Maevatanana is an urban municipality in

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 ...

. The city is in the central-north part of the island, at the

Ikopa River The Ikopa River is the second longest waterway in Madagascar and passes through the capital, Antananarivo. It is the largest tributary of the Betsiboka River. It is formed by the Varahina-North and Varahina-South Rivers. Its spring, named Varah ...

, and is connected by the national road RN 4 to

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 ...

and Mahajanga. The altitude is low and as it is located far from the coast, temperatures tend to be high. The city 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 ...

Maevatanana Maevatanana is an urban municipality in Madagascar. The city is in the central-north part of the island, at the Ikopa River, and is connected by the national road RN 4 to Antananarivo and Mahajanga. The altitude is low and as it is located far f ...

, which is a part of

Betsiboka Region Betsiboka is a region of Madagascar. It borders Boeny Region in north, Sofia in northeast, Alaotra-Mangoro in east, Analamanga and Bongolava in south and Melaky in west. The capital of the region is Maevatanana. Until 2009 Betsiboka belonged to Ma ...

. Maevatanana is the capital of the

Betsiboka Betsiboka is a Regions of Madagascar, region of Madagascar. It borders Boeny Region in north, Sofia Region, Sofia in northeast, Alaotra-Mangoro in east, Analamanga and Bongolava in south and Melaky in west. The capital of the region is Maevatanana. ...

region, and the population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 24,000 in 2001 commune

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 ...

. In addition to primary schooling the town offers secondary education at both junior and senior levels. Maevatanana hosts the annex of the University Institute of Management and Administration (IUGM) of the

University of Mahajanga 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 ...

. The town has a permanent court and hospital. The majority 60% of the population of the commune are farmers, while an additional 7% receive their livelihood from raising livestock. The most important crops are

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

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

; also

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...

es are an important agricultural product. Industry and services provide employment for 5% and 15% of the population, respectively. Additionally fishing employs 13% of the population.

Infrastructure

Route Nationale 4 The Route nationale 4 is a trunk road ( nationale) in France between Paris and the frontier with Germany. Reclassification The RN 4 has been re-classified around Nancy as the RD 400 as through traffic is now directed onto the Autoroutes A 31 and A ...

from

to Mahajanga.

Rivers

Maevatanana lies between the

and the

Betsiboka River Betsiboka River is a long river in central-north Madagascar. It flows northwestward and empties to Bombetoka Bay, forming a large river delta, delta. It originates to the east of Antananarivo. The river is surrounded in mangroves. The river is di ...

Mining

The are important gold mining operations near the town where 20 kgs of gold are extracted weekly.L’or, le mal malgache !
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References

{{coord, 16, 57, S, 46, 50, E, display=title Cities in Madagascar Populated places in Betsiboka Regional capitals in Madagascar Gold mines in Madagascar