Saint Augustin (also known as Ianantsony; ) is a rural municipality 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 the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. 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, municip ...

of Toliara II, which is a part of Atsimo-Andrefana Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 15,000 in 2001 commune

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

. The mouth of the

Onilahy River Onilahy is a river in Atsimo-Andrefana and Anosy ( Toliara Province), southern Madagascar. It flows down from the hills near Betroka to the Mozambique Channel. It empties at St. Augustin (), and into the Bay of Saint-Augustin. Two species of cic ...

is near the town. Primary and junior level secondary education are available in town. The majority 60% of the population works in fishing. 23% are farmers, while an additional 10% receives their livelihood from raising livestock. The most important crops are

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of ...

es and

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

; also

lima beans A lima bean (''Phaseolus lunatus''), also commonly known as butter bean, sieva bean, double bean or Madagascar bean, is a legume grown for its edible seeds or beans. Origin and uses ''Phaseolus lunatus'' is found in Meso- and South America. Tw ...

is an important agricultural product. Services provide employment for 7% of the population. England's Courteen association attempted to sponsor a colony nearby in 1645 but by 1646 famine, disease, and conflict with the Malagasy drove the English settlers away and the colony failed. Pirates such as John Pro, Thomas White, Samuel Burgess, and John Halsey frequented the area in the early 18th century. Ex-pirate

John Rivers Sir John Rivers (died 27 February 1584) was a Tudor-era businessman who became Lord Mayor of London. He was born to Richard Rivers, steward of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham's lands. Alternate spelling includes John Ryvers. He was a ...

established a pirate settlement at Saint Augustin, resupplying passing ships for a fee and trading in slaves; his trading post lasted from 1686 until his death in 1719.

Geography

It is situated south of

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

(Tuléar) at the mouth of the

to the

Bay of Saint-Augustin The Bay of Saint-Augustin is located on the southwestern coast of Madagascar in the region of Atsimo-Andrefana at the Mozambique Channel. This bay is the mouth of the Onilahy River at a distance of 35 kilometres south of Toliara Toliara (also kn ...

and the Indian Ocean. There used to be a ferry over the Onilahy to Soalara but it broke down. Bac Fiavota abandonné.
/ref> It is necessary to take small outrigger canoes or to make the trip around the bay (250 km) since 2021.

References

Populated places in Atsimo-Andrefana Pirate dens and locations {{AtsimoAndrefana-geo-stub