_#_Environment: subject to periodic cyclones; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
_#_Note: world's fourth-largest island; strategic location along Mozambique Channel
_*People #_Population: 12,185,318 (July 1991), growth rate 3.2% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 95 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 51 years male, 54 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 6.9 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun—Malagasy (sing. and pl.); adjective—Malagasy