1. Do you know what the name of Madagascar is? It is Malagasy, a word that comes from French and was taken from the term "malagasy", which was used by the inhabitants of the island itself. Malagasy is also the official language of the country.
2. Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world.
3. It was a refuge for pirates.
The isolated coves of the island and the absence of the main European powers for centuries meant that Madagascar was once a safe haven for hundreds of pirates. One, Captain James Misson, founded an anarchist colony (Libertatia) at the end of the 17th century.
The island of Sainte-Marie, 8 km from the east coast of Madagascar, was called "pirate island" on the maps of the time. Countless bandits, including Captain Kidd, found refuge there while they were not looting. Some are buried in the cemetery of the island.
4. Hand-to-hand combat is a national sport.
Moraingy, which is a form of combat sport with bare hands, is very popular throughout the island.
5. Malagasy surnames are very long.
Beyond a simple relationship, they tell a story.
For example, the prince "Andriantsimitoviaminandriandehibe" means "the nobleman who has no equivalent among the nobles." The family name is not a word, but a sentence that describes the owner: memory of the day of birth, combination of ancestor names, a wish, a destiny, a word that contradicts a bad destiny ...
6. In Madagascar the dead return to their graves.
In Madagascar, an island country located on the southeast coast of Africa, there has been a curious mortuary rite called Famadihana since the beginning of the 17th century. Every seven years, the dead are unearthed and share with their living relatives a party where they eat, drink and even dance with the corpses.
Families spend a large part of their savings in Famadihana, convinced that this tribute is a way of showing love and respect to deceased relatives.
During the rite, the bodies are removed from the graves, covered by a white cloth and sitting at the family table, where abundant delicacies are served. After the meal you dance with the dead.
7. On this island, sometimes dubbed "the Island of the Ancients," death is not an end, it is a rebirth. Zebu and chicken sacrifices are made to ask for blessing and protection.
Thus, some zebus were sacrificed for the first flight of a Boeing 747 of Air Madagascar in 1979, so that no accident occurred!
8. Malagasy magic potions
With an extraordinary biodiversity and an endemicity rate of 80% (almost 12,000 species of plants that are not found anywhere else in the world), Madagascar is the kingdom of medicinal plants, such as aloe vera, spirulina, ravintsara , mandravasarotra, etc.
9. Madagascar is one of the countries that consume more rice in the world and is the staple of Malagasy food.
So much so that everything is used when cooking rice. As it shows, the ranon’apango, which is obtained by boiling water in the rest of the rice stuck to the bottom of the pot.
10. In Madagascar, the masoanjony is a beauty mask.
Protects the skin from the sun and external aggressions. The vegetables associated with this mask allow the skin to maintain its qualities of flexibility and softness.
To be pronounced "massounzouani", this sandalwood, reduced to dust and mixed with water, becomes a paste used by women as a mask. Anti-wrinkle and anti-stain, also protects from heat.
It is a tradition that is transmitted from mother to daughter and sublimates the natural beauty of their faces.
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