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Macau (continued) TV; 75,000 radio receivers (est.); international high-frequency radio communication facility; access to international communications carriers provided via Hong Kong and China; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Defense Forces

Military manpower: males 15-49, 166,956; 93,221 fit for military service

Note: defense is responsibility of Portugal  Madagascar



Geography

Total area: 587,040 km²; land area: 581,540km²

Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Arizona

Land boundaries: none

Coastline: 4,828 km

Maritime claims:
 * Exclusive fishing zone: 150 nm
 * Extended economic zone: 200 nm
 * Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island (all administered by France)

Climate: tropical along coast, temperate inland, arid in south

Terrain: narrow coastal plain, high plateau and mountains in center

Natural resources: graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, salt, quartz, tar sands, semi-precious stones, mica, fish

Land use: 4% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 58% meadows and pastures; 26% forest and woodland; 11% other; includes 2% irrigated

Environment: subject to periodic cyclones; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Note: world's fourth-largest island; strategic location along Mozambique Channel

People

Population: 11,800,524 (July 1990), growth rate 3.2% (1990)

Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: migrants/ 1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 97 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 50 years male, 54 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 6.9 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—Malagasy (sing. and pl.); adjective—Malagasy

Ethnic divisions: basic split between highlanders of predominantly Malayo-Indonesian origin (Merina 1,643,000 and related Betsileo 760,000) on the one hand and coastal tribes, collectively termed the Côtiers, with mixed African, Malayo-Indonesian, and Arab ancestry (Betsimisaraka 941,000, Tsimihety 442,000, Antaisaka 415,000, Sakalava 375,000), on the other; there are also 11,000 European French, 5,000 Indians of French nationality, and 5,000 Creoles

Religion: 52% indigenous beliefs; about 41% Christian, 7% Muslim

Language: French and Malagasy (official)

Literacy: 67.5%

Labor force: 4,900,000; 90% nonsalaried family workers engaged in subsistence agriculture; 175,000 wage earners—26% agriculture, 17% domestic service, 15% industry, 14% commerce, 11% construction, 9% services, 6% transportation, 2% other; 51% of population of working age (1985)

Organized labor: 4% of labor force

Government

Long-form name: Democratic Republic of Madagascar

Type: republic

Capital: Antananarivo

Administrative divisions: 6 provinces (plural—NA, singular—faritanin’); Antananarivo, Antsiranana, Fianarantsoa, Mahajanga, Toamasina, Toliara

Independence: 26 June 1960 (from France; formerly Malagasy Republic)

Constitution: 21 December 1975

Legal system: based on French civil law system and traditional Malagasy law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Independence Day, 26 June (1960)

Executive branch: president, Supreme Council of the Revolution, prime minister, Council of Ministers

Legislative branch: unicameral Popular National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale Populaire)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Suprême), High Constitutional Court (Haute Cour Constitutionnelle)

Leaders: Chief of State—President Adm. Didier RATSIRAKA (since 15 June 1975);

Head of Government Prime Minister Lt. Col. Victor RAMAHATRA (since 12 February 1988)

Political parties and leaders: seven parties are now allowed limited political activity under the national front and are  188