Factbook
Histoire de Madagascar — Chronologie
Dates clés de l'histoire de Madagascar, d'après le Factbook Magna et l'Encyclopédie universelle.
1896The French conquered the island in 1896 and made it a colony; independence was regained in 1960.
1960Independence: 26 June 1960 (from France).
1992Free presidential and National Assembly elections were held in 1992-93, ending 17 years of single-party rule.
1997In 1997, in the second presidential race, Didier RATSIRAKA, the leader during the 1970s and 1980s, returned to the presidency.
2001The 2001 presidential election was contested between the followers of RATSIRAKA and Marc RAVALOMANANA, nearly causing half the country to secede.
2002In 2002, the High Constitutional Court announced RAVALOMANANA the winner.
2006He won a second term in 2006 but, following protests in 2009, handed over power to the military, which then conferred the presidency on the mayor of Antananarivo, Andry RAJOELINA, in what amounted to a coup d'etat.
2013After a lengthy mediation process, Madagascar held UN-supported presidential and parliamentary elections in 2013.
2014Former de facto finance minister Hery RAJAONARIMAMPIANINA won in a runoff and was inaugurated in 2014.
2018Languages: Malagasy (official) 99.9%, French (official) 23.6%, English 8.2%, other 0.6% (2018 est.) Religions: Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar/Malagasy Lutheran Church/Anglican Church 34%, Roman Catholic 32.3%, other Christian 8.1%, traditional/Animist 1.7%, Muslim 1.4%, other 0.6%, none 21.9% (2021 est.) Urban population: 40.6% of total population (2023).
2019In 2019, RAJOELINA was declared the winner against RAVALOMANANA.
2023Generation mix — fossil fuels: 64.8% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 3.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); hydroelectricity: 31.1% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) Energy use: 1.816 million Btu/person (2023 est.).
2023In 2023, RAJOELINA won another term in an election that most of the opposition boycotted, including RAJAONARIMAMPIANINA and RAVALOMANANA, who claimed it was rigged in favor of RAJOELINA.
2023Industries: meat processing, seafood, soap, beer, leather, sugar, textiles, glassware, cement, automobile assembly plant, paper, petroleum, tourism, mining Agriculture: rice, sugarcane, cassava, sweet potatoes, milk, bananas, vegetables, mangoes/guavas, maize, potatoes (2023) Electricity access: 36.1% (2022 est.).
2023Major urban areas: 3.872 million ANTANANARIVO (capital) (2023) low-income East African island economy; natural resource rich; extreme poverty; return of political stability has helped growth; sharp tax revenue drop due to COVID-19; leading vanilla producer; environmentally fragile Inflation: 9.9% (2023 est.).
2024Military spending: 0.7% of GDP (2024 est.).
2025Population: 31.3 million (2025 estimate).
