The Mozambique Channel is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about 1,600 km (1,000 mi) long and 419 km (260 mi) across at its narrowest point, and reaches a depth of 3,292 m (10,800 ft) about 230 km (143 mi) off the coast of Mozambique. A warm current, the Mozambique Current, flows in a southward direction in the channel, leading into the Agulhas Current off the east coast of South Africa.
Madagascar is a large island in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of southern Africa, east of Mozambique. It is the fourth largest island in the world. The highest point is Maromokotro, in the Tsaratanana Massif region in the north of the island, at 2,876 metres (9,436 ft). The capital Antananarivo is in the Central Highlands near the centre of the island. Madagascar has a total area of 587,040 square kilometres (226,660 sq mi) with 581,540 square kilometres (224,530 sq mi) of land and 5,500 square kilometres (2,100 sq mi) of water. Madagascar is 400 kilometres east of mainland Africa.
The Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean consist of four small coral islands, an atoll, and a reef in the Indian Ocean, and have constituted the 5th district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) since February 2007. They have never had a permanent population. Two of the islands—Juan de Nova and Europa—and the Bassas da India atoll lie in the Mozambique Channel west of Madagascar, while a third island, Tromelin, lies about 450 kilometres (280 mi) east of Madagascar and the Glorioso Islands lies about 200 kilometres (120 mi) northwest of Madagascar. Also in the Mozambique Channel is the Banc du Geyser, a reef under French control claimed by Madagascar since 1976. France and the Comoros view the Banc du Geyser as part of the Glorioso Islands.
The Madagascar national football team, nicknamed Barea, is the national team of Madagascar and is controlled by the Malagasy Football Federation. It has never qualified for the finals of the World Cup. It will take part in its first Africa Cup of Nations in 2019. Among its biggest wins was a 1–0 home victory over Egypt in the qualification rounds of the 2004 African Cup of Nations. Reflecting the official name of the country at the time, the team was known as the Malagasy Republic national football team between 1958 and 1975.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a 2008 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The sequel to the 2005 film Madagascar and the second installment in the franchise, it continues the adventures of Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, and Gloria the Hippo. It was directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, with a screenplay written by Etan Cohen, Darnell, and McGrath. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, and Elisa Gabrielli reprise their roles from the first film, and are joined by new cast members Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin, Sherri Shepherd, and will.i.am.
The Halidae were a tiny spider family with only three described species in two genera. As of 2006, this family was no longer considered valid; the two genera are instead grouped in the family Pisauridae.
Madagascar is divided into 22 regions (faritra). These formerly second-tier administrative divisions became the first-level administrative divisions when the former six provinces were dissolved on 4 October 2009:
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.
Madagascar is a 2005 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. It was directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Mark Burton, Billy Frolick, Darnell, and McGrath, and features the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith, with Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, and Andy Richter voicing secondary characters. The film's plot revolves on four animals from the Central Park Zoo who unexpectedly find themselves stranded on the island of Madagascar, and must learn to adapt to the wild.
The Penguins of Madagascar is an American CGI animated television series that had aired on Nickelodeon. It stars nine characters from the DreamWorks Animation animated film Madagascar: The penguins Skipper, Rico, Kowalski, and Private ; the lemurs King Julien, Maurice, and Mort ; and Mason and Phil the chimpanzees. Characters new to the series include Marlene the otter and a zookeeper named Alice. It is the first Nicktoon produced with DreamWorks Animation. The series was executive produced by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle, who were the creators of Disney Channel's Kim Possible.
Madagascar is a computer-animated franchise produced by DreamWorks Animation. Voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith are featured in the films. It began with the 2005 film Madagascar, the 2008 sequel Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and the third film Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted in 2012. A spin-off film featuring the penguins, titled Penguins of Madagascar, was released in 2014. A fourth film, Madagascar 4, was announced for 2018, but has since been removed from its schedule due to the studio's restructuring.
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted is a 2012 American 3D computer-animated comedy film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the third installment of the Madagascar series and the sequel to Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008). It is also the first in the series to be released in 3D. The film is directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, and Conrad Vernon, with a screenplay written by Darnell and Noah Baumbach.
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.
Miss Madagascar is a national beauty pageant in Madagascar that selects representatives for Miss World and Miss International, two of the Big Four international beauty pageants.
Viridasiidae is a family of araneomorph spiders. It was split from the family Ctenidae in 2015.
The Malagasy Chess Championship is organized by the Madagascar Chess Federation, which was initially founded in 1970 and most recently revived in 2008 after a decade of inactivity. The national championship was first held in 1994. There is also a separate Malagasy Women's Chess Championship which was first held in 2009.
