Country · Africa
Madagascar
Republic of Madagascar
Madagascar is a country in Eastern Africa. About 26.3 million people live there, in an area of 587 041 square kilometres. Its capital city is Antananarivo.
Picture credit: Anai171 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Hopeandlink (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Lalinah (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Bernard Gagnon (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Alno (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Madagascar?
Madagascar lies in Eastern Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the southern half of the world, roughly 2 226 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 4 828 km long.
It has no land neighbours — every border it has is with the sea.
How big is Madagascar?
Madagascar covers 587 041 square kilometres.
That is about 5.7 times the size of Iceland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 45th largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 44.7 people on every square kilometre.
That is close to the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Madagascar?
About 26.3 million people live in Madagascar.
That is the 51st biggest population in the world.
People here speak French and Malagasy.
They pay with the Malagasy ariary (Ar).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 55 years.
The land of Madagascar
The land of Madagascar sits on average 615 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 4 828 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 241 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Madagascar different?
A dish the country is known for: Romazava.
Websites from here often end in .mg.
Madagascar and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 3 live in Madagascar.
It takes up about 0.44 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa the country ranks 21st of 54 by size, and 15th by population.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 3 live wild in Madagascar: Panther chameleon, Pygmy chameleon and Sea cucumber. The highest mountain in the country is Maromokotro, at 2 876 metres. The longest river in the country is the Mangoky. The largest lake in the country is Lake Alaotra.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
How big is Madagascar compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 16 times as big as Madagascar: 9 372 610 km² against 587 041 km². See both on one map
- Madagascar is about 2.4 times as big as the United Kingdom: 587 041 km² against 242 900 km². See both on one map
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Madagascar?
The capital of Madagascar is Antananarivo. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Madagascar?
About 26.3 million people live in Madagascar, which makes it the 51st most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
How big is Madagascar?
Madagascar covers 587 041 square kilometres, making it the 45th largest country in the world. That is about 5.7 times the size of Iceland.
What is the highest mountain in Madagascar?
The highest mountain in Madagascar is Maromokotro, 2 876 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Madagascar?
The longest river in Madagascar is the Mangoky, about 564 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Madagascar?
The largest lake in Madagascar is Lake Alaotra. It covers about 220 km².
Which continent is Madagascar in?
Madagascar is in Africa, in the part called Eastern Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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