Miary is a rural 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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Toliara II Toliara (also known as ''Toliary'', ; formerly ''Tuléar'') is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of national capital Antananarivo. The current spelling of the name was adopted ...

, which is a part of

Atsimo-Andrefana Region Atsimo-Andrefana is a region of Madagascar. It borders Menabe in north, Amoron'i Mania and Haute Matsiatra in northeast, Ihorombe and Anosy in east and Androy in southeast. The capital is Toliara and the population was 1,799,088 in 2018. Atsimo ...

. The population of the municipality was estimated to be approximately 12500 in 2008 of which 90% are

Masikoro The Masikoro are a group of farmers and herders who inhabit areas surrounding the Mikea Forest, a patch of mixed spiny forest and dry deciduous forest along the coast of southwestern Madagascar in Toliara Province. Along with Vezo and Mikea, the Ma ...

. The municipality has 11 fokontany (villages). Primary and junior level secondary education are available in town. The rate of scolarization in Miary had been 70% in 2007. Farming and raising livestock provides employment for 40% and 40% of the working population. The most important crops are

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

and

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, 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 ...

, while other important agricultural products are

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

and

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

. Services provide employment for 20% of the population. Miary has a health center Type II (CSB II).

Geography

Miary lies on the left banks of the lower

Fiherenana River ''Fiherenana'' is a river in the region Atsimo-Andrefana in southern Madagascar. It flows into the Indian Ocean at Tulear. Due to a local '' fady'' (taboo), pirogue A pirogue ( or ), also called a piragua or piraga, is any of various sma ...

, 10 km North-East of

Tulear Toliara (also known as ''Toliary'', ; formerly ''Tuléar'') is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of national capital Antananarivo. The current spelling of the name was adopted ...

Sights

Miary is famous its sacred tree (''L'arbre de Miary''), a

banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

which is said to be 1,700 years old.Heiko Hooge: ''Madagaskar'', p. 110. Ostfildern 2023 It is in the eastern part of the village close to the Market Place. On the Market Place opposite the Town hall (''Mairie''), a market hall and an independence memorial can be visited. MiaryL'Arbre1.jpg, L'arbre de Miary MiaryL'Arbre2.jpg, L'arbre de miary MiaryMairie.jpg, Town hall MiaryPlaceDuMarché.jpg, Market Place MiaryMarkthalle1.jpg, Market hall

References

Populated places in Atsimo-Andrefana {{AtsimoAndrefana-geo-stub