Madagascar
Pronunciation: /ˌmadəˈgaskə/
- an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the east coast of Africa; population 20,653,600 (est. 2009); official languages, Malagasy and French; capital, Antananarivo.
- Settled by peoples of mixed Indo-Melanesian and African descent, Madagascar was visited by the Portuguese in 1500 but resisted colonization until the French established control in 1896. It regained its independence as the Malagasy Republic in 1960, changing its name back to Madagascar in 1975. Madagascar is the fourth-largest island in the world, and many of its plants and animals are not found elsewhere
