Ambanja is a city and commune in northern

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. According to 2001

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

the population of Ambanja was 28,468.

Geography

Ambanja is located on the northern berth of the

Sambirano River The Sambirano is a river of northwestern Madagascar in the region of Diana. It has its sources at the Maromokotra peak and flows through the Tsaratanana Reserve to the Indian Ocean. Its delta occupies 250 km. The ecosystem of the river, ma ...

and is crossed by the

Route Nationale 6 The Route nationale 6 is a trunk road ( nationale) in France between Paris and the frontier with Italy in the Alps. Reclassification The RN 6 runs parallel for a long portion of its route to the A 6 autoroute. As a result, portions of the roa ...

(

Antsiranana Antsiranana ( mg, Antsiran̈ana ), named Diego-Suárez prior to 1975, is a city in the far north of Madagascar. Antsiranana is the capital of Diana Region. It had an estimated population of 115,015 in 2013. History The bay and city originally u ...

Mahajanga Mahajanga (French: Majunga) is a city and an administrative district on the northwest coast of Madagascar. The city of Mahajanga (Mahajanga I) is the capital of the Boeny Region. The district (identical to the city) had a population of 220,629 i ...

and

Antananarivo Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "An ...

). It is located at a road distance of 1 200 km north of

and 237 km south-west of

. The town belongs to the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Ambanja Ambanja is a city and commune in northern Madagascar. According to 2001 census the population of Ambanja was 28,468. Geography Ambanja is located on the northern berth of the Sambirano River and is crossed by the Route Nationale 6 ( Antsiranan ...

, which is a part of

Diana Region Diana is a region in Madagascar at the northeast part of the island. It borders the regions of Sava to the southeast and Sofia to the southwest. It covers an area of 19,266 km2, and had a population of 889,736 in 2018. The regional capital i ...

. It is served by the local

Ampampamena Airport Ampampamena Airport is an airport serving Ambanja, Madagascar. See also * * *List of airports in Madagascar This is a list of airports in Madagascar, sorted by location. __TOC__ Airports Airport names shown in bold have scheduled commerc ...

and small, local, maritime harbour at

Ankify Ankify is a peninsula located in the district of Ambanja, region of Diana in northern Madagascar. It is located at and faces Nosy Be and Nosy Komba islands. A small harbour allows boardings to these destinations. At its very north end, the v ...

that is the gate to the islands of

Nosy Be Nosy Be (formerly Nossi-bé and Nosse Be) is an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar. Nosy Be is Madagascar's largest and busiest tourist resort. It has an area of , and its population was 109,465 according to the provisional results of t ...

and

Nosy Komba Nosy Komba is a volcanic island off the north west coast of Madagascar, lying between Nosy Be Nosy Be (formerly Nossi-bé and Nosse Be) is an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar. Nosy Be is Madagascar's largest and busiest tourist re ...

Education

In addition to primary schooling the town offers secondary education at both junior and senior levels. The town has a permanent court and hospital. There is a technical & professional

Lycee In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

in Ambanja, and a school of

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. The French international school is École Primaire Française d'Ambanja a.k.a. École primaire française Charles-Baudelaire.École primaire française Charles-Baudelaire
"

AEFE The Agency for French Education Abroad, or Agency for French Teaching Abroad, (french: Agence pour l'enseignement français à l'étranger; abbreviation: AEFE), is a national public agency under the administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ...

. Retrieved on May 4, 2015.

Religion

The town is seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Ambanja The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ambanja ( la, Ambaniaën(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Ambanja in the Ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Antsiranana, Archdiocese of Antsiranana in Madagascar. Its ep ...

(Cathedral of St. Joseph).

Economy

The majority 60% of the population are farmers, while an additional 2% receives their livelihood from raising livestock. The most important crop is

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

, while other important products are

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

and

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

. Industry and services provide employment for 26% and 2% of the population, respectively. Additionally fishing employs 10% of the population.

Nature

Manongarivo Reserve Manongarivo Reserve is a wildlife reserve in the North-West of Madagascar in the region of Diana. Manongarivo is home to both the Sambirano mouse lemur and the Sambirano woolly lemur. Geography The reserve has a surface of 64,356 ha and is ...

is situated at 35 km from Ambanja. *

Mahamanina Falls The Mahamanina Falls is a waterfall in the region of Diana in the north of Madagascar. It is located 15 km from Ambanja via Route nationale 6 The Route nationale 6 is a trunk road ( nationale) in France between Paris and the frontier wi ...

- at 14 km

References and notes

*
Monographie de la Région Diana
{{Authority control Cities in Madagascar Populated places in Diana Region