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The written history of Madagascar began in the seventh century A.D., when Arabs established trading posts along the northwest coast. It is very likely, however, that the first people who came to Madagascar were from Southeast Asia. This explains the Malagasy racial features which are a mixture of Asian (Austronesian) and African, as well as of the Arabs, Indians and Europeans who came later. British and French imperialists contested for Madagascar in the 17th through 20th Centuries, with the island becoming a French colony in 1890. Madagascar gained its independence from France in 1958. For other senses of this word, see history (disambiguation). ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... This article is about race as an intraspecies classification. ... The Austronesian languages are a family of languages widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia. ... Contents 1 Early history 2 European contact and pirates 3 Merina and British influence 4 French control 5 Independence 6 Further reading 7 References 8 External links Early history In Malagasy mythology, the island was inhabited first by a tribe of pale dwarf-like people called the Vazimba. Some Malagasies believe that these original inhabitants still live in the deepest recesses of the forest. In an island whose inhabitants practice ancestor worship, the Vazimba are venerated as the most ancient of ancestors. The kings of some Malagasy tribes claim a blood kinship to the Vazimba. Archeologists place the arrival of humans on the island to the years between 200 and 500 C.E., when the first inhabitants of Madagascar, seafarers from southeast Asia, probably Borneo or the southern Celebes, arrived in their outrigger canoes. These original Malagasies were Southeast Asians who came to the island as part of the great Austronesian expansion, the movement of people that populated the Malay Peninsula, Java, Sumatra, New Zealand, and all of Polynesia and Micronesia, as well as Hawaii and the Easter Islands. No evidence of Indonesians colonizing the east coast of Africa has ever been found. It appears that the first inhabitants of Madagascar came directly across the Indian Ocean from Indonesia, a journey of 3,700 miles, by following the trade winds and the equatorial east-west current. Along with New Zealand, Madagascar was the last landmass to be occupied by humans. The anthropologist Jared Diamond has written about the Austronesian expansion to Madagascar: Borneo and Sulawesi. ... Map of Sulawesi pictures by Julianto Halim Sulawesi (or Celebes) is a large Indonesian island. ... The term Java can refer to: In geography: Java (island), Indonesia, the most populous island in the world Javanese language, a language widely spoken on the island of Java Java coffee, a variety of coffee plant which originated on the island of Java, or a slang word for coffee Java... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatara and Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the 3rd largest island of Indonesia after Kalimantan and New Guinea. ... Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the triangle Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. ... Official language(s) Hawaiian and English Capital Largest city Honolulu Honolulu Area  - Total   - Width   - Length    - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 43rd 10,941 sq mi  28,337 km² n/a miles  n/a km 1,522 miles  2,450 km 41. ... Location of Easter Island. ... Jared Diamond Jared Mason Diamond (born 10 September 1937) is a Jewish-American nonfiction author, evolutionary biologist, physiologist, and biogeographer. ... These Austronesians, with their Austronesian language and modified Austronesian culture, were already established on Madagascar by the time it was first visited by Europeans, in 1500. This strikes me as the single most astonishing fact of human geography for the entire world. It’s as if Columbus, on reaching Cuba, had found it occupied by blue-eyed, blond-haired Scandinavians speaking a language close to Swedish, even though the nearby North American continent was inhabited by Native Americans speaking Amerindian languages. How on earth could prehistoric people from Borneo, presumably voyaging on boats without maps or compasses, end up in Madagascar? In their technology and agriculture, Malagasies share many traits with Indonesians. Techniques of rice cultivation are the same in both places. Like the Indonesians, the Malagasies use outrigger-style canoes (the outrigger canoe, with its pontoon, represented a major advancement over the dugout canoe, which is difficult to balance and incapable of long ocean voyages). Both cultures practice ancestor worship and believe that the dead influence the living. Unlike their neighbors on the African continent, who favor round huts, Malagasies live in four-cornered dwellings. They used the two-valved bellows to forge iron, an invention of the Malay Peninsula. They dressed in cloth woven of vegetable fibers or raffia (a fabric made from the stripped membranes of the raffia palm), not animal skins or wool like Africans and Europeans. Members of the Merina tribe, the largest tribe in Madagascar, look much like Indonesians. Columbus is a latinized party of the Italian surname Colombo, which means Dove. ... European contact and pirates European contact began in the 1500s, when Portuguese sea captain Diego Dias sighted the island after his ship became separated from a fleet bound for India. In the late 17th century, the French established trading posts along the east coast. From about 1774 to 1824, it was a favorite haunt for pirates, including Americans, one of whom brought Malagasy rice to South Carolina. Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... Diego Dias dicovered Madagascar. ... Look up pirate and piracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Official language(s) English Capital Largest city Columbia Columbia Area  Ranked 40th  - Total 34,726 sq mi  (82,965 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 260 miles (420 km)  - % water 6  - Latitude 32°430N to 35°12N  - Longitude 78°030W to 83°20W... James Plaintain was a former pirate, who retired to Madagascar around 1715. He soon made himself King of Ranter Bay, the harbor where he resided. After a series of bloody wars, Plaintain managed to subjugate the entire island in 1725. He became corrupt and cruel, selling his own subjects into slavery. In 1728, he fled the island sensing the inevitable rebellion was near. There is no trace of Plaintain in history after then. James Plantain (Plaintain) (16??-17??) was King of Ranter Bay in Madagascar. ... Merina and British influence Beginning in the 1790s, Merina rulers succeeded in establishing hegemony over the major part of the island, including the coast. In 1817, the Merina ruler, King Radama I, and the British governor of Mauritius concluded a treaty abolishing the slave trade, which had been important in Madagascar's economy. In return, the island received British military and financial assistance. British influence remained strong for several decades, during which the Merina court was converted to Presbyterianism, Congregationalism, and Anglicanism. The Merina is the largest ethnic group in Madagascar. ... Hegemony (pronounced ) (greek:ηγεμονία) is the dominance of one group over other groups, with or without the threat of force, to the extent that, for instance, the dominant party can dictate the terms of trade to its advantage; more broadly, cultural perspectives become skewed to favor the dominant group. ... 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Radama I the Great (c. ... Presbyterianism is a form of Protestant Christianity, primarily in the Reformed branch of Christendom, as well as a particular form of church government. ... Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation indepedently and autonomously runs its own affairs. ... The term Anglican (from Anglia, the Latin name for England) describes the people and churches that follow the religious traditions developed by the established Church of England. ... French control The British accepted the imposition of a French protectorate over Madagascar in 1890 in return for eventual control over Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania) and as part of an overall definition of spheres of influence in the area.[1] Absolute French control over Madagascar was established by military force in 1895-96, and the Merina monarchy was abolished. A protectorate is, in international law, a political entity (a sovereign state or a less developed native polity, such as a tribal chiefstainship or feudal princely state) that formally agrees (voluntarily or under pressure) by treaty to enter into an unequal relationship with another, stronger state, called the protector, which... Map of Zanzibars main island Zanzibar (IPA pronunciation: ), as used today, is the collective name for two East African islands off mainland Tanzania: Unguja (also called Zanzibar) and Pemba. ... Places where monarchies maintain rule appear in blue. ... Malagasy troops fought in France, Morocco, and Syria during World War II. After France fell to the Germans, Madagascar was administered first by the Vichy government and then in 1942 by the British, whose troops occupied the strategic island to preclude its seizure by the Japanese. The Free French received the island from the United Kingdom in 1943. Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... Presidential flag of Vichy France For other uses of Vichy, see Vichy (disambiguation). ... Independence In 1947, with French prestige at low ebb, a nationalist uprising was suppressed after one year of bitter fighting, in which 90,000 to 100,000 Malagasy died. The French subsequently established reformed institutions in 1956 under the Loi Cadre (Overseas Reform Act), and Madagascar moved peacefully toward independence. The Malagasy Republic was proclaimed on October 14, 1958, as an autonomous state within the French Community. A period of provisional government ended with the adoption of a constitution in 1959 and full independence on June 26, 1960, with Philibert Tsiranana as President. This article is about the country; for the movie see Madagascar (movie) Madagascar is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, off the eastern coast of Africa. ... The French Community was the political entity which replaced the French Union, which in turn was the descendant of the French Empire following the Second World War. ... June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 188 days remaining. ... Philibert Tsiranana (1912 - 1978) was a Madagascan political leader. ... Tsiranana's rule represented continuation, with French settlers (or 'colons') still in positions of power and unlike many of France's former colonies, strongly resisted movements towards communism.[2] In 1972 protests against these policies came to a head and Tsiranana was forced to step down. He handed power to General Gabriel Ramanantsoa of the army and his provisional government. This regime reversed previous policy in favour of closer ties with the Soviet Union.[3] Communism is a philosophical way of thought that pertains to a conjectured future classless, stateless social organization based upon common ownership of the means of production, and can be classified as a branch of the broader socialist movement. ... Gabriel Ramanantsoa (1906 1978) was the President and Prime Minister of Madagascar from 1972 to 1975. ... In 1975 Lieutenant-Commander Didier Ratsiraka (who had previously served as foreign minister) came to power in a coup. Ratsiraka was elected president for a seven year term and moved further towards socialism, nationalising much of the economy and cutting all ties with France.[4] These policies hastened the decline in the Madagascan economy that had begun after independence as French immigrants left the country leaving a shortage of skills and technology behind.[5] Ratsiraka's seven year term was extended after his party (Avant-garde de la Révolution Malgache or AREMA) became the only legal party in the 1977 elections.[6] In the 80s Madagascar moved back towards France, abandoning many of its communist-inspired policies in favour of a market economy, though Ratsiraka still kept hold of power. [7]Eventually opposition both in Madagascar and internationally forced him to reconsider his position and in 1992 a new democratic constitution was approved.[8] Didier Ratsiraka (born November 4, 1936) was the President of Madagascar from 1975 until 1993 and from 1997 until 2002. ... A market economy (aka free market economy and free enterprise economy) is an economic system in which the production and distribution of goods and services takes place through the mechanism of free markets guided by a free price system rather than by the state in a planned economy. ... The first multi-party elections came in 1993 and Ratsiraka was defeated by Albert Zafy.[9] Zafy failed to reunite the country and was impeached in 1996.[10] The ensuing elections saw a turnout of less than 50% and surprisingly ended in the re-election of Didier Ratsiraka.[11] He moved further towards capitalism. The influence of the IMF and World Bank led to widespread privatisation. Albert Zafy (born 1927) is a Malagasy political figure. ... Capitalism has been defined in various, but similar, ways by different theorists. ... The flag of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the international organization entrusted with overseeing the global financial system by monitoring foreign exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering technical and financial assistance when asked. ... Logo of the World Bank The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, in Romance languages: BIRD), better known as the World Bank, is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by WWII. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means... Privatization (sometimes privatisation, denationalization, or — especially in India — disinvestment) is the process of transferring property, from public ownership to private ownership. ... Opposition to Ratsiraka began to grow again. Provincial elections in 2000 were boycotted by opposition parties and the 2001 presidential election produced more controversy. The opposition candidate Marc Ravalomanana claimed victory after the first round (in December) but this position was refuted by the incumbent. In early 2002 supporters of the two sides took to the streets and there were violent clashes. Ravalomanana claimed that there had been fraud at the polls. After an April recount the High Constitutional Court declared Ravalomanana president. Ratsiraka continued to dispute the result but his opponent was internationally recognised and he was forced into exile in France, though forces loyal to him continued to be active in Madagascar.[12] Marc Ravalomanana (born December 12, 1949) is a Malagasy politician. ... Ravlomanana's I Love Madagascar party achieved overwhelming electoral success in December 2002 and he survived an attempted coup in January 2003. He used this mandate to work closely with the IMF and World Bank to reform the economy, end corruption and realise the country's potential.[13] Ratsiraka was tried in his absence for embezzlement (he was charged with taking $8m of public money with him into exile) and sentenced to ten years hard labour.[14] Politics of Madagascar Categories: Politics stubs | Madagascar political parties ... Penal labour is a form of the unfree labour. ... Further reading Matthew E. Hules, et al (2005). The Dual Origin of the Malagasy in Island Southeast Asia and East Africa: Evidence from Maternal and Paternal Lineages. American Journal of Human Genetics, 76:894-901, 2005. Philip M. Allen & Maureen Covell (2005). Historical Dictionary of Madagascar 2nd ed. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810846365. Mervyn Brown (2000). A History of Madagascar. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers. ISBN 1558762922. Philip M. Allen (1995). Madagascar: Conflicts of Authority in the Great Island. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. ISBN 0813302587. References ^ See Allen and Covell, Historical Dictionary of Madagascar, pgs. xxx-xxxi ^ Lonely Planet: Madagascar History ^ BBC: Madagascar timeline ^ BBC: Madagascar timeline ^ Lonely Planet: Madagascar History ^ Lonely Planet: Madagascar History ^ Africa.com: Madagascar history and culture ^ BBC: Madagascar timeline ^ Lonely Planet: Madagascar History ^ Africa.com: Madagascar history and culture ^ BBC: Madagascar timeline ^ Lonely Planet: Madagascar History ^ Lonely Planet: Madagascar History ^ BBC News: Ratsiraka gets 10 years hard labor Lonely Planet Publications (usually known as Lonely Planet or LP for short), claims to be the largest independently-owned travel guidebook publisher in the world. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the largest publicly-funded radio and television broadcasting corporation of the United Kingdom (see British television) and the world. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the largest publicly-funded radio and television broadcasting corporation of the United Kingdom (see British television) and the world. ... Lonely Planet Publications (usually known as Lonely Planet or LP for short), claims to be the largest independently-owned travel guidebook publisher in the world. ... Lonely Planet Publications (usually known as Lonely Planet or LP for short), claims to be the largest independently-owned travel guidebook publisher in the world. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the largest publicly-funded radio and television broadcasting corporation of the United Kingdom (see British television) and the world. ... Lonely Planet Publications (usually known as Lonely Planet or LP for short), claims to be the largest independently-owned travel guidebook publisher in the world. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the largest publicly-funded radio and television broadcasting corporation of the United Kingdom (see British television) and the world. ... Lonely Planet Publications (usually known as Lonely Planet or LP for short), claims to be the largest independently-owned travel guidebook publisher in the world. ... Lonely Planet Publications (usually known as Lonely Planet or LP for short), claims to be the largest independently-owned travel guidebook publisher in the world. ... The current BBC News logo BBC News and Current Affairs (commonly referred to as BBC News, sometimes abbreviated BBC NCA) is a major arm of the BBC responsible for the corporations newsgathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online. ... External links Newsletter article on the first settlers of Madagascar A Historical Timeline for Madagascar History of Madagascar Madagascar: a Portuguese settlement: the Portuguese fort near Tolanaro History of Africa History of: Algeria  • Angola  • Benin  • Botswana  • Burkina Faso  • Burundi  • Cameroon  • Cape Verde  • Central African Republic  • Chad  • Comoros  • Democratic Republic of the Congo  • Republic of the Congo  • Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)  • Djibouti  • Egypt  • Equatorial Guinea  • Eritrea  • Ethiopia  • Gabon  • The Gambia  • Ghana  • Guinea  • Guinea-Bissau  • Kenya  • Lesotho  • Liberia  • Libya  • Madagascar  • Malawi  • Mali  • Mauritania  • Mauritius  • Morocco  • Mozambique  • Namibia  • Niger  • Nigeria  • Rwanda  • São Tomé and Príncipe  • Senegal  • Seychelles  • Sierra Leone  • Somalia  • South Africa  • Sudan  • Swaziland  • Tanzania  • Togo  • Tunisia  • Uganda  • Western Sahara (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)  • Zambia  • Zimbabwe The following is an outline of African history, followed by a list of articles about the history of particular places in Africa. ... This is the history of Côte dIvoire. ... // Background The Western Sahara area has never formed a state in the modern sense of the word. ... Dependencies: British Indian Ocean Territory  • Canary Islands  • Ceuta and Melilla  • Madeira Islands  • Mayotte  • Réunion  • Saint Helena To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Ceuta and Melilla is the commonly used combined term for two European (mostly Spanish) colonial enclaves in Barbaresuqe North Africa, now overseas possessions, enclaved in Morocco. ... ... French colonial empires I- Former French colonies, protectorates and other possessions: Africa & Indian Ocean: Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia) | Arguin Island (off Morocco) | French West Africa (Côte d'Ivoire, Dahomey, French Sudan=Mali, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Upper Volta) & French Togoland & James Island (The Gambia) | French Equatorial Africa (Chad, Gabon, Middle Congo, Oubangui-Chari) | French Somaliland (Djibouti) | Comoros (Anjouan- Grande Comore- Mohéli) | Madagascar | Mascarene Islands : Ile de France (Mauritus) & Seychelles The Americas (French colonization of the Americas): New France (Acadia, Louisiana, Québec, Terre Neuve) | Inini | Berbice | Haiti & Saint-Domingue | Tobago | Virgin Islands (part) | Asia: Alaouites | Alexandretta-Hatay | Ceylon | French India (Chandernagore, Coromandel Coast | Madras | Malabar, Mahe, Pondichery, Karaikal, Yanaon) | Kwangchowan (lease in China) | French Indochina (Annam, Cochinchina, Cambodia-Kampuchea, Laos, Tonkin) | Antarctic & Oceania: New Caledonia | New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) | France Antarctique | Map of the first (light blue) and second (dark blue — plain and hachured) French colonial empires. ... Arguin is an island off the west coast of Mauritania in the Bay of Arguin, at 20° 36 N., 16° 27 W. It is 6 km long by 2 broad. ... French West Africa (Afrique occidentale française, or AOF) was a federation of eight French territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), Guinea, Côte dIvoire, Niger, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and Dahomey (now Benin). ... Dahomey was a kingdom in Africa, situated in what is now the nation of Benin. ... French Sudan (Fr. ... Map showing the Volta river in Upper Volta Upper Volta (French: ) was the name of the African country now called Burkina Faso. ... French Togoland was a France Mandate territory in West Africa, which later became the Togolese Republic. ... James Island is an island in the Gambia River, 30 km from the river mouth and near Juffure, The Gambia. ... French Equatorial Africa (Afrique Équatoriale Française, AEF) was the federation of French colonial possessions in Middle Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River to the Sahara Desert. ... First settled by Mbuti, Congo was later settled by Bantu groups that also occupied parts of present-day Angola, Gabon, and Democratic Republic of the Congo, forming the basis for ethnic affinities and rivalries among those states. ... Oubangui-Chari, or Ubangi-Shari, was a French territory in central Africa which later became the independent country of the Central African Republic on August 13, 1960. ... The Republic of Djibouti gained its independence on June 27, 1977. ... Map of Anjouan Anjouan (also known as Ndzuwani or Nzwani) is an island in the Comoros. ... Map of Comoros and Southern Africa Grande Comore (also known as Ngazidja and Ngasidja, and erroneously as Njazidja) is an island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. ... Map of Mohéli Mohéli, also known as Mwali, is one of the three islands which make up the nation of Comoros. ... Motto: Stella Clavisque Maris Indici (Latin: Star and Key of the Indian Ocean) Anthem: Motherland Capital Port Louis Largest city Port Louis Official language(s) English Government President Prime Minister Republic Anerood Jugnauth Navinchandra Ramgoolam Independence From United Kingdom March 12, 1968 Area  - Total    - Water (%)   2,040 km² (169th) 787... North America The French established colonies across the New World in the 17th century. ... New France (French: la Nouvelle-France) describes the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1763. ... The national flag of Acadia, adopted in 1884. ... From Frank Bond, Louisiana and the Louisiana Purchase. ... Quebec has played a special role in Canada, and its history has taken a somewhat different path to the rest of Canada. ... Newfoundland (French: Terre-Neuve; Irish: Talamh an Éisc; Latin: Terra Nova) is a large island off the northeast coast of North America, and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. ... Inini (1941 pop. ... Berbice is the Second largest of the three counties in Guyana and is known as the ancient county. ... Saint-Domingue was a French colony from 1697 to 1804 that is today the independent nation of Haiti. ... Castara village beach looking south, Tobago Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. ... Alaouites, or the Alawite State, was a French mandate in the coastal area of present-day Syria after World War I. It was renamed Latakia in 1930 and became part of Syria in 1937. ... shows the Location of the Province Hatay Flag of the Republic of Hatay (1938-1939) Hatay is a province of southern Turkey, situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the west and Syria to the south and east. ... French India is highlighted in light blue on the subcontinent. ... Chandannagar, formerly known as Chandernagore or Chandernagar, is a city in India. ... The Coromandel Coast is the name given to the southeastern coast of the Indian peninsula. ... Madras refers to: the Indian city of Chennai, formerly known as Madras, the former Indian state, now known as Tamil Nadu (Plural of Madra): Ancient people of Iranian affinites, who lived in northwest Panjab in the Uttarapatha division of ancient India. ... It has been suggested that Malabarian Coast be merged into this article or section. ... Categories: India geography stubs | Pondicherry ... Pondicherry (पॉंडिचेरी in Hindi), currently undergoing a name change to Puduchery, is the name of a union territory and its capital in the south of India. ... Karaikal, also Karikal, is one of the four regions of the Union Territory of Pondicherry. ... Yanam or Yanaon is a district of the Union territory of Pondicherry and a town in that district. ... Kwang-Chou-Wan (廣州灣), or Kwangchowan, was a small enclave on the south coast of China conceded by China to France as a leased territory. ... French Indochina was a federation of protectorates in Southeast Asia, part of the French colonial empire. ... Annam, literally meaning Pacified South, is a region of central Vietnam that fell under Chinese rule in 111 BC as Annan (安南). Known locally as Trung Bá»™, meaning Central Boundary, it was formerly a kingdom the size of Sweden with its capital at Huế. It had been seized by the French... Cochin China (also known as Cochinchina or in French, Cochinchine) was the southernmost part of Vietnam beside Cambodia. ... // French Colonial Occupation In October of 1887, the French announced the formation of the Union Indochinoise (Indochinese Union), which at that time comprised Cambodia, already an autonomous French possession, and the three regions of Vietnam (Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina. ... Tonkin, also spelled Tongkin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of Chinas Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. ... The New Hebrides are an island group in the South Pacific that now form the nation of Vanuatu. ... France Antarctique was the name of the failed French colony south of the Equator, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which existed between 1555 and 1567. ... II- Present overseas territories and possessions French Guiana | French Polynesia | Guadeloupe | Martinique | Mayotte | New Caledonia | La Réunion (Mascarene- formerly Île Bourbon) See also: French colonisation of the Americas | Chartered company Categories: Former French colonies | History of Madagascar // North America The French established colonies across the New World in the 17th century. ... The arms of the British South Africa Company A chartered company is an association formed by investors or shareholders for the purpose of trade, exploration and colonisation. ...

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	Madagascar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (4102 words) The principal institutions of the Republic of Madagascar are a presidency, a parliament (National Assembly and Senate), a prime ministry and cabinet, and an independent judiciary. Madagascar is divided into six autonomous provinces (faritany mizakatena), each named for their capital. Madagascar's population is predominantly of mixed Asian and African origin, though those who are visibly Asian in appearance and culture are the minority, found in the highland regions. History of Madagascar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (1191 words) The written history of Madagascar began in the seventh century A.D., when Arabs established trading posts along the northwest coast. After France fell to the Germans, Madagascar was administered first by the Vichy government and then in 1942 by the British, whose troops occupied the strategic island to preclude its seizure by the Japanese. Eventually opposition both in Madagascar and internationally forced him to reconsider his position and in 1992 a new democratic constitution was approved.
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