| Ambohimarina | |
|---|---|
  Ambohimarina Location in Madagascar | |
| Coordinates: 13°56′S48°28′E / 13.933°S 48.467°E | |
| Country |  |
| Region | Diana |
| District | Ambanja |
| Elevation [1] | 427 m (1,401 ft) |
| Population (2001) [2] | |
| • Total | 7,000 |
| Time zone | EAT (UTC3) |
Ambohimarina is a town and commune (Malagasy : kaominina) in northern Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Ambanja, which is a part of Diana Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 7,000 as of the 2001 census. [2]
Malagasy is an Austronesian language and the national language of Madagascar. Most people in Madagascar speak it as a first language as do some people of Malagasy descent elsewhere.
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, and previously known as the Malagasy Republic, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately 400 kilometres off the coast of East Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from the Indian subcontinent around 88 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The island's diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the rapidly growing human population and other environmental threats.
Districts are second-level administrative divisions of Madagascar below the regions. There are 114 districts in Madagascar. Districts are in their turn divided into communes; while some of the districts in urban areas and offshore islands each consist of only one commune, most of the districts are divided typically into 5–20 communes.
The majority (95%) of the population of the commune are farmers. The most important crop is cocoa, while other important products are coffee and rice. Services provide employment for 5% of the population. [2]
![Cocoa bean Fatty seed of [[Theobroma cacao]] which is the basis of chocolate](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Cocoa_Pods.JPG/213px-Cocoa_Pods.JPG)
The cocoa bean or simply cocoa, which is also called the cacao bean or cacao, is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter can be extracted. Cocoa beans are the basis of chocolate, and Mesoamerican foods including tejate, a pre-Hispanic drink that also includes maize.
Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, the seeds of berries from certain Coffea species. The genus Coffea is native to tropical Africa and Madagascar, the Comoros, Mauritius, and Réunion in the Indian Ocean. Coffee plants are now cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in the equatorial regions of the Americas, Southeast Asia, Indian subcontinent, and Africa. The two most commonly grown are C. arabica and C. robusta. Once ripe, coffee berries are picked, processed, and dried. Dried coffee seeds are roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor. Roasted beans are ground and then brewed with near-boiling water to produce the beverage known as coffee.
Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima. As a cereal grain, it is the most widely consumed staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in Asia. It is the agricultural commodity with the third-highest worldwide production, after sugarcane and maize.
