The history of Madagascar is distinguished clearly by the early isolation of the landmass from the ancient supercontinent of Pangaea, containing amongst others the African continent and the Indian subcontinent, and by the island's late colonization by human settlers from the Sunda islands and from East Africa. These two factors facilitated the evolution and survival of thousands of endemic plant and animal species, some of which have gone extinct or are currently threatened with extinction. Trade in the Indian Ocean at the time of first colonization of Madagascar was dominated by Indonesian ships, probably of Borobudur ship and K'un-lun po types.
Marc Ravalomanana is a Malagasy politician who served as the sixth President of Madagascar from 2002 to 2009. Born into a farming Merina family in Imerinkasinina, near the capital city of Antananarivo, Ravalomanana first rose to prominence as the founder and CEO of the vast dairy conglomerate TIKO, later launching successful wholesaler MAGRO and several additional companies.
Albert Zafy was a Malagasy politician and educator who served as the fourth President of Madagascar from 1993 to 1996. In 1988, he founded the National Union for Democracy and Development (UNDD).
Didier Ignace Ratsiraka was a Malagasy politician and naval officer who was the third President of Madagascar from 1975 to 1993 and the fifth from 1997 to 2002. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving President of Madagascar.
Norbert Lala Ratsirahonana is a Malagasy politician who served as the sixteenth Prime Minister of Madagascar and acting President of Madagascar from 1996 to 1997.
Articles related to Madagascar include:
Presidential elections were held in Madagascar on 3 December 2006. President Marc Ravalomanana, in office since he prevailed in a dispute over election results in 2002, ran for re-election. On 9 December, Ravalomanana was declared to have won in the first round with 55% of the vote.
Herizo Jossicher Razafimahaleo was a politician in Madagascar. He ran for President three times, and he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister from 1997 to 1998.
Iarovana Roland Ratsiraka is a Malagasy politician.
Manandafy Rakotonirina was a Malagasy politician. He had been a significant political figure in Madagascar since the 1970s, and in April 2009 he was appointed as Prime Minister by ousted President Marc Ravalomanana.
Pety Rakotoniaina is a Malagasy politician. He is the President of the Union (Tambatra) association and was the Mayor of Fianarantsoa.
Our Madagascar is a political party in Madagascar. The party's candidate Elia Ravelomanantsoa won 2.56% in the December 2006 presidential election. Since the 23 September 2007 Malagasy parliamentary election it is no longer represented in parliament
Andry Nirina Rajoelina is a Malagasy-French politician and businessman who has served as president of Madagascar since 2023. He previously served as president from 2019 to 2023, and was president of a provisional government from 2009 to 2014 following a political crisis and military-backed coup, having held the office of Mayor of Antananarivo for one year prior. Before entering the political arena, Rajoelina was involved in the private sector, including a printing and advertising company called Injet in 1999 and the Viva radio and television networks in 2007.
Monja Roindefo Zafitsimivalo is a Malagasy politician who was Prime Minister of Madagascar from March 2009 to October 2009. He was appointed on 7 February 2009 by opposition leader Andry Rajoelina at the head of Rajoelina's rival government; later, on 17 March, Andry Rajoelina was installed in power by the military, and Monja Roindefo officially took over as Prime Minister.
The High Transitional Authority was a provisional executive body that came to power in Madagascar following the coup that forced Marc Ravalomanana to leave the country on March 17, 2009, as a result of the 2009 Malagasy protests. It was headed by Andry Rajoelina, who appointed members to the body weeks prior to the handing of executive authority from Ravalomanana to the military, which subsequently gave the authority over to the High Transitional Authority.
Mialy Razakandisa Rajoelina is the first lady of Madagascar as wife of President Andry Rajoelina. She previously held the role of first lady during her husband's presidency of the High Transitional Authority of Madagascar from 2009 to 2014 and during his presidency of Madagascar from 2019 to 2023.
Laurence Rossignol is a French politician of the Socialist Party (PS) who has served as a member of the French Senate from 2011 to 2014 and again since 2017, representing Oise. From 2014 to 2017, she served as Secretary of State for the Family, Senior Citizens and Autonomy in the governments of Prime Ministers Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve.
Presidential elections were scheduled to be held in Madagascar on 9 November 2023, with a second round on 20 December if required. On 12 October 2023, it was announced that the election would be postponed by one week to 16 November because of pre-election unrest.
Yolande Cohen is a Moroccan-born Canadian historian and professor of contemporary history whose research focuses upon History of Youth and the History of Women. A Moroccan Sephardi, she also focuses on the History of Moroccan Jews. In the 1990s, Cohen was a politician, the initial leader of the Coalition Démocratique–Montréal Écologique municipal political party and its candidate for mayor in the 1994 municipal election. Cohen is a Fellow of Royal Society of Canada. Her awards include Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour and Knight of the National Order of Québec.
Éliana Marie Bezaza is a Malagasy politician. She has been the President and the national secretary of the Social Democratic Party of Madagascar. She was their unsuccessful candidate for the 2018 Malagasy presidential election.
