Madagascar is country located off the continent of Africa. Madagascar is an island that is surrounded by the Indian Ocean on all of its sides. There is a lot of history that can be learned about this nation. There have been many interesting events that have occurred on this island throughout it’s history. There are many geographic, religious, and cultural features unique to this country.

            Madagascar is an island located a little ways off the east coast of Africa. The exact location of this nation is 20 00 S and 47 00 E (Geography of Madagascar 2008). The island is split into five different geographical regions, which consist of the east coast, the Tsaratanana Massif, the central highlands, the west coast, and the southwest (Geography of Madagascar 2008). Each region has different geographical features such as lowlands, highlands, the Baie d'Antongil, mountains created from volcanoes, rolling hills, rivers, and harbors (Geography of Madagascar 2008). There are three different climates here, which are tropical along the coast, temperate, and arid in the southern part of the island (Geography of Madagascar 2008). All of these geographic features influence the people that live  on the island in many ways.

            Many interesting art pieces and music can be found here as well. There are many different textiles that can be found in Madagascar that the people use to make art. They use these textiles such as raffia leaves, which are found on a type of palm tree (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History 2015). They use this material to weave fabric and raffia wrappers. They also make akotifahana out of silk, which is fabric that has many bright and bold colors on it (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History 2015). Very wealthy and royal people usually wear this type of fabric (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History 2015).     

                 

The people of Madagascar also used to wear amulets called Ody, which they believed would keep them safe and healthy (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History 2015).

                                                             

            There are a few different religions that can be found in Madagascar. The majority of people here claim to be Christian either Protestant or Catholic (Traditional Beliefs and Religion in Madagascar 2015). Some of the Malagasy people hold traditional beliefs of their ancestors. These traditional beliefs place an emphasis on the dead (Traditional Beliefs and Religion in Madagascar 2015). They think that the dead speaks to a god on their behalf. They think that bad things will happen to them if they offend the dead (Traditional Beliefs and Religion in Madagascar 2015). Another religion that can be found in Madagascar is Islam and Hinduism. These make of the smallest percentage of people (Traditional Beliefs and Religion in Madagascar 2015).

            Madagascar produces many different natural resources. These resources can provide energy for the nation and be a source of money for them as well. Some of the natural resources that can be found here are graphite, coal, bauxite, salt quartz, tar sands, semi-precious stones, mica, fish, and hydropower (UN Public-Private Alliance for Rural Development n.d.). Hydropower provides some of the energy that the nations needs. There was a project that began in 2008 to create electricity for parts of Madagascar (Madagascar Sahanivotry Small Hydrpower Plant n.d.). Below is a picture of the hydropower plant found in Madagascar.

                                                        

                                                                                           https://www.esmap.org/RE_Resource_Mapping_Madagascar

            Some people may wonder who were the first people to explore Madagascar. The first people to come from outside of Madagascar were the Portuguese (wildmadagasar.org 2008). Later on people from other countries began to visit the island. Other people came from France, the Netherlands, and England (wildmadagasar.org 2008). The French were even able to establish a fort for a few decades (History of Madagascar n.d.). In the 1600s the coast was full of pirates. These pirates stayed mostly on the east coast of the island (wildmadagasar.org 2008). They would attack European ships that were carrying goods back to Europe (wildmadagasar.org 2008). They would steal the things that they had just purchased from India. These explorers most likely introduced many new things to the native people of Madagascar like religion, food, and customs.

                              //madagascarcwp.weebly.com/about.html

            There have been many missionaries that have visited the nation of Madagascar. Those missionaries have taken the responsibility of sharing the gospel to the people of Madagascar. Most of the island claims to be Christian, but there are still some unreached people groups. The unreached groups are the Malagasy, the Tankarana, the Chinese minority, and the Indian minority (SIM Serving the Church Across Cultures 2015). The missionary group SIM first went to Madagascar in 1978 to plant churches and is still continuing to in their effort to build churches there (SIM Serving the Church Across Cultures 2015). In the 17th century Catholic missionaries came to Madagascar, but most of these missionaries did not accomplish very much. Although they were not very successful someone was able to translate the Bible completely into the Malagasy language in 1836 and it is still used today (SIM Serving the Church Across Cultures 2015). This was a huge accomplishment made by missionaries. There are also Muslim missionaries that have been to Madagascar to spread Islam (SIM Serving the Church Across Cultures 2015).                                                                                                              

            Madagascar is an island, so it has natural political boundaries. Madagascar’s land area totals 581,540 sq. km or 224,533 square miles (wildmadagasar.org 2008). The coastline of the island measures to be 4,828 km (wildmadagasar.org 2008). These boundaries would not change over time since the country has always consisted of the whole island. This might help make things less complicated with things such as boundary issues since it is an island.

            Madagascar is full of history, natural resources, art, and much more. It is a beautiful island surrounded by blue water. The people of Madagascar have been visited and influenced by many outside countries over the years. There are a variety of natural geographic features that make up the island. There are also a few different climates that make up parts of this country. The nation’s main religion is Christianity, which is great. Most countries outside of the United States do not have Christianity as their main religion. There are many interesting historical events, such as pirates surrounding the coast, missionaries visiting the people, and explorers coming to visit for the first time.  All of these factors have influenced Madagascar and shaped it to be the way it is now.

National and Political Boundaries

The country of Madagascar is an island so the land that is on the coast would make up the political and national boundaries. The island is surrounded by the Indian Ocean on sides. These boundaries would not change over time since the country has always consisted of the whole island. This might help make things not as complicated with boundary issues since it is an island. The island has been introduced to religions because of the people that have explored the island in the past. This has most likely affected the culture of these people when Christianity and Islam were introduced to the people.  

"Political Map of Madagascar - Ezilon Maps." Political Map of Madagascar - Ezilon Maps. Accessed May 1, 2015.     http://www.ezilon.com/maps/africa/madagascar-maps.html.

Missionaries

Missionary work is necessary to tell people of Jesus Christ. Sometimes it takes a long time for missionaries to reach a people group. There are many things that people have to prepare for when they go on a missions trip to another country. According to the SIM website at least half of the people that live in Madagascar still claim to be Christians. They also say that Muslims are also trying to convert people to their religion of Islam. There are still a few different unreached people groups, which are the Malagasy Tankarana, the Chinese and the Indian minorities. The missionary group SIM first went to Madagascar in 1978 to plant churches and is still continuing to in their effort to build churches there. In the 17^th century Catholic missionaries came to Madagascar, but most of these missionaries did not accomplish very much. Although they were not very successful someone was able to translate the Bible completely into the Malagasy language in 1836 and it is still used today. This was a huge accomplishment made by missionaries. Although when Queen Ranavalona I ruled she killed many Christians and made all Europeans leave the country. When she died Queen Ranavalona II took over and she became a Christian and welcomed the religion into the country. Although there seems to be a lot of Christian missionaries seeking to reach the people of Madagascar there are also people trying to spread Islam. The Islamic religion is the minority now, but they are trying to end that. Christianity seems to have had a large impact on the nation of Madagascar. The first denominations that came were Catholic and now they seem to be more protestant. Hopefully more and more Christian missionaries will have the opportunity go to Madagascar to plant churches and so more people can hear the gospel that never has before.  

"Related." Country Profile: Madagascar. Accessed April 23, 2015. http://www.sim.org/index.php/country/MG.

First Contact

Some of the nations in Africa were not exposed to any outside people that were not native to where they lived. The first outside contacts with the people of Madagascar came from Portugal. Sometime in 1500 a Portuguese ship saw the island, but did not stop there. These people were trying to travel to India when they saw the island. In the 17^th century missionaries from Portugal came to Madagascar to tell them about Christianity. This is probably how the religion of Christianity came to the island of Madagascar.

Also around the 17^th century Britain and France tried to make settlements here. These were some of the first Europeans to come to Madagascar. In the late 1800s until the middle of the 1900s the French ruled parts of Madagascar. The country thrived under this rule because they were introduced to things they did not have before. Some examples of things they were introduced to were the crops tobacco and coffee. France valued Madagascar because of the vanilla, timber, and spices they could find there. They did not have independence from France until 1960. At this time the majority of trade was 

done with France. 

In the 1600s the coast of Madagascar was full of pirates. These pirates were mostly on the eastern coast of the island. They would attack European ships that were taking things back to Europe that they had bought in India. There were many valuables that people could purchase in India such as spices and that could have been some of the things the pirates wanted to take from the ships they attacked. Most of the contact Madagascar has had in the past with European countries seems to have helped both nations, such as with France. France and Madagascar benefited when France was ruling Madagascar.

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad26

http://www.wildmadagascar.org/kids/05-history.html