Fianarantsoa Province is a former

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. It has an area of 103,272 km² and population of 3,366,291 (July 2001 estimate). Its capital was

Fianarantsoa Fianarantsoa is a city (commune urbaine) in south central Madagascar, and is the capital of Haute Matsiatra Region. History It was built in the early 19th century by the Merina as the administrative capital for the newly conquered Betsileo kin ...

. The province along with the 5 other was abolished in 2007 in favour of creation of smaller regions to facilitate administration. Apart from the capital the major towns were Andohapatsakana, Alakamisy, Fianarantsoa and Fanjakana. The province was home to four major national parks:

Ranomafana National Park Ranomafana National Park is a national park in southeastern Madagascar, in the Haute Matsiatra and Vatovavy regions. It was established as Madagascar's fourth national park in 1991 following the rediscovery of the greater bamboo lemur (''Hap ...

, Midongy Du Sud, Isalo National Park, and Andringitra. It was frequently referred by its abbreviated form of "Fianar". Fianarantsoa means "Good education".

Geography and demographics

Fianarantsoa Province bordered the Toamasina Province in the north, Antananarivo Province in the northwest, Toliara Province in the west and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

in the east. 60,000 people spoke the southern Malagasy Betsimisaraka language. In spite of presence of rice producing areas a very high majority of the population lived in poverty. The province's economy suffered greatly due to environmental issues and poor agricultural practices. Around 75% of the province's population lived below the poverty line. The province recorded the highest fertility rate in Madagascar. The average fertility rate per woman was greater than 6. The combined population of the Antananarivo and Fianarantsoa was more than that of the remaining provinces. It was the stronghold of former president

Marc Ravalomanana Marc Ravalomanana (; born 12 December 1949) is a Malagasy politician who served as the sixth List of presidents of Madagascar, president of Madagascar from 2002 to 2009. Born into a farming Merina people, Merina family in Imerinkasinina, near th ...

. The major ethnic groups were Betsimisaraka, Betsileo, Antaisaka and Bara. Betsimisaraka and Antaisaka inhabited the east coast of the province while Betsileo people lived in the southern parts of the province.

Fauna

Several shrew species like '' Microgale cowani'', '' Microgale gracilis'', '' Microgale gymnorhyncha'', '' Microgale longicaudata'', '' Microgale principula'', '' Microgale pusilla'', '' Microgale taiva'' and '' Microgale talazaci'' were endemic to the province. Many snake species were also endemic to the province.

Education

Illiteracy was also an important issue. In 2002 around 1200 unopened schools were located in the province. Most of them were constructed by the government. The survival rates were very low. To increase the literacy rate the government had subsidised private schools.

Abolition

The province's president was Fidy Mpanjato Rakotonarivo (since 2005). The provinces were abolished following the results of Malagasy constitutional referendum, 2007 which led to the formation of 22 smaller areas (''faritra'' or regions) to facilitate regional development.

Administrative divisions

Fianarantsoa Province was divided into five regions of Madagascar - Atsimo-Atsinanana,

Amoron'i Mania Amoron'i Mania (''Translated: Banks of the Mania'') is a region in central Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. ...

, Haute Matsiatra,

Ihorombe Ihorombe is a region in Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is ...

and Vatovavy-Fitovinany. These five regions became the first-level administrative divisions when the provinces were abolished in 2009. They are sub-divided into 23 districts: * Atsimo-Atsinanana region: ** 5. Befotaka ** 7. Farafangana ** 19. Midongy-Sud ** 21. Vangaindrano ** 23. Vondrozo *

region: ** 2. Ambatofinandrahana ** 4. Ambositra ** 6. Fandriana ** 17. Manandriana * Haute Matsiatra region: ** 1. Ambalavao ** 3. Ambohimahasoa ** 8. Fianarantsoa Rural ** 9.

Urban ** 13. Ikalamavony *

region: ** 10. Iakora District ( Iakora) ** 12. Ihosy District ( Ihosy) ** 15. Ivohibe District ( Ivohibe) * Vatovavy-Fitovinany region: ** 11. Ifanadiana ** 14. Ikongo ** 16. Manakara-Atsimo ** 18. Mananjary ** 20. Nosy Varika ** 22. Vohipeno

References

{{Authority control Provinces of Madagascar