Ethnic Groups

Strictly speaking are the tribes of Madagascar ethnic groups with their own culture and religion. Many ethnic groups had their own kingdoms in the past. The cultural and religious background of the various tribes is dominated by ancestor worship, which sees the ancestors as mediators between the living and God.

Due to continuing population movements and mixing with each other it is very difficult to declare strict regional borders for all tribes.

• Antaifasy - People of the sands
  Southeastern Madagascar: near Farafangana
  
  
• Antaimoro or Antemoro - People of the coast
  Southeastern Madagascar: near Vohipeno and Manakara
  
  
• Antaisaka or Antesaka (subgroup of Sakalava) - People of the valley
  Southern Madagascar: near Farafangana
  
  
• Antankarana - Those of the rocks
  Northern Madagascar: near Diego-Suarez
  
  
• Antambahoaka - Those of the people
  Southeastern Madagascar: near Mananjary
  
  
• Antrandroy - People of the thorns
  Southern Madagascar: near Ambovombe
  
  
• Antanosy - People of the island
  Southern Madagascar: near Taolagnaro (Ft. Dauphin)
  
  
• Bara
  South-central Madagascar: near Isalo, Ihosy and Betroka
  
  
• Betsileo - The many invincibles
  Southern-central highlands of Madagascar: especially around Fianarantsoa but also a splinter group in the Betsiboka region
  
  
• Betsimisaraka - The many inseparables
  Eastern Madagascar: Toamasina to Antalaha
  
  
• Bezanozano - Many small plaits
  Central highlands and eastern Madagascar: the area between the Betsimisaraka lowlands and the Merina highlands
  
  
• Mahafaly - Those who make taboos or Those who make happy
  Southwestern Madagascar: desert around Ampanihy and Ejeda
  
  
• Makoa or Mikea
  Western Madagascar
  
  
• Merina - People of the highlands or Those from the country where one can see far
  Central highlands of Madagascar
  
  
• St. Marians
  Ile Ste Marie (Nosy Boraha)
  
  
• Sakalava - People of the long valleys
  Western Madagascar; widespread in this region
  
  
• Sihanaka - People of the swamps
  Northeastern Madagascar: around Lake Alaotra
  
  
• Tanala: Ikongo and Menabe - People of the forest
  Eastern Madagascar: near Manakara
  
  
• Tsimihety - Those who do not cut their hair
  Northern Madagascar
  
  
• Vazimba - Those which were always there
  All over Madagascar
  
  
• Vezo (subgroup of Sakalava) - Fishing people
  Southwestern Madagascar: coastal regions
  
  
• Zafimaniry
  South-central Madagascar: highlands near Ambositra

African origins of the Malagasies

It is assumed that the population of Madagascar was formed through successive migrations of peoples from southeast Asia, the Arabian peninsula and East Africa and were grafted onto an aboriginal population of unknown origin, called the Vazimba. Once established, all these groups created a common language known as Malagasy, spoken and practiced throughout the island.

According to some assertions, the Malagasy are Africans as their country is not far from the African continent, but this is only true for some groups and not the entire population despite the existence of Bantu and Swahili words in the linguistic vocabulary of north western Madagascar. This may be explained by the fact the individuals from the other side of the Mozambique Channel were the objects of the slave trade carried out by Arab and Indian merchants, who came to sell slaves in some ports of the Big Island. Snatched from the African coastal regions such as Somalia and Zanzibar, these slaves intermarried with the indigenous population continuing to speak their own language while practicing that of the host country.

From the early part of the 19th century eminent scientists from several countries around the world suggest it would be a mistake to consider that all those who have dark skins in Madagascar are of African descent, as among the migrants from southeast Asia there were numbers of Melanesians whose skin colour is similar to that of Africans.

Designated under collective name of mozambika, the Africans sold in Madagascar were emancipated by a royal edict signed by Queen Ranavalona II in 1877 forbidding their sale and immigration to Madagascar and those released could choose between staying as free men in Madagascar or going home. But as many did not know where they came from they remained and integrated themselves into the population, forming part of the nation's lineage.

Additional information

• No one is an island - The history of human genetic ancestry in Madagascar (Jul 2016, phys.org)