Although Madagascar is an island off the coast of Africa, its people do not consider themselves African.
The first human beings to settle on the island were Austronesian.
Following their arrival, people from mainland Africa also made the western parts of the island their home.
The result is what makes up most of the Malagasy population today.
In resemblance, there is quite a variation in the physical appearance of people in Madagascar, but, on the whole, they tend to have more in common with South-East Asia than with Africa.
There are two official languages of Madagascar.
There are two official languages of Madagascar.
The first is French, as the country was a French colony for many years.
Though it is an official language, only a quarter of the people are estimated to speak it.
The people use very little English on the island, and the primary spoken language is Malagasy.
Interestingly, the language most closely resembling Malagasy is the Ma’anyan language spoken in Borneo.