Mantasoa is a 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 ...

. It 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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

Manjakandriana Manjakandriana is a town and commune in Manjakandriana District, Analamanga Region, in the Central Highlands of Madagascar. It is located 47 km east of Antananarivo on the Route Nationale RN2 and the railway line from Antananarivo - Toama ...

, which is a part of

Analamanga Region Analamanga is a region in central Madagascar, containing the capital Antananarivo and its surrounding metropolitan area. The region has an area of , and had a population of 3,618,128 in 2018. Administrative divisions Analamanga Region is divided in ...

. The population of the municipality was 10,604 in 2018. Mantasoa is located at 68 km East of

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

. 60 villages in 11 Fokontany (localities) belong to this municipality.

Education

There are 20 schools in Mantasoa: 14 primary schools and 6 secondary schools.

Economy

The majority 95.5% of the population of the commune are farmers, while an additional 0.5% receives their livelihood from raising livestock. The most important crop is

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

, while other important products are beans,

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

and sweet potatoes. Services provide employment for 3% of the population. Additionally fishing employs 1% of the population. 20,05 km2 (18,9%) of the surface of this municipality is occupied by the

Lake Mantasoa Lake Mantasoa is a large lake with a surface area of , created by the Mantasoa Dam on the Varahina river (an affluent of the Ikopa river) in the municipality of Mantasoa, Analamanga region of Madagascar. It provides tabbed water for the capitol An ...

. 9 km2 is agriculture land, 3,1 km2 by rice and 5,71 km2 of other plantations (Tanety). West of the lake is private land with

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...

and

Pinus A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden ...

plantations over 15,73 km2. Only 3,1 km2 of the original forests remain.

History

Matasoa was one of the first industrial sites in Madagascar From 1837 onwards, the Frenchman

Jean Laborde Jean Laborde (16 October 1805 in Auch - 27 December 1878 in Mantasoa, Madagascar) was an adventurer and early industrialist in Madagascar. He became the chief engineer of the Merina monarchy, supervising the creation of a modern manufacturing cent ...

, in contract with the queen

Ranavalona I Ranavalona I (born Rabodoandrianampoinimerina (also called Ramavo); 1778 – 16 August 1861), also known as Ranavalo-Manjaka I and the “Mad Monarch of Madagascar” was sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar from 1828 to 1861. After posi ...

, built up an industrial complex where 1,200 workmen produced

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

s, rifles, bullets, swords, bricks, tiles, pottery, glass, porcelain, silk, soap, candles, sealing-wax, lime, cement, charcoal, ink, dyes, sugar, rum, sulphuric acid, and lightning conductors. In present time its premises house the Lycée ''Jean Laborde'' and the technical lycée of Mantasoa. The site has been placed on Madagascar's Tentative List for future inclusion in Unesco's World Heritage List.Unesco: Complex Industriel Mantasoa
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Rivers

* 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 the Varahina, an affluent, cross the municipality.

Lakes

References