Overview

Madagascar covers 587,041 km², with 0.95% water coverage. Its 33 million people belong to 18 major ethnic groups practicing Christianity, traditional Malagasy beliefs, and Islam, across humid dense forest, dry forest and thicket, beaches, mangroves, savanna, and steppe, with 6 rivers, 2 international airports, 5 ports, a railway, and a passable road network, plus 5 hydroelectric plants. 6 cities range from 305,000 to 1,141,000, and one reaches 2,500,000.