The Malagasy people are a mixture of Asians and Africans, and have been on Madagascar for 1500 to 2000 years, although stone artefacts indicate an older culture possibly existed there. Most of the immigrants were Malay-Polynesians, who crossed the Indian Ocean from Indonesia and South-East Asia, but people came from eastern Africa as well. African slaves, Arab, Indian and Portuguese traders, European pirates and French colonists all mixed with the population to eventually create the 18 official 'tribes' or clans inhabiting the island today. The first Malagasy brought the food crops that they'd grown in South-East Asia with them, and the agricultural regions with their endless rice paddies today look as if they belong in Asia rather than Africa.

Marco Polo reported Madagascar's existence in the narrative of his travels, and it was also known to Arab cartographers. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive, in a fleet under the command of Diego Dias in 1500. In the centuries that followed, the Portuguese, Dutch and British all failed to establish permanent bases on the island, but from the 17th century, bands of outlaws succeeded where their governments had failed. Pirates contributed booty, buried treasure, and genes to the island's population, especially around Île Sainte Marie. At one stage when they were just saying no to piracy in the Caribbean, more than 1000 English, French, Portuguese, Dutch, American and other pirates were based on Madagascar's east coast. They used it as a convenient base to attack shipping rounding the Cape of Good Hope.

Increasing trade in arms and slaves with Europeans brought about the rise of Malagasy kingdoms, and small, rival states eventually emerged. By the late 18th century, the Merina clan had begun to dominate. The British signed a treaty in 1820 recognising Madagascar as an independent state under Merina rule, and British influence remained strong well into the 20th century. But by 1883, the British had gone cold and France had become the recognised and sole European power in Madagascar (in exchange for French recognition of British sovereignty in Zanzibar).

The French invaded from the west coast in 1895, surprising Merina defences and setting up a colonial administration with General Joseph Galliéni as the first governor general. He sent Queen Ranavalona III into exile in Algeria in 1897, effectively abolishing the monarchy. He attempted to suppress all British influence and crush the Malagasy language, declaring French the official language. Although the French abolished slavery in name on the island, in practice they introduced such a repressive tax regime that anyone who couldn't pay went into forced labour. Land was expropriated by foreign settlers and companies, and an import and export economy developed based on coffee plantations.

During WWII the French administration turned coats over to the Vichy French quislings, so Britain invaded, ostensibly to prevent Japan from using Madagascar as an Indian Ocean base. The British handed it back to de Gaulle's free French in 1943. Post-war, Madagascar underwent a nationalist backlash; many Malagasy had been trained to French standards and schooled on notions of

Several indigenous political parties were born in the 1950s, and when de Gaulle returned to power in France in 1958, the Malagasy voted to become an autonomous republic within the French community of overseas nations. Madagascar underwent a peaceful transition to independence in 1960, although the

The economy began a slow nose dive almost as soon as Madagascar gained independence. When it withdrew from the

By the late 1970s Madagascar had severed all ties with France and the government was seriously courting communist nations; Ratsiraka even produced his own 'red book' of government policies and theories. A mounting debt crisis in 1981-82 prodded the government to slow its reforms, and to trot out the standard austerity measures the IMF demanded as terms of a loan. The economy improved marginally with the IMF's programs, but quickly slumped again. Ratsiraka won the election in March 1989 under dubious circumstances, which led to riots. More came in 1991 when peaceful demonstrators were killed by North Korean-trained presidential guards in front of Ratsiraka's opulent new palace (built with North Korean aid).

The early 90s was plagued by civil unrest. After a four year rule by Professor Albert Zafy that failed to unite the country or overcome years of bureaucratic misrule, Ratsiraka was voted back into power in 1996, to almost universal surprise. That less than 50% of the 6.5 million registered voters bothered to cast a ballot indicates that the Malagasy had little enthusiasm for any of the candidates. Ratsiraka helped put together a deal with the IMF and World Bank that led to the privatisation of several important economic sectors, resulting in both a greater expansion of the economy and higher inflation.

Growing opposition to Ratsiraka led to the popularity of Marc Ravalomanana, the mayor of Antananarivo. Presidential elections in December 2001 were inconclusive, with both Ratsiraka and Ravalomanana claiming victory.

Ravalomanana declared himself president in February 2002 and set up shop in the capital of Antananarivo, while Ratsiraka and his forces moved to the port city of Tamatave. Ratsiraka fled several months later although forces loyal to him still operate, sometimes preventing supplies from reaching the capital. Ravalomanana soundly defeated the fragmented opposition in elections in December 2002, thus securing the legitamacy he claimed at the outset of the trouble.

Most contemporary and traditional Malagasy music revolves around dance rhythms with influences from Indonesia and the African mainland, notably Kenya. These rhythms are accompanied by the flute, whistle and valiha, a unique, 28-stringed instrument resembling a bassoon but played more like a harp. The lokanga voatavo, or cordophone, is also popular, as are a few types of guitar, including the kabosy, similar to a ukelele. Vaky soava is a rhythmic style of singing accompanied only by hand clapping, and perhaps the most renowned exponent is Paul Bert Rahasimanana, who developed a personal style that included adding a musical accompaniment. He weaves themes of poverty, love, loss and hope into his music.

The regional town of Fianarantsoa has developed into a literary capital of sorts in recent years, and several contemporary novelists and writers work there. While literature didn't really flower until the 1930s and 40s, traditional oratory, called kabary, is highly regarded. Kabary's roots are in early political assemblies, in which each speaker spoke in turn. It evolved and was eventually popularised and extended to the general public as a form of entertainment. Kabary is an integral part of hira gasy, popular spectacles that include music, dancing and story telling, held regularly in Tana on most Sunday afternoons.

While Madagascar officially shares one culture and language, the Malagasy people are divided into 18 tribes whose boundaries are based on old kingdoms rather than ethnic characteristics. Most Malagasy are of mixed race, but some, such as the Merina from the Antananarivo area, are predominantly Indonesian in appearance, and others, like the Vezo of the south-west coast, have close ties to eastern Africa and look like black Africans.

Despite the status of French as the official language, Malagasy is widely spoken. It belongs to the Austronesian language family, which includes Indonesian and many Polynesian languages, and its closest linguistic cousin is spoken on southern Borneo. It has also adopted words from French, Arabic, nearby African languages and English.

Around 50% of Malagasy follow traditional religions, and even confirmed Christians (41%) usually still devoutly carry out traditional practices. The Malagasy regard the dead with awe and reverence, and give the afterlife as much importance as the present; the dead play a role in the life of the living rarely seen in other cultures. Mourners carry out elaborate rituals at funerals, and if it is deemed that the dead are displeased, further rituals are enacted to appease them. The most famous of these is the famadihana, or turning of the bones, when the dead are exhumed, entertained, talked to and reburied with gifts and new shrouds. There are several Muslim communities, and Muslims comprise about 7% of the population.

The dominant element of any Malagasy meal is vary or rice, and vary doesn't accompany the meal, the meal accompanies the vary. Roadside canteens normally offer a big plate of rice with a few tidbits to garnish it, such as beef, fish or poultry. Other than rice, favourite Malagasy dishes include romazava (beef and vegetable stew) and ravitoto (pork stew with manioc greens). Many dishes are accompanied by achards, a hot, pickled vegetable curry. The seafood on the coast is excellent and cheap, and you can eat a range of tropical fruits (voankazo) such as pineapples, lychees, mangoes and bananas for most of the year.