalomanana set out a "bold and aggressive" recovery programme - the Madagascar Action Plan. It aims to cut poverty levels by 50% over five years. He described the private sector as the engine of economic growth and said relations with the international community and donors were the keys to development.

The self-made dairy tycoon first came to power in 2002 after an eight-month political crisis which followed elections. He used huge street demonstrations and military force to defeat Didier Ratsiraka, a Marxist, who had ruled Madagascar for 23 years.

Marc Ravalomanana was born in the village of Imerikasina, near Antananarivo. In true rags-to-riches fashion, he began his working life selling home-made yogurt off the back of a bicycle.

His dairy and oil products business is now the largest non-foreign-owned company on the island.

He took to the political stage in 1999 and gained a huge following in Antananarivo. As mayor of the capital he was credited with instigating a major clean-up of the city.

President: Andry Rajoelina (not internationally recognised)

Born in 1974 into a well-off family, Mr Rajoelina rose to prominence as a disc jockey, going on to own a radio station and advertising company.

He set up the Determined Malagasy Youth opposition movement and won the mayoral election for the capital, Antananarivo, in December 2007. His dynamic style had earned him the nickname TGV, after the French high-speed train, and this is also the acronym of his political movement.

Andry Rajoelina proclaimed himself president in March

An attempt by the government to close his Viva TV channel in December 2008 rapidly escalated into the current political crisis as Mr Rajoelina challenged President Ravalomanana for power.

Ravalomanana dismissed him in February 2009, but as protests continued the president ceded his authority to the military. The officers in turn offered power to Mr Rajoelina, who proclaimed himself president in March.

At 34 he is technically too young to be president under the current constitution, which he has pledged to change. He has also promised to hold elections as scheduled in 2011.

His first major policy act has been to cancel a deal with the South Korean company Daewoo Logistics, which would have seen a large part of the country handed over for agricultural development by the firm. He had called this policy of President Ravalomanana "neo-colonialism".

Ravalomanana's supporters have in turn accused Rajoelina of being under the influence of former Marxist president Didier Ratsiraka.

Media

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President Ravalomanana owns the Malagasy Broadcasting System, which operates MBS TV and Radio MBS. Many private radio stations in the capital are owned by pro-Ravalomanana politicians.

A boom in privately-owned FM radio stations and more critical political reporting by the print media followed 1990's law on press freedom.

Although nationwide radio and TV broadcasting remain the monopoly of the state, there are hundreds of private local radio and TV stations.

There were around 110,000 internet users by September 2007 (ITU figure).

The press

• Midi-Madagasikara - privately-owned Antananarivo daily
• Madagascar-Tribune - privately-owned Antananarivo daily
• L'Express - privately-owned Antananarivo daily
• La Gazette de la Grande Ile - Antananarivo daily
• Lakroa (Cross) - Roman Catholic weekly
• Dans Les Media Demain - privately-owned, Antananarivo weekly
• Feon'ny Merina (Voice of the Merina) - privately-owned weekly for Merina people of Malay origin
• Jureco - privately-owned, monthly
• Revue de l'Ocean Indien - privately-owned, monthly, also covering other Indian Ocean islands

Television

• Television Malagasy (TVM) - state-owned
• Radio-Television Analamanga (RTA) - privately-run, Antananarivo
• Madagascar TV (MATV) - privately-run, Antananarivo
• MBS TV - commercial, owned by Ravalomanana

Radio

• Malagasy National Radio (RNM) - state-owned
• Radio Don Bosco - Roman Catholic FM station in capital
• Radio MBS - commercial network owned by Ravalomanana
• Radio Feon'ny Merina - privately-owned, Antananarivo, promotes interests of Merina people of Malay origin
• Radio Tsioka Vao - privately-owned, Antananarivo
• Radio Lazan' Iarivo (RLI) (Glory of Iarivo) - privately-owned
• Radio Korail - privately-owned, Antananarivo
• Radio Antsiva - privately-owned, Antananarivo