Geography Of Madagascar

Geography of Madagascar
Madagascar is an island in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of southern Africa, east of Mozambique. It is the fourth largest island in the world. The highest point isMaromokotro, in the Tsaratanana Massif region in the north of the island, at 2,876 metres (9,436 ft). The capital Antananarivo is in the Hauts Plateaux near the centre of the island. It has a totalarea of 587,040 square kilometer’s| (226,660 sq mi) with 581,540 square kilometres (224,530 sq mi) of land and 5,500 square kilometers (2,100 sq mi) of water.
Madagascar originated as part of theGondwana supercontinent. Its west coast was formed when Africa broke off from Gondwana around 165 million years ago. Madagascar eventually broke off from India about 65 million years ago.
Climate
Theclimate 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 highatmospheric pressure that seasonally changes its position over the ocean. Madagascar has two seasons: a hot, rainy 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. The east coast has a subequatorial climate; being most directly exposed to the trade winds it has theheaviest rainfall, averaging as much as 3,500 mm (137.8 in) annually. This region is notorious for a hot, humid climate in which tropical fevers are endemic and also for the destructive cyclones thatoccur 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, thecentral highlands are appreciably drier and, owing to the altitude, also cooler. Thunderstorms are common during the rainy season in the central highlands.
Antananarivo receives practically all of its...