Madagascar was one of the last major landmasses on earth to be colonized by humans. The earliest settlers from present-day Indonesia arrived between A.D. 350 and 550. The island attracted Arab and Persian traders as early as the 7th century, and migrants from Africa arrived around A.D. 1000. 

Environment

Land use: agricultural land: 71.1%; arable land 6%; permanent crops 1%; permanent pasture 64.1%; forest: 21.5%

other: 7.4% (2011 est.)

Irrigated land:

10,860 sq km (2012)

Total renewable water resources: 337 cu km (2011)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): total: 16.5 cu km/yr (2%/1%/97%); per capita: 1,010 cu m/yr (2005) Threatened species       (2014):  428      

Threatened species       (2014):  929      

Forested area (% of land area)   (2012):  21.4     

Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected (%)  (2014):  2.0       

Population using improved drinking water sources (%)    (2012):  50.0     

Population using improved sanitation facilities (%)          (2012):  14.0     

CO2 emission estimates (000 metric tons and metric tons per capita)       (2011):  2450/0.1           

Energy supply per capita (Gigajoules)    (2012):  7.0

Environment – international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Social indicators

Population growth rate (average annual %)         (2010-2015):      2.8       

Urban population growth rate (average annual %)            (2010-2015):      4.7       

Rural population growth rate (average annual %) (2010-2015):      1.8       

Urban population (%)     (2014):  34.5

Source

  1. UN Data
  2. CIA – The World Factbook
  3. United Nations Statistics Division