Farafangana is a city (commune urbaine) on the south-east coast 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 ...

and capital of the

Atsimo-Atsinanana Atsimo-Atsinanana (South East) is a region in Madagascar. Its capital is Farafangana. The region used to be part of the Fianarantsoa Province. The region extends along the southern part of the east coast of Madagascar. It is bordered by Vatovavy-F ...

region.

Location

Farafangana is the capital of the region

located approximately 400 kilometres south of the capital

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 at the southern end of the

Canal des Pangalanes The Canal des Pangalanes is a canal that consists of a series of natural rivers, waterways and human-made lakes that extends for over and runs down the east coast of Madagascar from Mahavelona to Farafangana. It is used primarily for transpor ...

,Madagascar & Comoros
p. 232 (

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History Early years Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarked ...

, 2008) with the mouth of the

Manampatrana River ''Manampatrana '' is a river in the region of Atsimo-Atsinanana in south-eastern Madagascar. It flows into 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 Eart ...

located on the north side of the town. It is 106km south of

Manakara Manakara is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital Fitovinany Region and of the district of Manakara Atsimo. The city is located at the east coast near the mouth of the Manakara River and has a small port. The bridge over the Manakara River t ...

, about 2.5 hours travel time away.Madagascar 2014-2015 Petit Futé
p. 249 (2013) Settlements located to the north include Lokandambo, Manambotra, Ambahikarabo and Amboahangimamy, with Ambalolo to the west. To the south are Antananabo,

Manambotra Atsimo Manambotra Sud (Manambotra Atsimo) is a town and commune in Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Farafangana, which is a part of Atsimo-Atsinanana Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 5,000 in 2001 commune ...

and Marosondry.

Economy

There is an airport in Farafangana (

Farafangana Airport Farafangana Airport is an airport in Farafangana, Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country i ...

). One of the main crops in the region is

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

Population

Natives are mainly from ethnic groups

Antefasy The Antaifasy are an ethnic group of Madagascar inhabiting the southeast coastal region around Farafangana. Historically a fishing and farming people, many Antaifasy were heavily conscripted into forced labor (''fanampoana'') and brought to Antan ...

, Rabakara,

Antesaka The Antesaka, also known as Tesaka, or Tesaki, are an ethnic group of Madagascar traditionally concentrated south of Farafangana along the south-eastern coast. They have since spread more widely throughout the island. The Antesaka form about 5% ...

and

Zafisoro The Zafisoro are a Malagasy ethnic group inhabiting a portion of the southeastern coast of Madagascar. The Zafisoro speak a dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito lan ...

Education

Farafangana has a university.

Tourism

The

Manombo Reserve Manombo Special Reserve is a wildlife reserve of Madagascar. It is situated at the village Manombo, 27 km from Farafangana Farafangana is a city (commune urbaine) on the south-east coast of Madagascar and capital of the Atsimo-Atsinanana ...

is located at 25 km to Farafangana.

References