Мадагаскар: География и Климат

none
the island itself

Madagascar is a large island in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of Southern Africa, east of Mozambique. It has a total area of with of land and of water. Madagascar is the fourth largest island and the second largest island country in the world.

Madagascar can be divided into five general geographical regions: the east coast, the Tsaratanana Massif, the Central Highlands, the west coast, and the southwest. The highest elevations parallel the east coast. The total size is , which makes it the world's second largest island country.

The east coast consists of a narrow band of lowlands about fifty kilometers wide, formed from the sedimentation of alluvial soils, and an intermediate zone composed of steep bluffs alternating with ravines bordering an escarpment of about in elevation, which gives access to the Central Highlands. The coastal region roughly from north of Baie d'Antongil, the most prominent feature on the Masoala Peninsula, to the far north of the island. The coastline is straight, with the exception of a bay, offering less in the way of natural harbors than the west coast.

The climate is tropical along the coast, temperate inland, and arid in the south. The weather is dominated by the southeastern trade winds that originate in the Indian Ocean anticyclone, a center of high atmospheric pressure that seasonally changes its position over the ocean. Madagascar has two seasons: a warm, wet season from November to April; and a cooler, dry season from May to October. There is, however, great variation in climate owing to elevation and position relative to dominant winds. Overall, surface water is most abundant along the east coast and in the far north (with the exception of the area around Cap d'Ambre, which has relatively little surface water). Amounts diminish to the west and south, and the driest regions are in the extreme south. The east coast has a tropical rainforest climate; being most directly exposed to the trade winds, it has the highest rainfall, averaging as high as annually in some places. This region has a hot, humid climate in which tropical fevers are endemic. Destructive cyclones occur during the rainy season, coming in principally from the direction of the Mascarene Islands. Because rain clouds discharge much of their moisture east of the highest elevations on the island, the Central Highlands are drier and, owing to the altitude, also cooler. Thunderstorms are common during the rainy season in the Central Highlands and the eastern coastal lowlands. Antananarivo receives practically all of its average annual of rainfall between November and April. The dry season is sunny, although somewhat chilly, especially in the mornings. Although frosts are rare in Antananarivo, they are common at higher elevations. Hail is common in many of the higher areas of the island (including Antananarivo), but there is no snowfall except on the Ankaratra massif where above it may occasionally fall and even remain for several days. The west coast is drier than either the east coast or the Central Highlands because the trade winds lose their humidity by the time they reach this region. The southwest and the extreme south are semidesert; as little as of rain falls annually at Toliara.

Madagascar occasionally experiences the impact of cyclones. During February 2–4, 1994, Madagascar was struck by Cyclone Geralda. The cyclone killed seventy people and destroyed enough property to leave approximately 500,000 homeless, including 30,000 in Antananarivo and 80,000 in Toamasina. The cyclone also significantly damaged the country's infrastructure, most notably coastal roads, railroads, and telecommunications, as well as agriculture. The damage was estimated at US$45 million. During March 1–18, 2004, Madagascar was impacted by Cyclone Gafilo, the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the South West Indian Ocean. The National Rescue Council in Antananarivo reported 237 dead, 181 missing, 879 injured, and 304,000 homeless (174,000 in Antalaha alone). More than 20,000 homes were destroyed, as well as 413 public buildings and 3,400 schools were damaged, including 1,400 schools completely destroyed. The Cyclone left an estimated damage of US$250 million. In February 2022, Cyclone Batsirai killed at least 10 people and caused floods, power outages, and structural damages, mere weeks after Cyclone Ana had killed 55 and displaced 130,000 people on the island.

The island of Madagascar has been described as an "alternate world" or a "world apart" because of the uniqueness and rarity of many of its plant and animal species. Their characteristics are believed to reflect the island's origins as a part of Gondwanaland and its many millions of years of isolation following the breakup of the landmass. Many of the characteristic African species—large mammals such as the elephant, rhinoceros, giraffe, zebra, and antelope and predators such as lions and leopards—do not exist in Madagascar. In addition, the island has been spared the great variety of venomous snakes indigenous to the African continent. Although it is assumed that most life forms on the island had an African (or South American) origin, isolation has allowed old species—elsewhere extinct—to survive and new species unique to the island to evolve. Thus, a great number of plant, insect, reptile, and fish species are endemic to Madagascar, and all indigenous land mammal species—66 in all—are unique to the island. Madagascar was once covered almost completely by forests, but slash and burn practices for dry rice cultivation has denuded most of the landscape, especially in the Central Highlands. Rain forests are concentrated on the steep hillsides along a slender north–south axis bordering the east coast, from the Tsaratanana Massif in the north to Tolagnaro in the south. Secondary growth, which has replaced the original forest and consists to a large extent of traveller's trees, raffia palm, and baobabs, is found in many places along the east coast and in the north. The vegetation of the Central Highlands and the west coast is for the most part savanna or steppe, and coarse prairie grass predominates where erosion has not exposed the orange red lateritic soil. In the southwest, the vegetation is adapted to desert conditions. The remaining rain forest contains a great number of unique plant species. The country has some 900 species of orchid. Bananas, mangoes, coconut, vanilla, and other tropical plants grow on the coasts, and the eucalyptus tree, brought from Australia, is widespread today. Wood and charcoal from the forests are used to meet 80% of domestic fuel needs. As a result, wood has become scarce. In 1990, the World Bank launched an environmental program that has increased the planting of pine and eucalyptus to satisfy fuel needs.

Madagascar has a number of natural resources, including nickel, cobalt, graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, rare Earth elements, salt, quartz, tar sands, semi precious stones and mica. There are also fishing areas offshore and potential for hydropower. In 2011, it was estimated that 5.96% of the land area was used for arable land and 1.02% had permanent crops. Twenty six percent of the land is forested. The majority of the population depends on subsistence farming, largely rice and cattle. The manufacturing sector is small but growing.

Madagascar is currently suffering in some areas from soil erosion as a result of deforestation and overgrazing, desertification, and contamination of surface water with raw sewage and organic waste. Several species of flora and fauna that are unique to the islands are endangered. Regular cyclones cause flooding in low lying coastal regions.