Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately 400 kilometres (250 miles) off the coast of East Africa across the Mozambique Channel. At 592,800 square kilometres (228,900 sq mi), it is the world's second-largest island country, after Indonesia.
Home to around 30 million people, it consists of the island of Madagascar (the fourth-largest island in the world) and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from the Indian subcontinent around 90 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. Consequently, it is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of its wildlife is endemic.
