| GEOGRAPHY |
Madagascar, the fourth-largest
island in the world, lies in the Indian
Ocean off the coast of Mozambique. It includes
several much smaller islands. A central
chain of high mountains, the Hauts Plateaux,
occupies more than half of the main island
and is responsible for the marked differences
– ethnically, climatically and scenically
– between the east and west coasts.
The narrow strip of lowlands on the east
coast, settled from the 6th century by Polynesian
seafarers, is largely covered by dense rainforests,
whereas the broader west-coast landscape,
once covered by dry deciduous forests, is
now mostly savannah. The east coast receives
the monsoon and, on both coasts, the climate
is wetter towards the north. The southern
tip of the island is semi-desert, with great
forests of cactus-like plants. The capital,
Antananarivo, is high up in the Hauts Plateaux
near the island's centre. Much of Madagascar's
flora and fauna is unique to the island.
There are 3000 endemic species of butterfly;
the many endemic species of lemurs fill
the niches occupied elsewhere by animals
as varied as racoons, monkeys, marmots,
bushbabies, sloths and even (though this
variant is now extinct) bears; there is
a similar diversity of reptiles, amphibians
and birds (especially ducks), and also at
all levels of plant life. |
