Antsiranana ( mg, Antsiran̈ana ), named Diego-Suárez prior to 1975, is a city in the far north of

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 ...

. Antsiranana is the capital 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 had an estimated population of 115,015 in 2013.

History

The bay and city originally used the name ''Diego-Suárez'', named after

Diogo Soares Diogo Soares de Albergaria ( es, Diego Suarez de Albergaria), also known as Diego Soares de Melo, Diego Suarez de Melo and the "Galego", was a 16th-century Portuguese navigator and explorer. India Soares arrived to India 1538,Kerr, Volume 6, Cha ...

, a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

navigator who visited the bay in 1543–44. In the 1880s, the bay was coveted by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, which desired it as a

coaling station Fuelling stations, also known as coaling stations, are repositories of fuel (initially coal and later oil) that have been located to service commercial and naval vessels. Today, the term "coaling station" can also refer to coal storage and feedin ...

for

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

s. After the first Franco-Hova War, Queen

Ranavalona III Ranavalona III (; 22 November 1861 – 23 May 1917) was the last sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar. She ruled from 30 July 1883 to 28 February 1897 in a reign marked by ultimately futile efforts to resist the colonial designs of the go ...

signed a treaty on December 17, 1885, granting France a protectorate over the bay and surrounding territory, as well as 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 Ste. Marie de Madagascar. The colony's administration was subsumed into that of Madagascar in 1896. The Second Pacific Squadron of

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

anchored and was resupplied at Diego-Suárez on its way to the

Battle of Tsushima The Battle of Tsushima (Japanese:対馬沖海戦, Tsushimaoki''-Kaisen'', russian: Цусимское сражение, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known as the Battle of Tsushima Strait and the Naval Battle of Sea of Japan (Japanese: 日 ...

in 1905.

In 1942, Diego-Suárez was the primary objective of

Operation Ironclad The Battle of Madagascar (5 May – 6 November 1942) was a British campaign to capture the Vichy French-controlled island Madagascar during World War II. The seizure of the island by the British was to deny Madagascar's ports to the Imperial ...

, the starting point of the Allied invasion and capture of

. The Allies were concerned that

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

would pressure

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

into granting use of Madagascar, as they had with

French Indo-China French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

during the previous year, and determined that the island should not be made a base for the interception of Allied shipping. Diego-Suárez, with its superb harbour and a concentration of government officials, was selected as the initial invasion point. The Japanese responded with an attack by midget submarines on the British naval forces in the harbour, damaging the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

and sinking the oil tanker ''British Loyalty''. France continued to operate a military base in the city following Malagasy independence in 1960. Between 1973 and 1975, French forces were withdrawn.

Geography

Climate

Antsiranana has a

tropical savannah climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

( Aw) with long, hot summer-like weather that lasts year round cut into two seasons; a wet season which lasts from December to March and a dry season which lasts the rest of the year with rainfall being uncommon but not impossible.

Transport

Antsiranana is situated on

Antsiranana Bay Antsiranana Bay (also known as Diego-Suarez Bay) is a natural bay that stretches close to north to south along the northeast coast of Madagascar. The waters average a depth of more than , and the main channel can be as deep as . The bay, protecte ...

, one of the largest deep-water harbours in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

, but the remote location, and, until recently, a bad road to the south, rendered it unimportant for freight traffic.

Arrachart Airport Arrachart Airport is an airport located near Antsiranana (formerly Diego-Suárez) in Madagascar. Created before the Second World War as ''Camp Arrachart'', a French military and civilian air facility, the airport was named after Ludovic Arrach ...

provides communication primarily with other parts of Madagascar.

Postage stamps

Education

The

University of Antsiranana A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

was founded in 1976. Lycée Français Diego Suarez, or Lycée Français Sadi-Carnot, is a French international school in Antsiranana. Historically it was the Collège français Sadi Carnot.

Places of worship

Among the

places of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...

, they are predominantly

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

churches and temples :

Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar The Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar ( mg, Fiangonan'i Jesoa Kristy eto Madagasikara; FJKM) is the second-largest Christian denomination in Madagascar. The current officers include the Rev. Ammi Irako Andriamahazosoa, President; the Rev. Jean ...

(

World Communion of Reformed Churches The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...

Malagasy Lutheran Church The Malagasy Lutheran Church (in Malagasy it is known as FLM: ''Fiangonana Loterana Malagasy'') is one of the most important Christian churches in Madagascar, established in 1950 by the unification of 1,800 Lutheran congregations in central and so ...

(

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; german: Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish ...

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

, Association of Bible Baptist Churches in Madagascar (

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...

Roman Catholic Diocese of Antsiranana :''There is also an Anglican '' Bishop of Antsiranana'' in the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean.'' The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Antsiranana is one of five Metropolitan Latin Archdioceses in Madagascar. Although it has its ecclesi ...

(

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

seated in the Cathedral of St. Matthew).J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, ‘‘Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices’’, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 1768 There are also

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

mosques.

In popular culture

The climactic scenes of the alternative history novel ''

The Madagaskar Plan ''The Madagaskar Plan'' is a 2015 alternate history (fiction), alternate history adventure fiction, adventure novel by Guy Saville, and the sequel to his book ''The Afrika Reich''. In the book, the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany have negotiate ...

'' are set in the city.

References

External links

*
Diego Suárez review (madacamp.com)
{{Coord, 12, 18, S, 49, 17, E, region:MG_type:city, display=title Cities in Madagascar Populated places in Diana Region Regional capitals in Madagascar Former French colonies 1885 establishments in the French colonial empire