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

Natural Resources

Madagascar produces many different natural resources. Natural resources can provide energy and income for the country if there is a large supply of it. The island does not have one natural resource that they specialize in. Some of these resources that can be found on the island of Madagascar are graphite, coal, bauxite, salt quartz, tar sands, semi-precious stones, mica, fish, and hydropower. It seems like a good thing to have such a variety of natural resources.

There is a small hydropower plant located on the island that was built in 2008. The project is privately owned and they are hoping to expand to more rural areas of the country. Hydropower now helps run 10 percent of the island’s electricity. This is a great way to utilize the nation’s water systems.

Madagascar also produces coal. There is a coal mining project located here, which is named Imaloto 

Project. The project is located in the Imaloto Coal Basin in southwest Madagascar. This coal-mining project began in 2008. Coal is something that can produce energy and make money for the nation. It seems like a good natural resource to have.

The rock bauxite can be found in Madagascar. This rock is a mixture of different minerals. One of the things this rock can be used for is to make aluminum, which can be used for many different things.

Madagascar’s trade with other countries mostly consists of textiles and agricultural items. Some of the countries they trade with are France, the United States, Germany, Areas nes, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, and Mauritius. There is not much trade found within the country because many of the people do not have much to trade. Most of the trading done in Madagascar is done with countries and people outside of the country.

http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/Alliance/madagascar.htm

http://www.e8casestudies.org/casestudies/Madagascar-ADBSahanivotrySmallHydroPower.aspx

http://www.lemurresources.com/projects/imaloto-coal-project.html

http://geology.com/minerals/bauxite.shtml