Antananarivo

Antananarivo Tananarive
Central Antananarivo, including Lake Anosy
Coat of arms
Nickname:  Tana
Antananarivo Location in Madagascar & Africa Show map of Madagascar Antananarivo Antananarivo (Africa) Show map of Africa
Coordinates: 18°56′S 47°31′E
Country	Madagascar
Region	Analamanga
Founded	1610 or 1625
Government
• Mayor of Antananarivo	Lalao Ravalomanana
Area
• Total	88 km^2 (34 sq mi)
Elevation	1,276 m (4,186 ft)
Population  (2015)
• Total	2,610,000[1]
	710,236
Time zone	UTC+3 (East Africa Time)
Area code	(+261) 023
Climate	Cwb
Website	www.mairie-antananarivo.mg (in French)

Antananarivo is the capital city of Madagascar. It is the largest city in the country. The city is the administrative, communications and economic center of Madagascar.

Antananarivo has a population of over 1.4 million people. Including an Anglican cathedral and a Roman Catholic cathedral, there are about fifty churches in the city and its suburbs. There is also a Muslim mosque. Antananarivo is home of the University of Madagascar and the Collège Rural d'Ambatobe.

History

Antananarivo was founded in about 1625 by King Andrianjaka. The name, Antananarivo, means the City of the Thousand. It comes from the number of soldiers Andrianjaka used to guard the city.

Until 1869 all buildings in the city were of wood or rushes. Since the introduction of stone and brick, the whole city has been rebuilt. It now has many notable structures. For example, the royal palaces, the Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals, several stone and brick churches, colleges, schools, hospitals, courts of justice and other government buildings.

The city was captured by the French in 1895. Since then, good roads have been built in the city.

References

1. "2005 population estimates for cities in Madagascar". Retrieved 1 April 2014.

Other websites

Antananarivo Renivohitra website Archived 2007-03-30 at the Wayback Machine