ernational
communications carriers provided via Hong Kong and China; 1 Indian Ocean
INTELSAT earth station

_*_Defense Forces
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 167,289; 93,142 fit for
military service

_#_Note: defense is responsibility of Portugal
_%_
_@_Madagascar
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 587,040 km2; land area: 581,540 km2

_#_Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Arizona

_#_Land boundaries: none

_#_Coastline: 4,828 km

_#_Maritime claims:

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

_#_Disputes: claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands,
Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island (all administered by France)

_#_Climate: tropical along coast, temperate inland, arid in south

_#_Terrain: narrow coastal plain, high plateau and mountains in center

_#_Natural resources: graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, salt,
quartz, tar sands, semiprecious stones, mica, fish

_#_Land use: arable land 4%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
58%; forest and woodland 26%; other 11%; includes irrigated 2%

_#_Environment: subject to periodic cyclones; deforestation;
overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

_#_Note: world's fourth-largest island; strategic location
along Mozambique Channel

_*_People
_#_Population: 12,185,318 (July 1991), growth rate 3.2% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 95 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 51 years male, 54 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 6.9 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Malagasy (sing. and pl.); adjective--Malagasy

_#_Ethnic divisions: basic split between highlanders of predominantly
Malayo-Indonesian origin (Merina 1,643,000 and related Betsileo 760,000)
on the one hand and coastal tribes, collectively termed the Cotiers,
with mixed African, Malayo-Indonesian, and Arab ancestry (Betsimisaraka
941,000, Tsimihety 442,000, Antaisaka 415,000, Sakalava 375,000), on the
other; there are also 11,000 European French, 5,000 Indians of French
nationality, and 5,000 Creoles

_#_Religion: indigenous beliefs 52%, Christian about 41%, Muslim 7%

_#_Language: French and Malagasy (official)

_#_Literacy: 80% (male 88%, female 73%) age 15 and over can
r