Madagascar is located east of Mozambique off the southeastern coast of Africa, and is the fourth largest island in the world. Its 581,540 sq km of land cover the equivalent of about two Arizona's in the United States, yet reportedly only 5% of that land is arable. The climate is temperate in the inland highland regions, tropical along most of the narrow eastern coastal plains, and arid in the south. Natural resources include semi-precious stones, fish, salt, coal, hydropower, graphite, mica, and bauxite. Depending on the source, average per capita income is reported at US $550 to US$800. Fifty-two percent of the people in Madagascar hold indigenous religious beliefs (ancestor worship), 41% are Christian (Catholic and Protestant), and 7% are Muslim.

Madagascar is considered one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world. Of the over 12,000 species of flowering plants found there, 10,000 are found nowhere else in the world. However, due to rapid deforestation, only 18% of the original forest covers remain.

Madagascar 's population of 18 million is of African and Asian descent. Eighteen tribal groups have emerged from the ethnic and cultural mix. Malagasy, which is of Malay-Polynesian origin, is the dominant language, though many Malagasy also speak French. Contact with foreign traders over the centuries, as well as colonial rule for over 200 years by the British, Germans, and most recently the French, color Madagascar 's history and culture.

Madagascar regained full independence in 1960. In 2001, the Malagasy people elected Marc Ravalomanana president, a move the Economist holds may be "[reason] for optimism". The Christian Science Monitor writes that "despite the hardship and uncertainty...observers describe events here as positive growing pains of a slowly maturing democracy".