Madagascar
Madagasikara
Waiting for the first voice
تا مرد سخن نگفته باشد / عیب و هنرش نهفته باشد
Until a man has spoken, his faults and his gifts both stay hidden.
No advice from here yet. Know an elder from this country? Your recording could be the first: 2–3 minutes on a phone.
Did you know
All of Madagascar's lemurs and amphibian species are endemic: in the wild they live nowhere else. (source)
Elders in numbers
- of people are 65 or older
- 3.5%
- people aged 65 or older
- 1.1M
- will be 65 or older in 2050
- 5.4%
- is how long people live after 60, on average
- 16.7 years
- of people 65+ live alone
- 11.7%
- women 15%, men 8.2%
Sources: World Bank, 2025; World Bank projection for 2050; WHO, 2023; UN, 2021
Languages
15 languages, 1 of them endangered
- MaoreDefinitely endangered
- American Sign Language
- Bara
- Fiteny Antankarana
- Madagascar Sign Language
- Mahafaly-Antanalana Malagasy
- Masikoro Malagasy
- Northern Betsimisaraka Malagasy
- Plateau Malagasy
- Sakalava Malagasy
- Southern Betsimisaraka Malagasy
- Tandroy
Show all 15
- Tanosy
- Tesaka Malagasy
- Tsimihety Malagasy
Languages and their status: Glottolog v5.3, CC BY 4.0. Names: Wikidata.
UNESCO intangible heritage
- Tsapiky, rhythm and musical style characteristic of the South-West region of Madagascar2025
- Hiragasy, a performing art of the Central Highlands of Madagascar2023
- Malagasy Kabary, the Malagasy oratorical art2021
- Woodcrafting knowledge of the Zafimaniry2008
List and years: ich.unesco.org
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