French people in Madagascar
Encyclopedia
There is a small but recognizable community of French people
in Madagascar
, of whom the vast majority are born in Madagascar
and are descended from former French
settlers and colonists who settled in Madagascar
during the 19th and 20th centuries brought by Francois Delouche. They constitute a minority ethnic group of Madagascar
.
established a greater foothold in Madagascar
in the 1840s, when the French
established a protectorate over the northwest part of Madagascar
following intense negotiations with the Sakalava
. By 1894, the entire island of Madagascar
was under French
rule and in 1896, it was declared a French
colony.
Many French settlers and colonists then settled in Madagascar
, mostly as farmers or political figures. This soon led to financial, political influence and dominance of the Colony
.
The small French community of settlers continued to dominate and held the majority of the Colony
s early wealth. However, in 1914, French authorities allowed the government to provide the Malagasy people
with their first representative figure and voice in the political sector, despite much uproar and controversy among the French in Madagascar
at the time.
French
economic aspirations at the time were strained by external and internal forces, particularly the fluctuating economy
. Since slavery
had been abolished in 1896 and the French had failed to force a sizeable amount of Chinese
and India
ns in 1907 into slavery
, the French struggled in many labor sectors. The labor demands from the Malagasy
conflicted with labor requirements for Europeans. In 1926, the French
were granted access to a government scheme, SMOTIG, a public works scheme.
Another setback to French settlers at the time was the climate. French farmers particularly faced the brunt of this. Several cyclone
s destroyed crops, placing affected French farmers in much financial trouble.
During the depression
of the 1930s, the colonial administration favored Coffee
over cash crops. From 1932, Europe
an farmers had access to 21 Agricultural Credit associations containing several thousand members.
In 1947 and 1948, the French colonial administration came under siege from the Democratic Movement for Malasy Reform (MDRM), as rebel bands attacked French colonial administration buildings and properties. This developed into a war, killing 550 French people
. Several thousand of the French people
in Madagascar
at the time emigrated to France
in fear of their safety.
Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s during Madagascar
's transition to an independent nation, the majority of the French
population emigrated, primarily to France
, as increased oppression weighed down heavily on the French
population at the time.
In the early 1970s, no more than 105,000 French people
remained in Madagascar
. This number stagnated and now the French
population in Madagascar
numbers approximately 124,000, of which 18,000 are French born.
population in Madagascar
speak French
as their first language. However, some also speak various local languages, such as Malagasy
, or dialects such as Plateau Malagasy and Betsimisaraka
Malagasy.
population in Madagascar
are Christian
adherents. The remainder of French people
residing in Madagascar
are mostly non-religious, but with a small minority of Jews
.
The vast majority of French
Christian
adherents in Madagascar
are Roman Catholic
with some Hugenots.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, of whom the vast majority are born in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
and are descended from former French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
settlers and colonists who settled in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
during the 19th and 20th centuries brought by Francois Delouche. They constitute a minority ethnic group of Madagascar
Ethnic groups of Madagascar
The number of ethnic groups of Madagascar has long been a point of contention and debate. The island of Madagascar is predominantly populated by people broadly classified as belonging to the broader Malagasy ethnic identity...
.
History
Several early attempts were made by French settlers to colonize portions of the island, to little lasting effect. The FrenchFrench people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
established a greater foothold in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
in the 1840s, when the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
established a protectorate over the northwest part of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
following intense negotiations with the Sakalava
Sakalava
The Sakalava are an ethnic group of Madagascar numbering approximately 700,000 in population. Their name means "people of the long valleys." They occupy the Western edge of the island from Toliara in the south to Sambirano in the north. The Sakalava denominate a number of smaller ethnic groups...
. By 1894, the entire island of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
was under French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
rule and in 1896, it was declared a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
colony.
Many French settlers and colonists then settled in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, mostly as farmers or political figures. This soon led to financial, political influence and dominance of the Colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
.
The small French community of settlers continued to dominate and held the majority of the Colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
s early wealth. However, in 1914, French authorities allowed the government to provide the Malagasy people
Malagasy people
The Malagasy ethnic group forms nearly the entire population of Madagascar. They are divided into two subgroups: the "Highlander" Merina, Sihanaka and Betsileo of the central plateau around Antananarivo, Alaotra and Fianarantsoa, and the côtiers elsewhere in the country. This division has its...
with their first representative figure and voice in the political sector, despite much uproar and controversy among the French in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
at the time.
French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
economic aspirations at the time were strained by external and internal forces, particularly the fluctuating economy
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
. Since slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
had been abolished in 1896 and the French had failed to force a sizeable amount of Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
ns in 1907 into slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, the French struggled in many labor sectors. The labor demands from the Malagasy
Malagasy people
The Malagasy ethnic group forms nearly the entire population of Madagascar. They are divided into two subgroups: the "Highlander" Merina, Sihanaka and Betsileo of the central plateau around Antananarivo, Alaotra and Fianarantsoa, and the côtiers elsewhere in the country. This division has its...
conflicted with labor requirements for Europeans. In 1926, the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
were granted access to a government scheme, SMOTIG, a public works scheme.
Another setback to French settlers at the time was the climate. French farmers particularly faced the brunt of this. Several cyclone
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
s destroyed crops, placing affected French farmers in much financial trouble.
During the depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
of the 1930s, the colonial administration favored Coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
over cash crops. From 1932, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an farmers had access to 21 Agricultural Credit associations containing several thousand members.
In 1947 and 1948, the French colonial administration came under siege from the Democratic Movement for Malasy Reform (MDRM), as rebel bands attacked French colonial administration buildings and properties. This developed into a war, killing 550 French people
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
. Several thousand of the French people
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
at the time emigrated to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in fear of their safety.
Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s during Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
's transition to an independent nation, the majority of the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
population emigrated, primarily to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, as increased oppression weighed down heavily on the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
population at the time.
In the early 1970s, no more than 105,000 French people
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
remained in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
. This number stagnated and now the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
population in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
numbers approximately 124,000, of which 18,000 are French born.
Language
The vast majority of the FrenchFrench people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
population in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
speak French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
as their first language. However, some also speak various local languages, such as Malagasy
Malagasy language
Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar, a member of the Austronesian family of languages. Most people in Madagascar speak it as a first language as do some people of Malagasy descent elsewhere.-History:...
, or dialects such as Plateau Malagasy and Betsimisaraka
Betsimisaraka
The Betsimisaraka make up approximately fifteen percent of the Malagasy people and are the second largest ethnic group in Madagascar after the Merina....
Malagasy.
Religion
87% of the FrenchFrench people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
population in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
are Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
adherents. The remainder of French people
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
residing in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
are mostly non-religious, but with a small minority of Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
.
The vast majority of French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
adherents in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
are Roman Catholic
Roman Catholicism in Madagascar
The Catholic Church in Madagascar is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome....
with some Hugenots.
See also
- White AfricanWhite AfricanWhite Africans are people of European descent living in Africa, who identify themselves as White....
- French peopleFrench peopleThe French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
- Franco-MauritianFranco-MauritianFranco-Mauritians are people of mainly French origin who reside in Mauritius. They number more than 24,000.-Origins:The first French settlers arrived in Mauritius in 1722, after the previous attempts of settlement by the Dutch had failed, and the island had once again become abandoned...
- Franco-SeychelloisFranco-SeychelloisFranco-Seychellois are people of French origin living in the Seychelles. They form the country's second-largest ethnic group .-Origins:Many Franco-Seychellois settled on the islands during the period of French rule over the archipelago. During this time, African and Malagasy slaves were also...
- Huguenots in South AfricaHuguenots in South AfricaA large number of people in South Africa are descended from Huguenots. Most of these originally settled in the Cape Colony, but have since been quickly absorbed into the Afrikaner and Afrikaans population, thanks to sharing a similar religion to the Dutch colonists.-History:Even before the large...
External links
- World Culture Encyclopedia, 'Africa / Middle East', http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/index.html, Accessed: 28/07/09