Crossed by the tropic of Capricorn in its south part , Madagascar stretches on near 1580km from the north to the south and 580km from the East to the West . She had about 5000km of coasts bathed to the east by the Indian Ocean , to the West by the Mozambique Channel . Its 587000km2 make of Madagascar the world 4th greatest island , an island - continent containing a great variety of reliefs and microclimates , and of course an amazing diversity of flora , and fauna with a strong rate of endemism .

The Malagasy population would have been formed since the 5th century in successive waves, first malayo - Polynesian , then Arabic and African . Many of the existing ethnic groups still kept the traces of their first origins. The cultural diversity and wealth are thereby remarkable. The 15 millions of inhabitants are renowned for their legendary sense of hospitality and kindness . A lot of Malagasy are Christian but in some regions the Islam is strongly practiced ; and in general the Malagasy attache the greatest importance to the cult of ancestors . Every body speaks the same language : the Malagasy ; French is the second official language.

The relief is uneven in its totality , with three highest points : 2876m in the Tsaratanana to the north , 2643m in the Ankaratra to the center and 2658m in the Andringitra to the south.

The activity of the great majority of the Malagasy population is the agriculture , comes first the rice and then the other food crops : the cassava , the maize… but there are also export cultures as : vanilla , coffee, clove, cacao…The industry needs to be developed ; the original handicraft knows an admirable expansion linked to the Tourism . The mining sector is in full effervescence mainly with the exploitation of many precious stones deposits : sapphire, emerald .

The High lands   are the domain of  granitic mountains and lateritic plateau , where valleys , plains , sometimes hillsides are occupied by parcels of ricefields . The center is the most humanized area of the island . Small red houses covered with laterit , those bigger with their verandas , zebucarts , men muffled up in their "lamba" ( white cloth or even cover ).....are so much typical images of the Center . ANTANANARIVO the capital ( or Tana for regulars ) , dominated by the Queen 's Palace , surrounded by thousands of hectares of ricefields , is perched at 1250 m of altitude .

The " malagasy no man' s land ". These are steep slopes , sedimentary plateau , vast savannah areas - ideal place for the games hunting , frequented by many zebus herds; the rich alluvial plains are used for food crops . Calcareous caves nearby Majunga have  fascinated many  speleologists . The traditional fishing is the dominant activity.

it is a steep slope delimiting a narrow coastal plain , a succession of lagoons . Some parts of this domain of tropical forest are still unexplored and others damaged in savannah form where developed the famous traveler tree , the "Ravinala" .
The coffee , clove ,vanilla, pepper , tropical fruit plantations .....develop especially in this region .

The North has the most complex relief joining together around two mountains: the Tsaratanana ,the highest point of the island (2876m) with its terraced forest ( lichens covered trees , tree ferns ) and the Montagne d'Ambre covered of forest , punctuated with lakes and cascades, sheltering a population of lemurs, classified as National Park  . Volcanic , karstic forms, crystalline mountains , constitute a landscape of an agreeable diversity . Its beaches are among the most frequented of the island. The main city ANTSIRANANA ( former Diego Suarez) , is situated near one of the most beautiful roadsteads of the world, the second after Rio .

The South is almost desert , but here the vegetation is the most original of the country (baobab, alluaudia, pachypodium, nepenthes and other succulent plants.) .It is also here that the funerary architecture  , reflection of the culture and the tradition of this region of Madagascar is the most spectacular .Mahafaly tombs, imposing  by their size ,amazing by their decorations , mysterious by their symbol ( aloalo or funeral stele ) , give a best illustration of the noble place that the Malagasy reserve to their ancestors .