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[http://www.madacamp.com/Andrianampoinimerina_-_King_of_Merina_Kingdom Andrianampoinimerina] conquered nearly all of Madagascar, creating the most powerful Merina kingdom ever.
The Merina people are of Malayo-Polynesian origin, which reflects in their appearance: their skin colour varies from light brown to very dark and their hair is straight. Historically the Merina are divided in three castes: the Andriana (nobles), the Hova (freemen) and the Andevo (serfs). Legally these those divisions do not longer exist.
Most Merina houses are built of bricks and mud, sometimes even two-storeyed. Almost each village has a church, often even two: Catholic and Protestant. The Merina are rice farmers and their cuisine is so heavily dominated by rice, so that the term for eating a meal is simply "to eat rice".
Merina worship the water spirits, known as the [[Vazimba]] who inhabited the land before the arrival of humans and are believed to have supernatural power. The Merina bury the dead in tombs. [[Famadihana]] - the ''turning of the bones'' - is a Merina custom.