Top 10 Mada­gas­car facts

Indigenous Australians. Although Madagascar is only 230 km away from Africa, the old African people didn't like to go deep in the sea. The first people who actually have reached Madagascar were Austronesians from Borneo around 500 BC.

Water storage. The swollen trunk of the baobab tree can store as much as 31,700 gallons (120,000 l) of water to endure harsh drought conditions. Indigenous Australians used baobabs as a source of water.

In Madagascar. The aye-aye is a lemur. Like all other lemurs, it is native to Madagascar.

Madagascar. Brookesia micra is a species of chameleons from the islet of Nosy Hara in Antsiranana, Madagascar. As of 14 February 2012, it is the smallest known chameleon and among the smallest reptiles. In length, adult Brookesia micra can grow up to 29 mm

Baobabs. These large trees are the only remnants of the tropical forest that once grown in the area. The baobabs were simply too large and tough to be cleared without mechanical tools. The tree can grow up to nearly 100 feet (30 m) tall and 35 feet (11 m) wide.

Aye-aye. The classification of the aye-aye has been debated since its discovery. It was first classified as rodent, and as a squirel. However, the aye-aye is also similar to felines in its head shape, eyes, ears and nostrils. Molecular tests had shown it belongs to the lemurs superfamily.

Kabosy. The kabosy is a box-shaped wooden guitar commonly played in music of Madagascar. It has four to six strings and is commonly thought to be a direct descendant of the Arabic oud. The kabosy has staggered frets, many of which do not even cross the entire fretboard, and is generally tuned to an open chord. A kabosy-like instrument with standard frets is known as a mandalina or mandoliny. Notable players of the kabosy include Babata and Jean Emilien.

5 iraimbilanja. The ariary is the currency of Madagascar. It is subdivided into 5 iraimbilanja and is one of only two non-decimal currencies currently circulating (the other is the Mauritanian ouguiya). Iraimbilanja means literally "one iron weight" and was the name of an old coin worth ​1⁄5 of an ariary.

Antananarivo served as capital of Madagascar well before the French colonization of the island. It was the seat of Radama I, who was considered the King of Madagascar by European diplomats in the early XIXth century.

Indri. The indri also called the babakoto, is one of the largest living lemurs, with a head-and-body length of about 64–72 cm (25–28 in) and a weight of between 6 to 9.5 kg (13 to 21 lb). It is a diurnal tree-dweller related to the sifakas and, like all lemurs, it is native to Madagascar. It is revered by the Malagasy people and plays an important part in their myths and legends.