Environment - current issues:
soil erosion results from deforestation and overgrazing;
desertification; surface water contaminated with raw sewage and
other organic wastes; several species of flora and fauna unique to
the island are endangered
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
world's fourth-largest island; strategic location along Mozambique
Channel
People Madagascar
Population:
16,979,744 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (male 3,822,823; female 3,807,958)
15-64 years: 51.9% (male 4,366,748; female 4,452,686)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 243,411; female 286,118) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 17.4 years
male: 17.2 years
female: 17.6 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
3.03% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
42.16 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
11.88 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)