Matsondana is a town and commune ( mg, kaominina) 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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Befandriana-Nord Befandriana-Avaratra (literally North Befandriana; also Befandriana-Nord) is a city and urban commune (commune urbaine; mg, kaominina) in northern Madagascar. It belongs to the Districts of Madagascar, district of Befandriana-Nord District, Befa ...

, which is a part of

Sofia Region Sofia is a region in northern Madagascar. It is named for the Sofia River. The region covers 50,100 km² and had a population of 1,500,227 in 2018. The administrative capital is Antsohihy. Administrative divisions Sofia Region is divided int ...

. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 40,000 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 ...

. Matsondana is served by a local airport. Primary and junior level secondary education are available in town. The majority 54% of the population of the commune are farmers, while an additional 43% receives 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

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 ...

; also

bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

s are an important agricultural product. Services provide employment for 3% of the population.

References and notes

Populated places in Sofia Region {{SofiaMG-geo-stub