Madagascar Overview
OVERVIEW The Republic of Madagascar -- formerly the Malagasy Republic -- is an island nation off the eastern coast of southern Africa. From the late 1880s to 1960, Madagascar was a colony and later an overseas territory of France. French troops suppressed an armed rebellion in 1947; thousands were killed during the fighting. After a period of civil unrest in 1972, President Philibert Tsiranan handed executive power to a military regime led by Gen. Gabriel Ramanantsoa. Under the new...