Antsirabe, Vakinankaratra Region, Madagascar

History | Languages | Places of worship | Government | Architecture | Geography | Bodies of water | Economy | Infrastructure | Sport : Football | Basketball | Education | Museums

🇲🇬 Antsirabe is the third largest city in Madagascar and the capital of the Vakinankaratra region. In Madagascar, Antsirabe is known for its relatively cool climate, its industry and the high concentration of pulled rickshaws or pousse-pousse.

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History The area where Antsirabe is found today was part of the Kingdom of Andrantsay which existed from the early 1600s until it was incorporated into the Imerina kingdom in the early 1800s. The area was a farming region, with production of rice, vegetables and fruit.

The first Norwegian (Lutheran) missionaries arrived in 1868. Limestone and sulphur were exploited in the area at this time.

The city was founded by Norwegian missionary T.G. Rosaas in 1872 as a hill station to serve as a retreat centre because of the much cooler climate. The thermal baths were opened in 1917.

In 1886 the Norwegian mission established the leper hospital of Ambohipiantrana and it quickly developed into a village for lepers. The colonial government decided to make it the leper hospital of Vakinankaratra and the around 950 people with the illness lived there in 1904.

During the French colonial rule the centre of the Vakinankaratra region shifted from the Andrantsay capital of Fivavahana to Antsirabe.

In 1921 it succeeded Betafó as the seat of a Catholic (pre-diocesan) Apostolic vicariate, and was promoted to a bishopric in 1955.

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Languages The majority of the population belongs to the Merina ethnic group, which speaks a highland dialect of Malagasy. As in other urban areas of Madagascar, French is widely understood.

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Places of worship The places of worship, are predominantly Christian churches and temples: • Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar • Malagasy Lutheran Church • Assemblies of God • Association of Bible Baptist Churches in Madagascar • Roman Catholic Diocese of Antsirabe

There are also Muslim mosques.

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Government Antsirabe is an urban commune or municipality (kaominina). The borders of the commune are identical with those of the Antsirabe I District. Antsirabe is also the capital of the Vakinankaratra region.

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Architecture Several buildings in central Antsirabe date back to the first decades of the 20th century. These include the thermal bath centre (opened in 1917), Hôtel des Thermes (1922), the railway station (1923), and the residence for French retirees (1934).

Other sights are la Stèle de l'Indépendance (the Stele of Independence) on Independence Avenue and the two public markets: Antsenakely ("The Small Market") and the bigger Asabotsy.

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Geography Antsirabe is situated at an altitude of about 1,500 m (4,900 ft).

The Ankaratra volcanic field covers an area about 100 km long from Antsirabe northwards to Arivonimamo where highest peak reaches 2,644 m (8,675 ft). This volcanic field is "the most prominent and volcanologically diverse (sic) on Madagascar". Several water-filled craters are found in the area around Antsirabe, including Lake Tritriva to the south-west. There are hot springs which are utilised by the Ranomafana thermal bath in the city.

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Bodies of water • Lake Tritriva (15 km from Antsirabe) • Lake Andraikiba (7 km from Antsirabe)

The Mania River is south of Antsirabe.

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Economy Textile (COTONA, Cottonline, Aquarelle), Beverages (Star Brasseries, Malto), Food industry (Socolait, Tsarafy), Tobacco (SACIMEM), Mineral water (Sté. des Eaux Minerales, Ranovisy), soap production (Soba).

An Export Processing Zone is located in Antsirabe and the town is the home of several factories, including Star Brasseries (beverages), Cotona (textiles) and Kobama (grain).

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Infrastructure The city is at the end of the TA (Tananarive-Antsirabe) railway line, part of the Network North railway, which links Antsirabe to the capital and the port city of Toamasina. The line is operated by Madarail, currently only with freight trains. The line has been extended southwards through Vinaninkarena, but this extension is not in use.

National road 7 (RN7) connects the city to Antananarivo in the north and to Fianarantsoa and Toliara to the south. Antsirabe is connected with Morondava on the west coast through RN34 and RN 35.

Public transport to and from Antsirabe are provided by taxi-brousses (share taxis) and buses. Most taxi-brousses operate from the main bus station in the north of the city.

Within the city public transport consists of small buses and numerous pulled rickshaws ("pousse-pousse"), as well as cycle rickshaw ("cyclo-pousse"), auto rickshaw ("touktouks") and private taxis. The pousse-pousse is something of an emblem of the city; 5600 of them were recorded in 2006.

There is also an airport.

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Sport: Football • FC Vakinankaratra • FC Jirama Antsirabe

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Basketball: • GNBC

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Education The Institute of Higher Education of Antsirabe Vakinankaratra is the regional branch of the University of Antananarivo.

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Museums The Military Academy of Antsirabe hosts the Akamia museum, a military museum.

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Antananarivo Time 
Antananarivo Time
Image: Photo by Brent Ninaber on Unsplash

Antsirabe has a population of over 265,018 people. Antsirabe also forms the centre of the wider Vakinankaratra Region which has a population of over 2,074,358 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Antsirabe see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Antsirabe has links with:

🇫🇷 Levallois-Perret, France 🇫🇷 Montluçon, France 🇳🇴 Stavanger, Norway 🇲🇺 Vacoas-Phoenix, Mauritius
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Antsirabe is: -132.966,19.862

Locations Near: Antsirabe 47.0337,-19.8617

🇲🇬 Antanifotsy 47.324,-19.661 d: 37.6  

🇲🇬 Antananarivo 47.517,-18.917 d: 116.7  

🇲🇬 Fianarantsoa 47.078,-21.46 d: 177.7  

🇲🇬 Morondava 44.317,-20.283 d: 287.6  

🇲🇬 Toamasina 49.4,-18.15 d: 313.2  

🇾🇹 Mamoudzou 45.232,-12.781 d: 810.4  

🇲🇬 Antsiranana 49.283,-12.3 d: 874.4  

🇲🇿 Angoche 39.906,-16.228 d: 854.8  

🇰🇲 Mutsamudu 44.383,-12.167 d: 901.2  

🇫🇷 Saint-Paul 55.27,-21.01 d: 867.5  

Antipodal to: Antsirabe -132.966,19.862

🇺🇸 Lompoc -120.448,34.647 d: 17961.5  

🇺🇸 Santa Maria -120.436,34.948 d: 17935  

🇺🇸 Santa Barbara -119.7,34.417 d: 17935.6  

🇺🇸 San Luis Obispo -120.65,35.267 d: 17919.7  

🇺🇸 Ventura -119.293,34.281 d: 17921.2  

🇺🇸 Oxnard -119.182,34.188 d: 17921.6  

🇺🇸 Camarillo -119.049,34.227 d: 17910  

🇺🇸 Monterey -121.883,36.6 d: 17864.1  

🇲🇽 San Quintín -115.933,30.55 d: 17934  

🇺🇸 Thousand Oaks -118.855,34.197 d: 17899.9  

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