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First off, how is a matriarchal system "equal between men and women" yet a patriarchal system not?
Second, the Wikipedia page on Polynesian culture, linked to from this section, does not mention matriarchy.
Third, there are no citations at all in this section. Where is this information coming from? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tabouz1 ( talk • contribs) 01:59, 10 December 2009 (UTC)
Fourth, what is the time frame for when all that happened? Sorry forgot to sign the first time. Tamer ( talk) 02:01, 10 December 2009 (UTC)
I provided a link to the computer-animated film, Madagascar - The Kooky One 00:49, 15 September 2005 (UTC)
I don't think the assertion that Madagascar has non-decimal currency is correct: "The Malagasy franc, divided into 100 centimes, is the currency unit (6,588 Malagasy francs equal U.S.$1; 2001 average)." Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Where should the high background radiation facts go, and where should its negative impact on colonization attempts go? BACbKA 21:24, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
This information should probably be under the "Geography" heading. 24.83.178.11 12:23, 26 April 2007 (UTC)BeeCier
I was reading an article on African law by a British scholar and I noticed that it continually referred to "Malagasy" rather than Madagascar. From looking at the handful of articles on Madagascar, it appears to me that the official name of the nation that is coterminus with the island is the "Malagasy Republic". If this is correct and current, and if Malagasy is the common term for the island in British english, then Malagasy should redirect here instead of to Malagasy language, and this article should plainly state all of this in the intro. Not knowing anything about this beyond what I just perused, I don't feel comfortable making the changes myself. Postdlf 00:59, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Some one needs to find out just when the name changed from Malagasy Republic to Madagascar. The article currently says when MG was officially started, but except for saying that it is a FORMER name, it doesn't tell us when it stopped being used. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 211.225.34.160 ( talk) 04:28, 29 September 2007 (UTC)
The written history of Madagascar began in the 7th century, when Arabs established trading posts along the northwest coast.
Can the contributors, moderators, and whoever else contribute more to the non-european history of Madagascar? I think we can do better than one measly "before the whites came" sentance. In fact, with Africa articles (and practically all non-European articles of history), we need to wean ourselves from orienting the histories based on a low interest in precolonial, white contact attitude.
———————————
There has been a very good history book recently published here in Madagascar by a Malagasy historian (I am not sure if I am allowed to write his name and its title) that can answer this question. Unfortunately most of the literature on the subject is in french. But if you want to know, the fisrt permanent settlements on the island date most likely from the 4th century CE if not earlier! Knowledge of the island possibly dates from long before. Madagscar stays one of humanitiy's "last frontiers" though.
Fanoendor 07:47, 22 June 2006 (UTC)
Asian features in madagascar can ALSO mean indonesian, malaisian and, since the 20th century, chineese. Madagscar is the indan ocean's melting pot. Is there somewhere (an article) where this aspect can be discussed more?
Fanoendor 07:50, 22 June 2006 (UTC)
Regarding:
"During this period a strategy of nationalization of private enterprises, centralization of the economy and "Malgasization" of the education system crippled the economy, leaving traces even today of a highly centralized economic system and a high level of illiteracy"
Does this represent a bias against a centralised economy? Perhaps this should be explained, instead of just saying that because the government was socialist the country deteriorated. Was there corruption? Were there transport issues that interfered with policy enactment?
I agree with the fact that there is a bias in attributing the deterioration of the country to the socialist regime. The whole world might not agree with this but I think socialism does not mean necessary failure...If this is true then we have to redifine the word "failure" to be more oriented to the capitist stand point. Moreover, "high level of illiteracy" means what for you without a given rate; a figure or data should be shown to support this affirmation. -- Tendro 07:13, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
What are the five largest cities in Madagascar. Many people ask this question every day. Why not answer it. PLEASE
Rank, City, province, population
1 Antananarivo ANT 1,403,449
2 Toamasina TOA 179,045
3 Antsirabe ANT 160,356
4 Fianarantsoa FIA 144,225
5 Mahajanga MAH 135,660
6 Toliara TOL 101,661
7 Antsiranana ASI 73,491
8 Antanifotsy ANT 59,000
9 Ambovombe TOL 57,000
10 Amparafaravola TOA 43,000
11 Taolagnaro TOL 39,000
12 Ambatondrazaka TOA 36,000
What are the sports in madagascar? I have no idea, could someone fill me in?
Yes there is a large stadium near the center of the capital city where soccer is played. That sport is very common in Madagascar.
I heard rugby was one of the most popular sports there, does anyone think there should be a section on sport in Madagascar?
Soccer (football) is the most common sport. Basketball has become more popular in recent years. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.217.152.77 ( talk) 04:33, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
Tennis is also very common. -- 41.204.111.27 ( talk) 16:57, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
In my ongoing efforts to try to include every country on the planet included in the scope of a WikiProject, I have proposed a new project on Eastern Africa at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Eastern Africa whose scope would include Madagascar. Any interested parties are more than welcome to add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest to start such a project. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 16:25, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
It seems to me that the last sentence in the Economy section is a kind of non-sequitor. It also shows a bias indicitive that it was added by somebody who wanted to redirect to the accompanying link to Mine Your Own Business. I didn't delete or modify it but I was wondering if it strikes anybody else as odd sounding. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by WeekendKruzr ( talk • contribs) 06:01, 12 February 2007 (UTC).
Please see the discussion at Talk:Madagascan presidential election, 2006.-- Pharos 11:56, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
I'm not a registered user and this page is protected. Someone should can the biased conclusion to the 'economics' section.
"Despite the democratically elected Mayor of Fort Dauphin supporting the ilmenite mining project, outside environmental groups led by World Wide Fund for Nature have stymied development, constraining the local population to the endemic poverty caused by 70% unemployment as documented in Mine Your Own Business."
The word choice is over the top. Also, according to the Mine Your Own Business wiki, the film was funded by a Canadian mining firm. There should be some secondary source for that statistic before it goes into the article
151.201.149.26 05:07, 1 April 2007 (UTC) 1 April 2007
someone who knows the situation must edit. Is an important referendum for the future of the country. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.55.199.9 ( talk) 20:21, 8 April 2007 (UTC).
I read an article stating that English will become the third official language. Is this true?
Yes, article 4 of new Constitution "Le malagasy est la langue nationale. Le malagasy, le français et l’anglais sont les langues officielles." see http://www.assemblee-nationale.mg/Projet-Rev-Constitution.pdf
This whole discussion about official language should be closed, it's not that someone is not happy about having english as official language and commenting here that the history of the whole country has to be re-written —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.21.23.189 ( talk) 06:28, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
How many people actually speak English in Madagascar? The article is quite vague about it. AtikuX 02:35, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
English is an official language!!!
If English is an official language why isn't it in the infobox?
This whole discussion about official language should be closed, it's not that someone is not happy about having english as official language and commenting here that the history of the whole country has to be re-written.
Under "French Intervention" there is a link entitled "Diego Suarez" It is clearly a geographical reference when read in context. However activating the link goes to "Diego Suarez, the Garden Desinger", this would seem inappropriate and I propose the link should point to "Antsiranana", the modern day name of the port in question. Molby61 00:23, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
Can someone render "Be Prepared", the Scout Motto, into Malagasy? Thanks! Chris 03:27, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
I find it a bit strange to have this article in the category Category:East Africa and at the same time to include the navigational box {{ Countries of Southern Africa}}. Which one is correct? -- Eleassar my talk 11:39, 6 September 2007 (UTC)
....May be because Madagascar is located in south-east of africa,-- Tendro 07:15, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
Where is the article contrdictory, if it isn't then please remove the tag, thanks! 71.112.234.62 02:56, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
"During World War II, Malagasy troops fought in France, Morocco, and Syria." Fine, but on which side: Allies or Axis? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 211.225.34.160 ( talk) 04:32, 29 September 2007 (UTC)
Since they were a French colony at the time then they fought WITH the French. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.217.152.77 ( talk) 04:35, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
... Many incorporate the cult of the dead with their other religious beliefs and bless their dead at church before proceeding with the traditional burial rites. They also may invite a pastor to attend a famadihana. The Roman Catholic church is open to its members continuing these practices, while more conservative Protestant denominations tend to condemn them to be superstitions or demon worship that should be abandoned. ...
The Catholic church would be unlikely to accept these practices if they are superstitious. Please provide a citation. Javaman59 ( talk) 00:38, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
The religion section is reading a little rough-the section on Christianity is very straightforward and gives no indication of the dynamics of the church there (I was looking for information on the currently controversial charismatic church). On the other hand, the Islam section was obviously written by a different person, someone enthusiastic about Islam. It reads like a brochure for the Muslim community in Madagascar, and is longer than the section on indigenous beliefs, despite Islam being currently the religion followed by fewer people. —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
Matveiko (
talk •
contribs) 19:09, 29 September 2007 (UTC)
The islamic one should be downsized in relation to previous paragpraphs , especially the en masse conversion story. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.212.59.109 ( talk) 20:31, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
The paragraph on islam clearly was written by an islam enthousiast. References 25 and 26 are also not appropriate and link to dubious web sites. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.137.168.12 ( talk) 02:10, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
I removed the following from the article because it is not generally believed by historians:
On October 1 1776, the natives of Madagascar elected Móric Beňovský (Matthew/Maurice/Móritz Benyowsky/Benovsky/Benyowszky) King / Emperor (Ampansacabé) of Madagascar on the Mahevelou plane. Among other things, Maurice introduced Latin script for the Malagasy language. (In the history of Madagascar, the King Andrianampoinimerina (1786–1810) is mentioned as the national unifier—in fact he built upon the efforts of the Ampansacabe Beňovský.)
It was added to the article on December 16, 2006 at 09:24 by IP Address 217.73.25.254. It is not in the History of Madagascar article. David Reiss 06:32, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
"In the 1800s, it is said that members of the Mkodo tribe would sacrifice young women to man-eating trees, although some argue that these tales may be fabrications." Doesn't this seem like something of an understatement? Only some "argue" that tales of man-eating trees are fabrications? Maybe this should be rephrased to reflect that human Mkodo human sacrifice in general is argued by some to be fabrications (and accounts of man-eating trees are clearly fictitious)? Also, this has no references whatsoever. Thanks. michaelb Talk to this user 22:15, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
Howdy. An anon IP added this section on Lemurs a few days ago which doesn't quite work on the main Madagascar page. I'm removing it, however if someone wants to find a good home for the little lemurs I though I would link to the diff here for the purposes of an easy copy/paste. Thanks. — Noah 05:39, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
Unless we are willing to accept the ideal that all of Africa was part of India ... the geographical shape of the continent of Africa - and ignore the coastal outlines of Mozambique; can we truly say that Madagascar split from India instead of the African continent I think not. Because Islamic and Arabic traditions are intertwined with Madagascar ... does not necessarily mean that it split from the Asian Continent and the African continent has to be given more credit than that. I strongly encourage the geologist and historians to take another look at Madagascar and re-assess what really happened. With a total of 5% of animal and plant population being on the island shows that it was part of a much bigger geological plain and more so than the 'sub-continent' of India. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ngudger ( talk • contribs) 18:13, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
65 million years ago madagascar split from now what is called Africa. According to linguistic studies, the majority of Madagascar's population came from Austronesian immigrants who sailed there from across the pacific. Why isn't this mentioned here? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.55.199.241 ( talk) 05:24, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
What is meant by "most notable" in the lead. Is there a way to say it that isn't opinion-based? "Most notable are the lemur infraorder of primates, the carnivorous fossa, three endemic bird families and six endemic baobab species." Life.temp ( talk) 08:08, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
the lemur is a four legged animal with a backbone, 2 heads and a long neck —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.207.50.67 ( talk) 21:44, 29 May 2008 (UTC)
"Split" from Africa? "Separated" from India? in the same sentence. I'm confused. Geologically? Politically? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.251.48.107 ( talk) 11:09, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
Nothing is said about the 2009 coup and the military attacking the presidential palace. I know it's an ongoing crisis, but still it should be mentioned. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.205.85.59 ( talk) 14:26, 17 March 2009 (UTC)
What is President Madagascar's response to this terrible pandemic? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.217.245.137 ( talk) 19:52, 28 April 2009 (UTC)
They drive on the right. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.241.163.100 ( talk) 06:21, 4 May 2009 (UTC)
The article says "The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth-largest island in the world" but then says "At 587,000 square kilometres (227,000 sq mi), Madagascar is the world's 46th-largest country and the fourth largest island." It seems there is a nation Madagascar that includes not only the island Madagascar but other islands as well, but the other islands are not mentioned. Wakablogger2 ( talk) 01:04, 13 September 2009 (UTC)
thats a lie —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.26.59.7 ( talk) 23:06, 3 November 2009 (UTC)
the section on cuisine discusses music. It si totall unclear what the section on music is trying to discuss and the section on hainteny discusses wildlife. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.20.221.71 ( talk) 19:42, 4 December 2009 (UTC)
What was (is) the native name of the island? TREKphiler any time you're ready, Uhura 06:37, 17 December 2009 (UTC)
"As part of East Gondwana, the territory of Madagascar split from Africa approximately 160 million years ago; the island of Madagascar was created when it separated from the Indian subcontinent 80 to 100 million years ago." So which was it? Africa or India? Intelligent Mr Toad ( talk) 03:52, 14 February 2010 (UTC)
How ironic. In the Education section the following statement is made --"a significant proportion of the adult population are illiterate." The word "proportion" is singular ("proportions" is plural) so the sentence should read "a significant proportion of the adult population is illiterate". I would have changed it but the page is padlocked. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 222.152.174.216 ( talk) 20:36, 20 February 2010 (UTC)
In this section, without citation, it is listed
"Approximately 50% of the country's population practice traditional religion" "about 45% of the Malagasy are Christian" "Islam in Madagascar constitutes about 7% of the population" The use of non definite terms aside, it is impossible for 102% of the population to believe in anything This needs to be changed —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dean177 ( talk • contribs) 22:41, 16 March 2010 (UTC)
In geography, there is a line "Along the crest of this ridge lie the central highlands, a plateau region ranging in altitude from 2,450 to 4,400 ft (747 to Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "," m) above sea level."
Here it should be, "Along the crest of this ridge lie the central highlands, a plateau region ranging in altitude from 2,450 to 4,400 ft (747 to 1,341 metres) above sea level."
udechand May 25,2010 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Udechand ( talk • contribs) 09:37, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
Hi, everybody.
While Wikipedia itself advocates the idea that Madagascar belongs to the African continent (c.f. Africa article), there are several other sources that tell that Madagascar is a mini-continent itself (c.f. Google "Madagascar continent"). Wikipedia should board this topic in this article ( Madagascar) to clarify this point or, at least, to put the facts on the table. My personal opinion is that, by proximity, Madagascar belongs to Africa.
Best regards,
Luis R. Villegas H. Mexico. -- LuisVillegas ( talk) 18:14, 15 June 2010 (UTC)
What is the housing like? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.104.184.119 ( talk) 04:51, 17 September 2010 (UTC)
The second paragraph begins "Most archaeologists believe Madagascar was first inhabited sometime 500-200 AD, by Austronesian peoples ...". The years are reversed. It should say "sometime between 200 and 500 AD by Austronesian peoples ...", as it says later in the article.
K.enevoldsen ( talk) 20:25, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
The last paragraph in the introductory section states "Madagascar is home to as many as 12,000 of the world's plant species, of which more than 80% are endemic to Madagascar. They include the lemur infraorder of primates, the carnivorous fossa, three bird families and six baobab species." (boldface is mine)
I am reasonably certain that plant species do not usually include lemurs, fossa or birds. Can someone with better biological knowledge than me rework these two sentences so that they make sense?
-- Shureg81 ( talk) 18:05, 22 November 2010 (UTC)
{{ edit semi-protected}} Under the French Colonization section it mentions 8,000 to 90,000 people killed in 1947 and I think you meant 80,000. Thanks.
72.229.96.185 ( talk) 03:03, 23 November 2010 (UTC)
English was removed as official language in Madagascar since a new Constitution has been promulgated : http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AL2QX20101122
Text of the new Constitution : http://www.hat.gov.mg/constitution/fichiers/const_fr.pdf
Article 4 - (...) Le malagasy est la langue nationale. (...) Les langues officielles sont le malagasy et le français.
Antoine854 ( talk) 11:54, 25 November 2010 (UTC)
Antoine854 ( talk) 12:08, 26 November 2010 (UTC)
It's OK. Thanks. Antoine854 ( talk) 09:45, 29 November 2010 (UTC)
Just putting this out there, http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/madagascar/cache/offonce/pid/3356;jsessionid=F43FCB1DAB8C8486038EC8377263EC6C Madagascar's official page taken off the UN website. Besides I'm pretty sure legitimacy is completely irrelevant to official language.
Hello everyone, I'm interested in helping to get this article up to GA standards, and eventually take it to FA. I've compared the outlines of a number of Africa country articles at the GA level, as well as the article on Madagascar in French, and have a modified outline to propose. Please have a look and share your comments and opinions. If most of us can come to a consensus about how we'd like it to look, I would be happy to start making the revisions.
Sample outline
0. Etymology - citations added!
1. Geography - citations added!
2. History - citations added!
3. Government
4. Economy
6. Health
7. Education
8. Society
9. culture and recreation
NOTE - I have "music" as separate from "arts" because it's a massive subject and would overbalance the rest of the content if it were added into the arts sub-section. Thoughts? -- Lemurbaby ( talk) 02:52, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
UPDATE - I am currently working my way through this article and adding in citations and content where they are a bit thin. No doubt this will make an already long article even longer. After all the content is in place, I'll come back through and start trimming the fat by moving it into other articles where it will be useful. If you have Madagascar expertise, feel free to pitch in on incorporating reliable references or building up the weaker parts of this article. If you've been lurking and are not sure how to do any of that, give a shout out here or on my talk page and I will be happy to help you get started. Lemurbaby ( talk) 05:46, 27 August 2011 (UTC)
UPDATE - I'm condensing some of these sections and recombining them because the article is too long. Once I'm done getting the meat of the content in place (almost there), I will start verifying references, adding more where needed, move on to polishing the formatting of refs and images, then invite peer review & copy edit. Lemurbaby ( talk) 17:11, 16 January 2012 (UTC)
Let's replace the politically derived term "Caretaker government" with the much more accurate "Military Dictatorship". There is absolutely no basis for using the term "Caretaker government", especially utilising information from the embedded link.
41.188.7.84 ( talk) 22:02, 23 May 2011 (UTC)
Thank you Jagwar. I concur. Lemurbaby ( talk) 15:48, 9 June 2011 (UTC)
41.63.134.10 ( talk) 07:31, 19 June 2011 (UTC)
41.74.219.99 ( talk) 20:18, 23 August 2011 (UTC)
In Egypt and Tunisia, the current governments are being characterized as "caretaker governments" and in the case of Egypt, this is administered by the military (unlike in Madagascar). Given the facts stated above (and they are simply facts, not "propaganda"), the current regime cannot be characterized as a military dictatorship. What alternate term do you propose? Those who are familiar with the contributions I make on Malagasy topics here on Wikipedia, rather than just popping in to make random accusations, would know that I am only interested in objective facts, not bias (let alone being an "apologist" for the current regime). Many of my contributions here include facts that do not flatter the current administration. I also do not hesitate to include critiques of the former administrations. Surely you would agree that truth is more important than flattering one side or another in a dispute. Lemurbaby ( talk) 23:19, 23 August 2011 (UTC)
"As the world's fourth largest island, scientist in Madagascar have discovered 615 new species between 1999 and 2010, but many of the exciting and colourful creatures are already endangered. They are: 385 plants, 42 invertebrates, 17 fish, 69 amphibians, 61 reptiles and 41 mammals." [Citation commented out for page layout reasons, please see edit mode if you want the information.]
Another user offered this contribution to the Ecology section, but it appears at least partially redundant and it's not entirely clear if these species are simply endangered species of Madagascar or species discovered in the past ten years. The reference is provided so if the original contributor or someone else gets to checking this and re-working how it's incorporated before I do, have at it. Lemurbaby ( talk) 15:48, 9 June 2011 (UTC)
There has been some back and forth between Odea and myself about whether to use the subheading I originally used, "Environmental challenges", or Odea's edit to "Environmental problems." I had originally reverted Odea's edit on the basis that the word "problems" is more value-laden than "challenges", which may infringe upon neutral point of view (NPOV). Odea changed it back on the grounds that the degree of damage and continuing threat to the environment constitutes a problem by any definition and that the term "challenge" is too weak a euphemism for the heading of the subsection.
I continue to maintain that encyclopedic style would dictate "challenges" is preferable to "problems" precisely because it is a more neutral characterization. I work in the international development field and issues such as the environmental situation in Madagascar generally are described as "challenges" because the term connotes a sense of working toward a solution; it acknowledges efforts on the part of the government and/or development partners and local communities to try to reverse the situation. It is the more widely utilized term in the professional world because it is perceived as less negative and more neutral than "problems". While I absolutely agree in simple parlance that massive environmental destruction is a "problem", it is also a "challenge," and in a choice between the terms I lean toward the more neutral, professional and common characterization for use in a neutral, professional (and aspiring to be scholarly!) reference like an encyclopedia.
What we don't need is an edit war, so I open the discussion up to anyone else who might want to contribute their ideas and thoughts. If we manage to come to a consensus (or at least a majority), we'll make sure the heading conforms with the outcome of the discussion. Lemurbaby ( talk) 01:42, 10 June 2011 (UTC)
A diambiguationlink is needed for "Madagasikara", which can be either a genus of freshwater snail (see: Pachychilidae) or the Malagasy word for Madagascar — Preceding unsigned comment added by Snaildoc ( talk • contribs) 10:41, 24 June 2011 (UTC)
GA toolbox |
---|
Reviewing |
Reviewer: MathewTownsend ( talk · contribs) 18:02, 28 January 2012 (UTC)
Tertiary sources such as compendia, encyclopedias, textbooks, obituaries, and other summarizing sources may be used to give overviews or summaries, but should not be used in place of secondary sources for detailed discussion. (from reliable sources)
Responses
MathewTownsend ( talk) 19:58, 15 February 2012 (UTC)
Maybe you could add a section on law and order and crime (e.g crime figures, the Malagasy police force and court systems etc) the Media, (what are the main television/radio channels and newspapers etc?), Heraldry (e.g some information about the flags coat of arms and other flags used in the country) and also add something about Malagasy cuisine?. Also, how about a section on Palaeontology, extremely important on the island of course?♦ Dr. Blofeld 18:21, 16 February 2012 (UTC)
I've agonized over this article enough! It's not perfect, naturally, but it is good!
GA review-see WP:WIAGA for criteria (and here for what they are not)
MathewTownsend ( talk) 21:56, 16 February 2012 (UTC)
I checked the source of the statement that 80% of the plants and animals are endemic, and found that instead it said 90%, which I fixed. Also, the source did not list the types of animals also cited to it. Lastly, there appear to be some discrepancy on the numbers used... possibly because the source is a geography book, not a book from the biological sciences. For example, in the book Lemurs of Madagascar (3rd edition, 2010), Mittermeier et al. note five endemic bird families, not three (as stated in the article) (p. 70). Also, they note 14,000 to 15,000 plant species with 83% endemism (p. 68) For reptiles, it gives 363 non-marine reptile species as being endemic (p. 68). (The existing estimations for percentages are decent.) The book also gives different numbers for birds (109 species, 52% endemic, 37 endemic genera--p.70), but your existing source for that is an undated (but likely recent) web publication by Conservation International... which also puts out the book I'm citing. It's a tough call.
Lastly, I don't feel comfortable with the following wording: "...including the lemur infraorder of primates". Unfortunately, there are several competing classifications for lemurs, one of which includes African galagos and African/Asian lorisids within that infraorder, while the other excludes the aye-aye from the lemuriforms. If we can find a good source for that remainder of the sentence, I would suggest something like "including the lemurs (a type of prosimian primate)"... Anyway, the term "infraorder" may lose people. – VisionHolder « talk » 01:03, 29 January 2012 (UTC)
The following statement may have some issues: "Approximately 70% is believed to have been destroyed between 1895 and 1925, when Madagascar was under French rule."
I checked the source, and although I value it highly for its criticism of the conservation efforts in Madagascar (something I plan to use in the not-too-distant future in other articles), I'm having a hard time corroborating the numbers it gives. The author cites "Hagan, 1996", but unfortunately, page 63 is not publicly viewable, and that's the page that lists his references. In the notes that are available, on note #7 (p. 62) he claims to have gotten some of his deforestation numbers by word-of-mouth from a researcher.
According to Lemurs of Madagascar (3rd edition, 2010), I have the following: "It is difficult to ascertain the full extent of forest that existed when people first arrived in Madagascar, but it seems likely that the combination of fire and grazing resulted in the loss of at least 50-60% of all forest between then and the start of the 20th century, much of this in the first 500 years of occupation." (p. 72) However, the source cited for the paragraph from which this was taken doesn't support this... instead, it focuses on 1953-2000.
In a 2010 academic article by B. E. Crowley (2010), we apparently have even more accurate data:
"An island-wide transition towards more open vegetation, particularly grasses, at the expense of woody vegetation coincided with a peak in Late Holocene aridity ca 1300-950 Cal BP (650-1000 CE)" (p. 2593)
Furthermore:
"It is estimated that humans came to Madagascar from Indonesia or Africa before 2300 Cal BP (350 BCE). Evidence of early human presence in the form of introduced Cannabis pollen, increased charcoal microparticles (suggesting an increase in the frequency or intensity of fire), and bones of extinct species bearing the signs of butchery in sediments occurs in southwestern Madagascar and along the western coastline ca 2300-1800 Cal BP (350 BCE - 150 CE). There is, however, no evidence for intensive human habitation in the southwest until 500-600 cal BP (1350 - 1450 CE). Although Cannabis pollen is present in lake sediments ca 2200 Cal BP (250 BCE) in the Central Highlands, charcoal levels in sediment cores suggest that interior parts of Madagascar did not have high human populations until roughly 1400 Cal BP (550 CE)." (p. 2593)
Here's the citation:
{{
cite journal}}
: Invalid |ref=harv
(
help)If you would like a copy of this paper, just email me.
Now I certainly don't doubt that French colonization accelerated the deforestation process. What concerns me is that none of the conservation/academic sources mention the influence of Europeans, and most of the sharpest declines in Madagascar's megafauna occur ~500 years before they arrived, according to radiocarbon dates. Anyway, after posting this bit to ponder over, I plan to email Crowley to see if any hard facts have been published about the French influence, particularly regarding their logging and land use for cash crops. Again, I have no doubt that these occurred. What I'm not certain of is the severity. I also realize that both sides may be skewing the facts, especially since dates and rates of deforestation vary so widely in literature, giving people plenty of options to pick from. That is why I favor the scientific literature. Sedimentary pollen counts and radiocarbon dates are more likely to represent the facts than a bunch of historical finger pointing. – VisionHolder « talk » 22:52, 29 January 2012 (UTC)
"Claims that most of the forest loss has occurred in recent decades are clearly misleading. The French colonial archives clearly shows concern over forest loss throughout French occupancy. In fact the claim, certainly exaggerated, was made that some 70% of the primary forest was destroyed between 1895 and 1925."
"Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from India around 88 million years ago, allowing plants and animals on the island to evolve in complete isolation."
Really!? Why does everything else have to be cited but this gets by? That is not proven fact and should be stated that this is a THEORY, there is no proof of "Gondwana" or "88 million years ago." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.152.94.48 ( talk) 02:09, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
'The written history of Madagascar begins in the 7th century when Arabs established trading posts along the northwest coast and introduced Islam, the Arabic script (used to transcribe the Malagasy language in a form of writing known as sorabe), Arab astrology and other cultural elements.'
The source given for this citation actually says Arabs arrived in the 9th century rather than the 7th and doesn't specify which part of the island they were on. I haven't seen the 7th century claimed anywhere else (other than web pages ripped from Wikipedia). I don't have enough information to say that the claim is wrong, but if it's true it needs proper citation. Ithuvanian ( talk) 12:03, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
As the info-nazis have locked this page down, I will address some factual errors here, and hope some bestowed nobility may change them:
1) "extraction of nickel near Tamatave by Rio Tinto"
This should be: "extraction of nickel near Moramanga and processing near Tamatave by Sherritt"
http://www.Sherritt.com/Operations/Metals/Ambatovy-Joint-Venture
Considering that this article prefers PC terminology, maybe that should be "Toamasina"?
Rio Tinto has the iluminite mine in Fort Dauphin.
http://www.riotintomadagascar.com/english/aboutQMM.asp
2) "Two-thirds of Madagascar's power is supplied by hydroelectric power plants with the remaining one-third supplied by coal-burning plants."
Actually, Jirama does not have any "coal-burning plants". Sherritt does, but they are only in the start-up phase and dedicated to the Ambatovy operation.
Jirama produces all its non-hydro power from fuel oil powered diesel engines.
41.74.209.217 ( talk) 15:07, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
"Child immunizations against such diseases as hepatitis C, diphtheria and measles increased an average of 60% in this period, indicating low but increasing availability of basic medical services and treatments." Immunizations for "hepatitis C" currently do not exist - this is in error - presumably should be "hepatitis B" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.48.168.238 ( talk) 14:18, 29 April 2012 (UTC)
At several points there has been material added here to emphasize the persecution of early Malagasy converts to Christianity in Madagascar during the reign of Ranavalona I. These executions were given much attention in historical documents based on Missionaries' accounts, generally without placing the deaths in context. Many, many more people died during her reign as a result of conscription to military and fanampoana (unpaid labor in lieu of monetary tax) as she continued the work of her predecessor Radama I in extending Merina rule over the island. She managed to preserve the sovereignty of Madagascar, but attempting to stamp out the European-introduced religion of Christianity was only one part of that effort; strengthening the military allowed her to repel naval attacks on the coast, and she took decisive action to protect traditional Malagasy cultural values by sending away the LMS missionaries. She did this not because they were Christian - she allowed them freedom of conscience and encouraged them to stay and share their technical/industrial knowledge to improve the quality of life for her people - but because the Missionaries refused to stop teaching the Bible. All of this is explained in more detail in the article on Ranavalona I. So to summarize: were there a lot of deaths during Ranavalona's reign? Yes. Did she persecute Christians? Yes, but it built up to that point gradually over the first seven years of her reign. Were there many Christian martyrs? Certainly not compared to people who died for other reasons during her reign (military, fanampoana, justice through tangena, which were not new innovations under her reign but longstanding traditions that were used more intensively by her). Was the persecution of Christians the main way that she preserved the island's sovereignty? No, this was primarily through cessation of friendly relations with Europeans and military action defending against European attacks on the coasts, but she did try to eradicate the European cultural influence by outlawing Christianity and executing a number of Malagasy who broke that law. It's important to ensure Wikipedia doesn't perpetuate the sensationalistic portrayal of this queen that began with the outcast LMS missionaries in the early 19th century. In a summary article like this, especially, mentioning the execution of a number of Christian converts doesn't have a place because it misdirects the reader's attention from the more important events occurring at the same time, thereby mischaracterizing her reign. 196.44.240.62 ( talk) 05:06, 22 March 2012 (UTC)
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I was actually looking for some history on the Madagascar Plan today in order to find a source stating that Poland actually came up with the idea.
And I found plenty of sources. The relocation of Jews in Poland was initially considered by Poland and France. Poland even sent a research team to do so. The Nazis also proposed the idea, however. There is a bit of historical oversight not mentioning that fact however and I believe the article should be edited to reflect that. Here is an article on it: http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaust/a/madagascarplan.htm
And the corresponding sources: Browning, Christopher. "Madagascar Plan." Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. Ed. Israel Gutman. New York: Macmillan Library Reference USA, 1990. Friedman, Philip. "The Lublin Reservation and the Madagascar Plan: Two Aspects of Nazi Jewish Policy During the Second World War," Roads to Extinction: Essays on the Holocaust. Ed. Ada June Friedman. New York: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1980. "Madagascar Plan." Encyclopedia Judaica. Jerusalem: Macmillan and Keter, 1972. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tamcgath ( talk • contribs) 18:51, 10 June 2012 (UTC)
It would be very interesting to know what route these settlers are thought to have taken from Borneo (did they island-hop direct across the Indian ocean?), and what prompted them to make such an unlikely journey, and for others from the exact same area to repeat the same unlikely journey. I guess that these facts are not be known for sure, but a short summary of expert opinion would be very interesting and useful at this point. 86.160.223.189 ( talk) 12:01, 30 June 2012 (UTC)
I was about to edit the article to add a link to Comoros, when I noticed first, that it was long-term semiprotected (... why?), and secondly, that someone had deliberately removed a whole bunch of them. I'm mystified as to why a single link to a neighbouring country, of less than commonplace familiarity, would be considered overlinking. Can someone explain, or better yet, fix? 84.203.39.242 ( talk) 02:48, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
I'm wondering why a normal dictionary word in English (coup d'etat) is linked. And why is "fourth-largest island" linked twice within a few paragraphs ... I'm going through the article now. Tony (talk) 08:14, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
This
edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request. |
"renaissance" → Renaissance. See for example, M-W. Recently changed, no rationale offered. 84.203.39.242 ( talk) 00:35, 21 August 2012 (UTC)
They are beautiful, but I wonder whether a few could be shifted from the over-horizontalized galleries and into normal right-side position against the text above? Tony (talk) 03:22, 21 August 2012 (UTC)
The placement of the cute ring-tailed lemur image perhaps unintentionally created a paragraph division (at least in my browser). That seems unfortunate, as one paragraph introducing flora + fauna, then one about flora, then one about fauna is a nice transparent structure for the section; one graph about flora and two about fauna is less good. I've moved the image up to where the fauna paragraph properly starts (also removing a redundant sentence). Experimenting, I wasn't able to come up with any other way of joining up the two fauna paragraphs. Please take a look; is it all right like this? Any other ideas?
Incidentally, aren't the sentences about herbal remedies a little lost in this section? They feel a bit unexpected.
What about moving that passage to "Natural resources and trade", with a little rephrasing to make it fit seamlessly there? Bishonen | talk 14:34, 2 September 2012 (UTC).
From the "Independent state" section:
I can't find any reference to this "gradual progress" in the source (but then the source text is quite long and not easy to navigate). Also, "gradual progress" is an odd phrase, which reads a bit like a compromise after an edit war; surely progress is by its nature gradual? If it's meant as "little progress" or "no progress", it's better to say so. And could a better source be found? Or a relevant quote from the Marcus paper be posted in the footnote? This would allow the reader to perform a search, which would to a certain extent make up for the lack of pagination. Meanwhile, I've commented out the phrase "but only gradual progress was made during his second tenure, which lasted from 1996 to 2001". I recognize that it'll probably need to be restored in some, hopefully improved, form. Bishonen | talk 19:33, 3 September 2012 (UTC).
Hi, here is an edit I have drafted for inclusion in the above mentioned section. I welcome any comments:
Original name of the Island was Madinatul Asgar meaning in Arabic "Little Madina"..after Madina in present day Saudi Arabia. Saracen.za ( talk) 18:58, 19 September 2012 (UTC)
I have reverted the edits where the article was restructured and uncited statements were added. Please discuss such significant changes on the talk page first—particularly on a featured article. Also, please provide reliable sources for new material. – Maky « talk » 22:07, 31 December 2012 (UTC)
Not even half. This much was taken off: "ean-Louis.">Acquier (1997), pp. 143–175</ref>" Messed up, needs fixed. LCS check ( talk) 16:04, 1 March 2013 (UTC)
Why does this page remain locked? Notably, the French and Malagasy pages are not locked, and I cannot find any other language pages which are. This lock violates the primary wiki philosophy.
189.188.12.156 ( talk) 05:00, 5 May 2013 (UTC) baden
The following information was entered by an anonymous user:
OK, I tested the waters... but there's been too much graffiti since the unprotection a few days ago. I've reinstated semiprotection for three months, to cover the elections too. Bishonen | talk 17:09, 8 May 2013 (UTC).
The source used to estimate percentage representation of the ethnic groups of Madagascar as relayed in the infobox only provides estimates for seven of the 16-20 or so Malagasy ethnic groups in the country, and doesn't provide percentages for the minorities that are not ethnically Malagasy, like the French, Chinese and Indo-Pakistanis. Indo-Pakistanis are estimated at 25,000 (0.1%), French are estimated at ~123,000 (0.5%), and Chinese are estimated at 60,000 (0.2%); together the non-Malagasy minorities add up to just around 0.8%, less than one percent of the population. Percentages are given for the seven largest ethnic groups (all ethnically Malagasy), and while none of the remaining 9-13 ethnically Malagasy groups individually total more than 5% of the population at most, even if they had equal numbers (and they don't), they would each constitute about 2.6% of the population, still vastly more significant in numbers than the non-Malagasy ethnic minorities. The question is how to handle the 24% currently described as "Other". It's been edited several times now to read "French and other". I feel this is misleading for the reader unfamiliar with the country, as placing "French" after "24%" implies that even if the French aren't the full 24%, they are the majority of it, when the numbers don't bear this out. One of the edit summaries made the case that while the French are a small minority in numbers, their impact was huge. I agree that the impact of French colonization was significant, but the place to make that case is in the political or historical part of the article, rather than in a portion of the article meant to enable the reader to envision the ethnic composition of the country. In addition, to play devil's advocate, it could be argued that the Indo-Pakistanis and Chinese have a larger impact economically within the country, given they have been the major holders of wealth, which has long been a source of socio-political tensions. But I maintain that either argument is irrelevant as this particular part of the article (ethnic groups as percentage of the population) is meant to enable the reader to quickly picture the proportion of various groups among the island's inhabitants, and the French are in this regard a very small presence. Lemurbaby ( talk) 12:36, 5 October 2013 (UTC)
This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 | Archive 2 |
First off, how is a matriarchal system "equal between men and women" yet a patriarchal system not?
Second, the Wikipedia page on Polynesian culture, linked to from this section, does not mention matriarchy.
Third, there are no citations at all in this section. Where is this information coming from? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tabouz1 ( talk • contribs) 01:59, 10 December 2009 (UTC)
Fourth, what is the time frame for when all that happened? Sorry forgot to sign the first time. Tamer ( talk) 02:01, 10 December 2009 (UTC)
I provided a link to the computer-animated film, Madagascar - The Kooky One 00:49, 15 September 2005 (UTC)
I don't think the assertion that Madagascar has non-decimal currency is correct: "The Malagasy franc, divided into 100 centimes, is the currency unit (6,588 Malagasy francs equal U.S.$1; 2001 average)." Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Where should the high background radiation facts go, and where should its negative impact on colonization attempts go? BACbKA 21:24, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
This information should probably be under the "Geography" heading. 24.83.178.11 12:23, 26 April 2007 (UTC)BeeCier
I was reading an article on African law by a British scholar and I noticed that it continually referred to "Malagasy" rather than Madagascar. From looking at the handful of articles on Madagascar, it appears to me that the official name of the nation that is coterminus with the island is the "Malagasy Republic". If this is correct and current, and if Malagasy is the common term for the island in British english, then Malagasy should redirect here instead of to Malagasy language, and this article should plainly state all of this in the intro. Not knowing anything about this beyond what I just perused, I don't feel comfortable making the changes myself. Postdlf 00:59, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Some one needs to find out just when the name changed from Malagasy Republic to Madagascar. The article currently says when MG was officially started, but except for saying that it is a FORMER name, it doesn't tell us when it stopped being used. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 211.225.34.160 ( talk) 04:28, 29 September 2007 (UTC)
The written history of Madagascar began in the 7th century, when Arabs established trading posts along the northwest coast.
Can the contributors, moderators, and whoever else contribute more to the non-european history of Madagascar? I think we can do better than one measly "before the whites came" sentance. In fact, with Africa articles (and practically all non-European articles of history), we need to wean ourselves from orienting the histories based on a low interest in precolonial, white contact attitude.
———————————
There has been a very good history book recently published here in Madagascar by a Malagasy historian (I am not sure if I am allowed to write his name and its title) that can answer this question. Unfortunately most of the literature on the subject is in french. But if you want to know, the fisrt permanent settlements on the island date most likely from the 4th century CE if not earlier! Knowledge of the island possibly dates from long before. Madagscar stays one of humanitiy's "last frontiers" though.
Fanoendor 07:47, 22 June 2006 (UTC)
Asian features in madagascar can ALSO mean indonesian, malaisian and, since the 20th century, chineese. Madagscar is the indan ocean's melting pot. Is there somewhere (an article) where this aspect can be discussed more?
Fanoendor 07:50, 22 June 2006 (UTC)
Regarding:
"During this period a strategy of nationalization of private enterprises, centralization of the economy and "Malgasization" of the education system crippled the economy, leaving traces even today of a highly centralized economic system and a high level of illiteracy"
Does this represent a bias against a centralised economy? Perhaps this should be explained, instead of just saying that because the government was socialist the country deteriorated. Was there corruption? Were there transport issues that interfered with policy enactment?
I agree with the fact that there is a bias in attributing the deterioration of the country to the socialist regime. The whole world might not agree with this but I think socialism does not mean necessary failure...If this is true then we have to redifine the word "failure" to be more oriented to the capitist stand point. Moreover, "high level of illiteracy" means what for you without a given rate; a figure or data should be shown to support this affirmation. -- Tendro 07:13, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
What are the five largest cities in Madagascar. Many people ask this question every day. Why not answer it. PLEASE
Rank, City, province, population
1 Antananarivo ANT 1,403,449
2 Toamasina TOA 179,045
3 Antsirabe ANT 160,356
4 Fianarantsoa FIA 144,225
5 Mahajanga MAH 135,660
6 Toliara TOL 101,661
7 Antsiranana ASI 73,491
8 Antanifotsy ANT 59,000
9 Ambovombe TOL 57,000
10 Amparafaravola TOA 43,000
11 Taolagnaro TOL 39,000
12 Ambatondrazaka TOA 36,000
What are the sports in madagascar? I have no idea, could someone fill me in?
Yes there is a large stadium near the center of the capital city where soccer is played. That sport is very common in Madagascar.
I heard rugby was one of the most popular sports there, does anyone think there should be a section on sport in Madagascar?
Soccer (football) is the most common sport. Basketball has become more popular in recent years. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.217.152.77 ( talk) 04:33, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
Tennis is also very common. -- 41.204.111.27 ( talk) 16:57, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
In my ongoing efforts to try to include every country on the planet included in the scope of a WikiProject, I have proposed a new project on Eastern Africa at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Eastern Africa whose scope would include Madagascar. Any interested parties are more than welcome to add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest to start such a project. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 16:25, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
It seems to me that the last sentence in the Economy section is a kind of non-sequitor. It also shows a bias indicitive that it was added by somebody who wanted to redirect to the accompanying link to Mine Your Own Business. I didn't delete or modify it but I was wondering if it strikes anybody else as odd sounding. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by WeekendKruzr ( talk • contribs) 06:01, 12 February 2007 (UTC).
Please see the discussion at Talk:Madagascan presidential election, 2006.-- Pharos 11:56, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
I'm not a registered user and this page is protected. Someone should can the biased conclusion to the 'economics' section.
"Despite the democratically elected Mayor of Fort Dauphin supporting the ilmenite mining project, outside environmental groups led by World Wide Fund for Nature have stymied development, constraining the local population to the endemic poverty caused by 70% unemployment as documented in Mine Your Own Business."
The word choice is over the top. Also, according to the Mine Your Own Business wiki, the film was funded by a Canadian mining firm. There should be some secondary source for that statistic before it goes into the article
151.201.149.26 05:07, 1 April 2007 (UTC) 1 April 2007
someone who knows the situation must edit. Is an important referendum for the future of the country. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.55.199.9 ( talk) 20:21, 8 April 2007 (UTC).
I read an article stating that English will become the third official language. Is this true?
Yes, article 4 of new Constitution "Le malagasy est la langue nationale. Le malagasy, le français et l’anglais sont les langues officielles." see http://www.assemblee-nationale.mg/Projet-Rev-Constitution.pdf
This whole discussion about official language should be closed, it's not that someone is not happy about having english as official language and commenting here that the history of the whole country has to be re-written —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.21.23.189 ( talk) 06:28, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
How many people actually speak English in Madagascar? The article is quite vague about it. AtikuX 02:35, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
English is an official language!!!
If English is an official language why isn't it in the infobox?
This whole discussion about official language should be closed, it's not that someone is not happy about having english as official language and commenting here that the history of the whole country has to be re-written.
Under "French Intervention" there is a link entitled "Diego Suarez" It is clearly a geographical reference when read in context. However activating the link goes to "Diego Suarez, the Garden Desinger", this would seem inappropriate and I propose the link should point to "Antsiranana", the modern day name of the port in question. Molby61 00:23, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
Can someone render "Be Prepared", the Scout Motto, into Malagasy? Thanks! Chris 03:27, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
I find it a bit strange to have this article in the category Category:East Africa and at the same time to include the navigational box {{ Countries of Southern Africa}}. Which one is correct? -- Eleassar my talk 11:39, 6 September 2007 (UTC)
....May be because Madagascar is located in south-east of africa,-- Tendro 07:15, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
Where is the article contrdictory, if it isn't then please remove the tag, thanks! 71.112.234.62 02:56, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
"During World War II, Malagasy troops fought in France, Morocco, and Syria." Fine, but on which side: Allies or Axis? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 211.225.34.160 ( talk) 04:32, 29 September 2007 (UTC)
Since they were a French colony at the time then they fought WITH the French. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.217.152.77 ( talk) 04:35, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
... Many incorporate the cult of the dead with their other religious beliefs and bless their dead at church before proceeding with the traditional burial rites. They also may invite a pastor to attend a famadihana. The Roman Catholic church is open to its members continuing these practices, while more conservative Protestant denominations tend to condemn them to be superstitions or demon worship that should be abandoned. ...
The Catholic church would be unlikely to accept these practices if they are superstitious. Please provide a citation. Javaman59 ( talk) 00:38, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
The religion section is reading a little rough-the section on Christianity is very straightforward and gives no indication of the dynamics of the church there (I was looking for information on the currently controversial charismatic church). On the other hand, the Islam section was obviously written by a different person, someone enthusiastic about Islam. It reads like a brochure for the Muslim community in Madagascar, and is longer than the section on indigenous beliefs, despite Islam being currently the religion followed by fewer people. —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
Matveiko (
talk •
contribs) 19:09, 29 September 2007 (UTC)
The islamic one should be downsized in relation to previous paragpraphs , especially the en masse conversion story. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.212.59.109 ( talk) 20:31, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
The paragraph on islam clearly was written by an islam enthousiast. References 25 and 26 are also not appropriate and link to dubious web sites. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.137.168.12 ( talk) 02:10, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
I removed the following from the article because it is not generally believed by historians:
On October 1 1776, the natives of Madagascar elected Móric Beňovský (Matthew/Maurice/Móritz Benyowsky/Benovsky/Benyowszky) King / Emperor (Ampansacabé) of Madagascar on the Mahevelou plane. Among other things, Maurice introduced Latin script for the Malagasy language. (In the history of Madagascar, the King Andrianampoinimerina (1786–1810) is mentioned as the national unifier—in fact he built upon the efforts of the Ampansacabe Beňovský.)
It was added to the article on December 16, 2006 at 09:24 by IP Address 217.73.25.254. It is not in the History of Madagascar article. David Reiss 06:32, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
"In the 1800s, it is said that members of the Mkodo tribe would sacrifice young women to man-eating trees, although some argue that these tales may be fabrications." Doesn't this seem like something of an understatement? Only some "argue" that tales of man-eating trees are fabrications? Maybe this should be rephrased to reflect that human Mkodo human sacrifice in general is argued by some to be fabrications (and accounts of man-eating trees are clearly fictitious)? Also, this has no references whatsoever. Thanks. michaelb Talk to this user 22:15, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
Howdy. An anon IP added this section on Lemurs a few days ago which doesn't quite work on the main Madagascar page. I'm removing it, however if someone wants to find a good home for the little lemurs I though I would link to the diff here for the purposes of an easy copy/paste. Thanks. — Noah 05:39, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
Unless we are willing to accept the ideal that all of Africa was part of India ... the geographical shape of the continent of Africa - and ignore the coastal outlines of Mozambique; can we truly say that Madagascar split from India instead of the African continent I think not. Because Islamic and Arabic traditions are intertwined with Madagascar ... does not necessarily mean that it split from the Asian Continent and the African continent has to be given more credit than that. I strongly encourage the geologist and historians to take another look at Madagascar and re-assess what really happened. With a total of 5% of animal and plant population being on the island shows that it was part of a much bigger geological plain and more so than the 'sub-continent' of India. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ngudger ( talk • contribs) 18:13, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
65 million years ago madagascar split from now what is called Africa. According to linguistic studies, the majority of Madagascar's population came from Austronesian immigrants who sailed there from across the pacific. Why isn't this mentioned here? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.55.199.241 ( talk) 05:24, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
What is meant by "most notable" in the lead. Is there a way to say it that isn't opinion-based? "Most notable are the lemur infraorder of primates, the carnivorous fossa, three endemic bird families and six endemic baobab species." Life.temp ( talk) 08:08, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
the lemur is a four legged animal with a backbone, 2 heads and a long neck —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.207.50.67 ( talk) 21:44, 29 May 2008 (UTC)
"Split" from Africa? "Separated" from India? in the same sentence. I'm confused. Geologically? Politically? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.251.48.107 ( talk) 11:09, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
Nothing is said about the 2009 coup and the military attacking the presidential palace. I know it's an ongoing crisis, but still it should be mentioned. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.205.85.59 ( talk) 14:26, 17 March 2009 (UTC)
What is President Madagascar's response to this terrible pandemic? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.217.245.137 ( talk) 19:52, 28 April 2009 (UTC)
They drive on the right. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.241.163.100 ( talk) 06:21, 4 May 2009 (UTC)
The article says "The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth-largest island in the world" but then says "At 587,000 square kilometres (227,000 sq mi), Madagascar is the world's 46th-largest country and the fourth largest island." It seems there is a nation Madagascar that includes not only the island Madagascar but other islands as well, but the other islands are not mentioned. Wakablogger2 ( talk) 01:04, 13 September 2009 (UTC)
thats a lie —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.26.59.7 ( talk) 23:06, 3 November 2009 (UTC)
the section on cuisine discusses music. It si totall unclear what the section on music is trying to discuss and the section on hainteny discusses wildlife. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.20.221.71 ( talk) 19:42, 4 December 2009 (UTC)
What was (is) the native name of the island? TREKphiler any time you're ready, Uhura 06:37, 17 December 2009 (UTC)
"As part of East Gondwana, the territory of Madagascar split from Africa approximately 160 million years ago; the island of Madagascar was created when it separated from the Indian subcontinent 80 to 100 million years ago." So which was it? Africa or India? Intelligent Mr Toad ( talk) 03:52, 14 February 2010 (UTC)
How ironic. In the Education section the following statement is made --"a significant proportion of the adult population are illiterate." The word "proportion" is singular ("proportions" is plural) so the sentence should read "a significant proportion of the adult population is illiterate". I would have changed it but the page is padlocked. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 222.152.174.216 ( talk) 20:36, 20 February 2010 (UTC)
In this section, without citation, it is listed
"Approximately 50% of the country's population practice traditional religion" "about 45% of the Malagasy are Christian" "Islam in Madagascar constitutes about 7% of the population" The use of non definite terms aside, it is impossible for 102% of the population to believe in anything This needs to be changed —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dean177 ( talk • contribs) 22:41, 16 March 2010 (UTC)
In geography, there is a line "Along the crest of this ridge lie the central highlands, a plateau region ranging in altitude from 2,450 to 4,400 ft (747 to Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "," m) above sea level."
Here it should be, "Along the crest of this ridge lie the central highlands, a plateau region ranging in altitude from 2,450 to 4,400 ft (747 to 1,341 metres) above sea level."
udechand May 25,2010 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Udechand ( talk • contribs) 09:37, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
Hi, everybody.
While Wikipedia itself advocates the idea that Madagascar belongs to the African continent (c.f. Africa article), there are several other sources that tell that Madagascar is a mini-continent itself (c.f. Google "Madagascar continent"). Wikipedia should board this topic in this article ( Madagascar) to clarify this point or, at least, to put the facts on the table. My personal opinion is that, by proximity, Madagascar belongs to Africa.
Best regards,
Luis R. Villegas H. Mexico. -- LuisVillegas ( talk) 18:14, 15 June 2010 (UTC)
What is the housing like? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.104.184.119 ( talk) 04:51, 17 September 2010 (UTC)
The second paragraph begins "Most archaeologists believe Madagascar was first inhabited sometime 500-200 AD, by Austronesian peoples ...". The years are reversed. It should say "sometime between 200 and 500 AD by Austronesian peoples ...", as it says later in the article.
K.enevoldsen ( talk) 20:25, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
The last paragraph in the introductory section states "Madagascar is home to as many as 12,000 of the world's plant species, of which more than 80% are endemic to Madagascar. They include the lemur infraorder of primates, the carnivorous fossa, three bird families and six baobab species." (boldface is mine)
I am reasonably certain that plant species do not usually include lemurs, fossa or birds. Can someone with better biological knowledge than me rework these two sentences so that they make sense?
-- Shureg81 ( talk) 18:05, 22 November 2010 (UTC)
{{ edit semi-protected}} Under the French Colonization section it mentions 8,000 to 90,000 people killed in 1947 and I think you meant 80,000. Thanks.
72.229.96.185 ( talk) 03:03, 23 November 2010 (UTC)
English was removed as official language in Madagascar since a new Constitution has been promulgated : http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AL2QX20101122
Text of the new Constitution : http://www.hat.gov.mg/constitution/fichiers/const_fr.pdf
Article 4 - (...) Le malagasy est la langue nationale. (...) Les langues officielles sont le malagasy et le français.
Antoine854 ( talk) 11:54, 25 November 2010 (UTC)
Antoine854 ( talk) 12:08, 26 November 2010 (UTC)
It's OK. Thanks. Antoine854 ( talk) 09:45, 29 November 2010 (UTC)
Just putting this out there, http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/madagascar/cache/offonce/pid/3356;jsessionid=F43FCB1DAB8C8486038EC8377263EC6C Madagascar's official page taken off the UN website. Besides I'm pretty sure legitimacy is completely irrelevant to official language.
Hello everyone, I'm interested in helping to get this article up to GA standards, and eventually take it to FA. I've compared the outlines of a number of Africa country articles at the GA level, as well as the article on Madagascar in French, and have a modified outline to propose. Please have a look and share your comments and opinions. If most of us can come to a consensus about how we'd like it to look, I would be happy to start making the revisions.
Sample outline
0. Etymology - citations added!
1. Geography - citations added!
2. History - citations added!
3. Government
4. Economy
6. Health
7. Education
8. Society
9. culture and recreation
NOTE - I have "music" as separate from "arts" because it's a massive subject and would overbalance the rest of the content if it were added into the arts sub-section. Thoughts? -- Lemurbaby ( talk) 02:52, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
UPDATE - I am currently working my way through this article and adding in citations and content where they are a bit thin. No doubt this will make an already long article even longer. After all the content is in place, I'll come back through and start trimming the fat by moving it into other articles where it will be useful. If you have Madagascar expertise, feel free to pitch in on incorporating reliable references or building up the weaker parts of this article. If you've been lurking and are not sure how to do any of that, give a shout out here or on my talk page and I will be happy to help you get started. Lemurbaby ( talk) 05:46, 27 August 2011 (UTC)
UPDATE - I'm condensing some of these sections and recombining them because the article is too long. Once I'm done getting the meat of the content in place (almost there), I will start verifying references, adding more where needed, move on to polishing the formatting of refs and images, then invite peer review & copy edit. Lemurbaby ( talk) 17:11, 16 January 2012 (UTC)
Let's replace the politically derived term "Caretaker government" with the much more accurate "Military Dictatorship". There is absolutely no basis for using the term "Caretaker government", especially utilising information from the embedded link.
41.188.7.84 ( talk) 22:02, 23 May 2011 (UTC)
Thank you Jagwar. I concur. Lemurbaby ( talk) 15:48, 9 June 2011 (UTC)
41.63.134.10 ( talk) 07:31, 19 June 2011 (UTC)
41.74.219.99 ( talk) 20:18, 23 August 2011 (UTC)
In Egypt and Tunisia, the current governments are being characterized as "caretaker governments" and in the case of Egypt, this is administered by the military (unlike in Madagascar). Given the facts stated above (and they are simply facts, not "propaganda"), the current regime cannot be characterized as a military dictatorship. What alternate term do you propose? Those who are familiar with the contributions I make on Malagasy topics here on Wikipedia, rather than just popping in to make random accusations, would know that I am only interested in objective facts, not bias (let alone being an "apologist" for the current regime). Many of my contributions here include facts that do not flatter the current administration. I also do not hesitate to include critiques of the former administrations. Surely you would agree that truth is more important than flattering one side or another in a dispute. Lemurbaby ( talk) 23:19, 23 August 2011 (UTC)
"As the world's fourth largest island, scientist in Madagascar have discovered 615 new species between 1999 and 2010, but many of the exciting and colourful creatures are already endangered. They are: 385 plants, 42 invertebrates, 17 fish, 69 amphibians, 61 reptiles and 41 mammals." [Citation commented out for page layout reasons, please see edit mode if you want the information.]
Another user offered this contribution to the Ecology section, but it appears at least partially redundant and it's not entirely clear if these species are simply endangered species of Madagascar or species discovered in the past ten years. The reference is provided so if the original contributor or someone else gets to checking this and re-working how it's incorporated before I do, have at it. Lemurbaby ( talk) 15:48, 9 June 2011 (UTC)
There has been some back and forth between Odea and myself about whether to use the subheading I originally used, "Environmental challenges", or Odea's edit to "Environmental problems." I had originally reverted Odea's edit on the basis that the word "problems" is more value-laden than "challenges", which may infringe upon neutral point of view (NPOV). Odea changed it back on the grounds that the degree of damage and continuing threat to the environment constitutes a problem by any definition and that the term "challenge" is too weak a euphemism for the heading of the subsection.
I continue to maintain that encyclopedic style would dictate "challenges" is preferable to "problems" precisely because it is a more neutral characterization. I work in the international development field and issues such as the environmental situation in Madagascar generally are described as "challenges" because the term connotes a sense of working toward a solution; it acknowledges efforts on the part of the government and/or development partners and local communities to try to reverse the situation. It is the more widely utilized term in the professional world because it is perceived as less negative and more neutral than "problems". While I absolutely agree in simple parlance that massive environmental destruction is a "problem", it is also a "challenge," and in a choice between the terms I lean toward the more neutral, professional and common characterization for use in a neutral, professional (and aspiring to be scholarly!) reference like an encyclopedia.
What we don't need is an edit war, so I open the discussion up to anyone else who might want to contribute their ideas and thoughts. If we manage to come to a consensus (or at least a majority), we'll make sure the heading conforms with the outcome of the discussion. Lemurbaby ( talk) 01:42, 10 June 2011 (UTC)
A diambiguationlink is needed for "Madagasikara", which can be either a genus of freshwater snail (see: Pachychilidae) or the Malagasy word for Madagascar — Preceding unsigned comment added by Snaildoc ( talk • contribs) 10:41, 24 June 2011 (UTC)
GA toolbox |
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Reviewing |
Reviewer: MathewTownsend ( talk · contribs) 18:02, 28 January 2012 (UTC)
Tertiary sources such as compendia, encyclopedias, textbooks, obituaries, and other summarizing sources may be used to give overviews or summaries, but should not be used in place of secondary sources for detailed discussion. (from reliable sources)
Responses
MathewTownsend ( talk) 19:58, 15 February 2012 (UTC)
Maybe you could add a section on law and order and crime (e.g crime figures, the Malagasy police force and court systems etc) the Media, (what are the main television/radio channels and newspapers etc?), Heraldry (e.g some information about the flags coat of arms and other flags used in the country) and also add something about Malagasy cuisine?. Also, how about a section on Palaeontology, extremely important on the island of course?♦ Dr. Blofeld 18:21, 16 February 2012 (UTC)
I've agonized over this article enough! It's not perfect, naturally, but it is good!
GA review-see WP:WIAGA for criteria (and here for what they are not)
MathewTownsend ( talk) 21:56, 16 February 2012 (UTC)
I checked the source of the statement that 80% of the plants and animals are endemic, and found that instead it said 90%, which I fixed. Also, the source did not list the types of animals also cited to it. Lastly, there appear to be some discrepancy on the numbers used... possibly because the source is a geography book, not a book from the biological sciences. For example, in the book Lemurs of Madagascar (3rd edition, 2010), Mittermeier et al. note five endemic bird families, not three (as stated in the article) (p. 70). Also, they note 14,000 to 15,000 plant species with 83% endemism (p. 68) For reptiles, it gives 363 non-marine reptile species as being endemic (p. 68). (The existing estimations for percentages are decent.) The book also gives different numbers for birds (109 species, 52% endemic, 37 endemic genera--p.70), but your existing source for that is an undated (but likely recent) web publication by Conservation International... which also puts out the book I'm citing. It's a tough call.
Lastly, I don't feel comfortable with the following wording: "...including the lemur infraorder of primates". Unfortunately, there are several competing classifications for lemurs, one of which includes African galagos and African/Asian lorisids within that infraorder, while the other excludes the aye-aye from the lemuriforms. If we can find a good source for that remainder of the sentence, I would suggest something like "including the lemurs (a type of prosimian primate)"... Anyway, the term "infraorder" may lose people. – VisionHolder « talk » 01:03, 29 January 2012 (UTC)
The following statement may have some issues: "Approximately 70% is believed to have been destroyed between 1895 and 1925, when Madagascar was under French rule."
I checked the source, and although I value it highly for its criticism of the conservation efforts in Madagascar (something I plan to use in the not-too-distant future in other articles), I'm having a hard time corroborating the numbers it gives. The author cites "Hagan, 1996", but unfortunately, page 63 is not publicly viewable, and that's the page that lists his references. In the notes that are available, on note #7 (p. 62) he claims to have gotten some of his deforestation numbers by word-of-mouth from a researcher.
According to Lemurs of Madagascar (3rd edition, 2010), I have the following: "It is difficult to ascertain the full extent of forest that existed when people first arrived in Madagascar, but it seems likely that the combination of fire and grazing resulted in the loss of at least 50-60% of all forest between then and the start of the 20th century, much of this in the first 500 years of occupation." (p. 72) However, the source cited for the paragraph from which this was taken doesn't support this... instead, it focuses on 1953-2000.
In a 2010 academic article by B. E. Crowley (2010), we apparently have even more accurate data:
"An island-wide transition towards more open vegetation, particularly grasses, at the expense of woody vegetation coincided with a peak in Late Holocene aridity ca 1300-950 Cal BP (650-1000 CE)" (p. 2593)
Furthermore:
"It is estimated that humans came to Madagascar from Indonesia or Africa before 2300 Cal BP (350 BCE). Evidence of early human presence in the form of introduced Cannabis pollen, increased charcoal microparticles (suggesting an increase in the frequency or intensity of fire), and bones of extinct species bearing the signs of butchery in sediments occurs in southwestern Madagascar and along the western coastline ca 2300-1800 Cal BP (350 BCE - 150 CE). There is, however, no evidence for intensive human habitation in the southwest until 500-600 cal BP (1350 - 1450 CE). Although Cannabis pollen is present in lake sediments ca 2200 Cal BP (250 BCE) in the Central Highlands, charcoal levels in sediment cores suggest that interior parts of Madagascar did not have high human populations until roughly 1400 Cal BP (550 CE)." (p. 2593)
Here's the citation:
{{
cite journal}}
: Invalid |ref=harv
(
help)If you would like a copy of this paper, just email me.
Now I certainly don't doubt that French colonization accelerated the deforestation process. What concerns me is that none of the conservation/academic sources mention the influence of Europeans, and most of the sharpest declines in Madagascar's megafauna occur ~500 years before they arrived, according to radiocarbon dates. Anyway, after posting this bit to ponder over, I plan to email Crowley to see if any hard facts have been published about the French influence, particularly regarding their logging and land use for cash crops. Again, I have no doubt that these occurred. What I'm not certain of is the severity. I also realize that both sides may be skewing the facts, especially since dates and rates of deforestation vary so widely in literature, giving people plenty of options to pick from. That is why I favor the scientific literature. Sedimentary pollen counts and radiocarbon dates are more likely to represent the facts than a bunch of historical finger pointing. – VisionHolder « talk » 22:52, 29 January 2012 (UTC)
"Claims that most of the forest loss has occurred in recent decades are clearly misleading. The French colonial archives clearly shows concern over forest loss throughout French occupancy. In fact the claim, certainly exaggerated, was made that some 70% of the primary forest was destroyed between 1895 and 1925."
"Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from India around 88 million years ago, allowing plants and animals on the island to evolve in complete isolation."
Really!? Why does everything else have to be cited but this gets by? That is not proven fact and should be stated that this is a THEORY, there is no proof of "Gondwana" or "88 million years ago." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.152.94.48 ( talk) 02:09, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
'The written history of Madagascar begins in the 7th century when Arabs established trading posts along the northwest coast and introduced Islam, the Arabic script (used to transcribe the Malagasy language in a form of writing known as sorabe), Arab astrology and other cultural elements.'
The source given for this citation actually says Arabs arrived in the 9th century rather than the 7th and doesn't specify which part of the island they were on. I haven't seen the 7th century claimed anywhere else (other than web pages ripped from Wikipedia). I don't have enough information to say that the claim is wrong, but if it's true it needs proper citation. Ithuvanian ( talk) 12:03, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
As the info-nazis have locked this page down, I will address some factual errors here, and hope some bestowed nobility may change them:
1) "extraction of nickel near Tamatave by Rio Tinto"
This should be: "extraction of nickel near Moramanga and processing near Tamatave by Sherritt"
http://www.Sherritt.com/Operations/Metals/Ambatovy-Joint-Venture
Considering that this article prefers PC terminology, maybe that should be "Toamasina"?
Rio Tinto has the iluminite mine in Fort Dauphin.
http://www.riotintomadagascar.com/english/aboutQMM.asp
2) "Two-thirds of Madagascar's power is supplied by hydroelectric power plants with the remaining one-third supplied by coal-burning plants."
Actually, Jirama does not have any "coal-burning plants". Sherritt does, but they are only in the start-up phase and dedicated to the Ambatovy operation.
Jirama produces all its non-hydro power from fuel oil powered diesel engines.
41.74.209.217 ( talk) 15:07, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
"Child immunizations against such diseases as hepatitis C, diphtheria and measles increased an average of 60% in this period, indicating low but increasing availability of basic medical services and treatments." Immunizations for "hepatitis C" currently do not exist - this is in error - presumably should be "hepatitis B" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.48.168.238 ( talk) 14:18, 29 April 2012 (UTC)
At several points there has been material added here to emphasize the persecution of early Malagasy converts to Christianity in Madagascar during the reign of Ranavalona I. These executions were given much attention in historical documents based on Missionaries' accounts, generally without placing the deaths in context. Many, many more people died during her reign as a result of conscription to military and fanampoana (unpaid labor in lieu of monetary tax) as she continued the work of her predecessor Radama I in extending Merina rule over the island. She managed to preserve the sovereignty of Madagascar, but attempting to stamp out the European-introduced religion of Christianity was only one part of that effort; strengthening the military allowed her to repel naval attacks on the coast, and she took decisive action to protect traditional Malagasy cultural values by sending away the LMS missionaries. She did this not because they were Christian - she allowed them freedom of conscience and encouraged them to stay and share their technical/industrial knowledge to improve the quality of life for her people - but because the Missionaries refused to stop teaching the Bible. All of this is explained in more detail in the article on Ranavalona I. So to summarize: were there a lot of deaths during Ranavalona's reign? Yes. Did she persecute Christians? Yes, but it built up to that point gradually over the first seven years of her reign. Were there many Christian martyrs? Certainly not compared to people who died for other reasons during her reign (military, fanampoana, justice through tangena, which were not new innovations under her reign but longstanding traditions that were used more intensively by her). Was the persecution of Christians the main way that she preserved the island's sovereignty? No, this was primarily through cessation of friendly relations with Europeans and military action defending against European attacks on the coasts, but she did try to eradicate the European cultural influence by outlawing Christianity and executing a number of Malagasy who broke that law. It's important to ensure Wikipedia doesn't perpetuate the sensationalistic portrayal of this queen that began with the outcast LMS missionaries in the early 19th century. In a summary article like this, especially, mentioning the execution of a number of Christian converts doesn't have a place because it misdirects the reader's attention from the more important events occurring at the same time, thereby mischaracterizing her reign. 196.44.240.62 ( talk) 05:06, 22 March 2012 (UTC)
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I was actually looking for some history on the Madagascar Plan today in order to find a source stating that Poland actually came up with the idea.
And I found plenty of sources. The relocation of Jews in Poland was initially considered by Poland and France. Poland even sent a research team to do so. The Nazis also proposed the idea, however. There is a bit of historical oversight not mentioning that fact however and I believe the article should be edited to reflect that. Here is an article on it: http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaust/a/madagascarplan.htm
And the corresponding sources: Browning, Christopher. "Madagascar Plan." Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. Ed. Israel Gutman. New York: Macmillan Library Reference USA, 1990. Friedman, Philip. "The Lublin Reservation and the Madagascar Plan: Two Aspects of Nazi Jewish Policy During the Second World War," Roads to Extinction: Essays on the Holocaust. Ed. Ada June Friedman. New York: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1980. "Madagascar Plan." Encyclopedia Judaica. Jerusalem: Macmillan and Keter, 1972. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tamcgath ( talk • contribs) 18:51, 10 June 2012 (UTC)
It would be very interesting to know what route these settlers are thought to have taken from Borneo (did they island-hop direct across the Indian ocean?), and what prompted them to make such an unlikely journey, and for others from the exact same area to repeat the same unlikely journey. I guess that these facts are not be known for sure, but a short summary of expert opinion would be very interesting and useful at this point. 86.160.223.189 ( talk) 12:01, 30 June 2012 (UTC)
I was about to edit the article to add a link to Comoros, when I noticed first, that it was long-term semiprotected (... why?), and secondly, that someone had deliberately removed a whole bunch of them. I'm mystified as to why a single link to a neighbouring country, of less than commonplace familiarity, would be considered overlinking. Can someone explain, or better yet, fix? 84.203.39.242 ( talk) 02:48, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
I'm wondering why a normal dictionary word in English (coup d'etat) is linked. And why is "fourth-largest island" linked twice within a few paragraphs ... I'm going through the article now. Tony (talk) 08:14, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
This
edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request. |
"renaissance" → Renaissance. See for example, M-W. Recently changed, no rationale offered. 84.203.39.242 ( talk) 00:35, 21 August 2012 (UTC)
They are beautiful, but I wonder whether a few could be shifted from the over-horizontalized galleries and into normal right-side position against the text above? Tony (talk) 03:22, 21 August 2012 (UTC)
The placement of the cute ring-tailed lemur image perhaps unintentionally created a paragraph division (at least in my browser). That seems unfortunate, as one paragraph introducing flora + fauna, then one about flora, then one about fauna is a nice transparent structure for the section; one graph about flora and two about fauna is less good. I've moved the image up to where the fauna paragraph properly starts (also removing a redundant sentence). Experimenting, I wasn't able to come up with any other way of joining up the two fauna paragraphs. Please take a look; is it all right like this? Any other ideas?
Incidentally, aren't the sentences about herbal remedies a little lost in this section? They feel a bit unexpected.
What about moving that passage to "Natural resources and trade", with a little rephrasing to make it fit seamlessly there? Bishonen | talk 14:34, 2 September 2012 (UTC).
From the "Independent state" section:
I can't find any reference to this "gradual progress" in the source (but then the source text is quite long and not easy to navigate). Also, "gradual progress" is an odd phrase, which reads a bit like a compromise after an edit war; surely progress is by its nature gradual? If it's meant as "little progress" or "no progress", it's better to say so. And could a better source be found? Or a relevant quote from the Marcus paper be posted in the footnote? This would allow the reader to perform a search, which would to a certain extent make up for the lack of pagination. Meanwhile, I've commented out the phrase "but only gradual progress was made during his second tenure, which lasted from 1996 to 2001". I recognize that it'll probably need to be restored in some, hopefully improved, form. Bishonen | talk 19:33, 3 September 2012 (UTC).
Hi, here is an edit I have drafted for inclusion in the above mentioned section. I welcome any comments:
Original name of the Island was Madinatul Asgar meaning in Arabic "Little Madina"..after Madina in present day Saudi Arabia. Saracen.za ( talk) 18:58, 19 September 2012 (UTC)
I have reverted the edits where the article was restructured and uncited statements were added. Please discuss such significant changes on the talk page first—particularly on a featured article. Also, please provide reliable sources for new material. – Maky « talk » 22:07, 31 December 2012 (UTC)
Not even half. This much was taken off: "ean-Louis.">Acquier (1997), pp. 143–175</ref>" Messed up, needs fixed. LCS check ( talk) 16:04, 1 March 2013 (UTC)
Why does this page remain locked? Notably, the French and Malagasy pages are not locked, and I cannot find any other language pages which are. This lock violates the primary wiki philosophy.
189.188.12.156 ( talk) 05:00, 5 May 2013 (UTC) baden
The following information was entered by an anonymous user:
OK, I tested the waters... but there's been too much graffiti since the unprotection a few days ago. I've reinstated semiprotection for three months, to cover the elections too. Bishonen | talk 17:09, 8 May 2013 (UTC).
The source used to estimate percentage representation of the ethnic groups of Madagascar as relayed in the infobox only provides estimates for seven of the 16-20 or so Malagasy ethnic groups in the country, and doesn't provide percentages for the minorities that are not ethnically Malagasy, like the French, Chinese and Indo-Pakistanis. Indo-Pakistanis are estimated at 25,000 (0.1%), French are estimated at ~123,000 (0.5%), and Chinese are estimated at 60,000 (0.2%); together the non-Malagasy minorities add up to just around 0.8%, less than one percent of the population. Percentages are given for the seven largest ethnic groups (all ethnically Malagasy), and while none of the remaining 9-13 ethnically Malagasy groups individually total more than 5% of the population at most, even if they had equal numbers (and they don't), they would each constitute about 2.6% of the population, still vastly more significant in numbers than the non-Malagasy ethnic minorities. The question is how to handle the 24% currently described as "Other". It's been edited several times now to read "French and other". I feel this is misleading for the reader unfamiliar with the country, as placing "French" after "24%" implies that even if the French aren't the full 24%, they are the majority of it, when the numbers don't bear this out. One of the edit summaries made the case that while the French are a small minority in numbers, their impact was huge. I agree that the impact of French colonization was significant, but the place to make that case is in the political or historical part of the article, rather than in a portion of the article meant to enable the reader to envision the ethnic composition of the country. In addition, to play devil's advocate, it could be argued that the Indo-Pakistanis and Chinese have a larger impact economically within the country, given they have been the major holders of wealth, which has long been a source of socio-political tensions. But I maintain that either argument is irrelevant as this particular part of the article (ethnic groups as percentage of the population) is meant to enable the reader to quickly picture the proportion of various groups among the island's inhabitants, and the French are in this regard a very small presence. Lemurbaby ( talk) 12:36, 5 October 2013 (UTC)