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Madagascar: The Exotic Island
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Madagascar: The Exotic Island
Unknown Looking at a map of the southern hemisphere, one wouldn't expect such a seemingly "small" island to be so exotic and bountiful, but the island of Madagascar is just that. A 226,658 square mile (587,041 square kilometers) piece of land, with a a coastline of about 2,480 miles (3,990 kilometers), it's a beautiful and different view of its large neighbor, Africa. The island itself is made up of ridges, rivers, valleys, and tropical forests sectioning off the different regions of the landscape, scattered trees and tall grasses to one side, narrow coastal plains, and low plataeus and plains off to another. To the north is Mt. Maromokotro, the highest peak on the island at 9,436 feet (2,876 meters). Coral beaches line the east coast, adding to the natural beauty of the already lovely landscape. The tropical climate provides varying amounts of rainfall-from 83 inches (211 centimeters) in the northwest to 14 inches (36 centimeters) in the southwest. The drought-infested south is extremely hot and dry, and the west is hot and wet. Indian Ocean cyclones bring periodic heavy rains and destructive floods. Once covered by forests, most of the island now has a savannah-steppe vegetation with a few forests in the west and evergreen forests on the eastern edge of the central plateau. An interesting climate for such a unique place. The animals there are also different and the likes of which not found anywhere else; not even in Africa. 50 species of l...
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