The huge island off the coast of Africa that is home to 32 million people, almost all of whom live on one side | World | News

Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world and is home to 32 million people, most of whom live on one side.

The island is located off the southeast coast of Africa and consists of numerous surrounding islands.

It is a biodiversity hotspot, with nearly 90 percent of its plants and animals found nowhere else in the world, making it one of the world’s 17 mega-diverse countries.

About 74 percent of Madagascar’s population lives in the eastern half of the island, with some in the central highlands, and there are many reasons for this.

The majority of the population lives in rural areas where their daily lives are dominated by agricultural practices that produce rice, coffee and other products.

Rice is incredibly important to the island and is also one of the reasons why the island was divided. The eastern mountains have a climate more suitable for growing rice, Madagascar’s staple crop.

Agricultural industries such as forestry and fishing make up 80 percent of Madagascar’s economy. The island’s best-selling agricultural products are coffee, vanilla and sugar cane, as well as rice.

These industries are not enough to support the population, with 80.7 per cent of the population living in poverty in 2023, on an average of £1.66 per day.

The colonial period was also effective in the settlement of people because the first people came from the east, not the west. Unlike colonialism in other African countries, people did not settle on the coasts and no metropolises developed.

There are currently at least 18 classified people in Madagascar; The largest ethnic group is the Merina people, who live in the central highlands.

The east and west coasts are also divided by the mountains of the Hauts Plateau, which separates the climate, landscape and people.

The east coast is filled with dense lowland rainforests, with a hot and humid climate and monsoon rains between December and March. The west coast was once covered by dry deciduous forests but now consists mostly of savannah with low plateaus and plains.

Elsewhere there are high, flat lands along the central plateau and dry desert areas in the southwest.