The Land of the Living Fossil

Here are some general information about madagascar

• Capital city: Antananarivo
• Area: 592,800 sq km. 
• 4th largest island in the world. 
• 400 km from Africa and 6400 km from Indonesia
• Nationality: Melagasy
• Terrain: Mountainous central plateau and coastal plain
• Climate
• Population: 20.1 million
• Population growth rate: 2.7%
• Religion: Indigenous belief 52%, Christian  41%, and Muslim 7%
• Life expectancy: male 61 years old and female 64 years old. Infant mortality rate is 4.1%
• Language: Malagasy, French, and English (all are official languages)
• Government: Republic
• Independence: June 26, 1960
• Gross Domestic Product:  ~$8.6 billion
• 29% Agriculture (e.g. rice, live stock, seafood, coffee, vanilla, sugar, and tobacco)
• 15.9% Industry (e.g. processed food, textile, mining, paper, refined petroleum, soap, and cement)
• 28% Trade; exports such as vanilla, coffee, graphite, and gemstones

Madagascar is famous for its biodiversity. It is home to some flora and fauna that cannot be found anywhere else on earth! This island owes its uniqueness to geological change.



Because of the geological isolation and diversified climate, many lineage evolves into different species.
To put this in perspective, there are about 60 different taxa of lemur on the island!

source: http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/news/091001_madagascar
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ma.html