Madagascar

250 million years ago, Madagascar was a part of the big mythical Gondwana continent, which regrouped South America, Africa, Australia, India and Antarctica. Approximately 160 million years ago, Madagascar split up from Africa and lies 400km off the coast of Africa. Its resemblance with the left foot is striking.

Surrounded in the north by the Comoros and Mayotte, in the east by the Reunion and Maurice islands and in the west by the eastern coast of Africa across the Mozambique Channel, Madagascar is located in the Indian Ocean.

With a surface area of 587 041km² (1580 km long and 580 km wide), Madagascar is the greatest island of the Indian Ocean and the world’s fourth largest island after Groenland, New Guinea and Borneo.

Morphologically, the island forms a two-sided and asymmetric roof. 2/3 of the island is composed of crystalline insular shelf, and the rest forms the coast. Partially volcanic, the mountains are quite high : Maromokotra (2876 m), in the north is the highest mountain in Madagascar, Pic Bobby (2660 m) located in the massif of Andringitra in the south and Tsiafajavona (2642m) located in the Ankaratra massif in the inland.

Madagascar is crossed by more than 50 rivers : in the west, they run through fertile valleys to plunge into the Mozambique Channel and in the east, they are shorts, lively, and offer the most important and beautiful waterfall of the island.

From 800 to 1600 m in altitude, the central plateau called « The Highlands », dominates the island. Dryer and less tree, he is characterised by hills, waterfalls and basins.

In the east, the cliffs slope down steeply to a small eastern plain which is hot and humid with luxuriant vegetation. The coastal area is lined with lagoons and hills. In contrast, on the western side, the cliffs fall away smoothly toward a larger sedimentary coastal plain along the Mozambique Channel. Savannah dominates this sub humid almost semiarid area.