ABSTRACT
The island of Madagascar, which the Republic of Malagasy occupies, is the thirdlargest island in the world, occupying some 600,000 square kilometers, and lying off the southeast coast of Africa. The history of the island is one of successive migrations. Data from the early period of settlement are even scarcer than for many other oral cultures, since archaeological evidence has been largely destroyed by the torrential rains of the wet season in areas of particular historical interest.
