d; strategic location along Mozambique
Channel

People
Madagascar

Population:

20,042,552 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 43.7% (male 4,408,615/female 4,349,862)
15-64 years: 53.2% (male 5,298,805/female 5,371,764)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 275,087/female 338,418) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 17.9 years
male: 17.7 years
female: 18.1 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

3.005% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

38.38 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

8.32 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

NA (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 55.59 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 60.59 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 50.45 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 62.52 years
male: 60.58 years
female: 64.51 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

5.19 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

1.7% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

140,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

7,500 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea,
hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: chikungunya, malaria, and plague
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008)

Nationality:

noun: Malagasy (singular and plural)
adjective: Malagasy

Ethnic groups:

Malayo-Indonesian (Merina and related Betsileo), Cotiers (mixed
African, Malayo-Indonesian, and Arab ancestry - Betsimisaraka,
Tsimihety, Antaisaka, Sakalava), French, Indian, Creole, Comoran

Religions:

indigenous beliefs 52%, Christian 41%, Muslim 7%

Languages:

English (official), French (official), Malagasy (official)

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 68.9%
male: 75.5%
female: 62.5% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 9 years
male: 10 years
female: 9 years (2006)

Education expenditures:

3.1% of GDP (2006)

Government
Madagascar

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Madagascar
conventional short form: Madagascar
local long fo