160 million years ago - Madgascar is born as it seperates from the African mainland
80 million years ago - Madgascar breaks away from India
Around 2000 years ago - Madagascar settled by Indonesians or people of mixed Indonesian/African descent
800-900 AD - Arab merchants begin trading along the northern coast
1200 AD - central highlands of the island are settled.
August 10, 1500 - Portuguese sea captain Diogo Dias becomes first European to land on Madagascar after he is blown off course on the way to India. He named the island St. Lawrence.
1500s - Portuguese, French, Dutch, and English attempt to establish trading settlements which fail due to hostile conditions and fierce local Malagasy
late 1600s through the early 1700s - pirates ruled the eastern coast of the island
1700s - the Sakalava of the western coast establish the first kingdom which extended from Tulear in the south to Diego Suarez in the north.
1700s - The French attempt to establish military positions on the east coast but by the early 19th century the only settlement they could claim was the island of Ste. Marie.
1810-1828 - Radama I, a Merina king who has help from the British, unifies most of the country save for the Sakalava kingdom in the far west and far south. Radama opens the country to English missionaries who spread Christianity throughout the island and transcribed Malagasy to a written language. Under his reign, a miniature Industrial Revolution brings induatry to the island.
1828-1861 - Radama I is succeeded by his widow Ranavalona I, who terrorizes the country for 33 years by persecuting Christians, evicting foreigners, executing political rivals, and reviving the custom of killing babies born un unlucky days.
1846 - combined French and English force attacks Tamatave but fails to make much headway
Ranavalona I's son Radama II restores contact with the outside world and ends the persecution of Christians.
1863 - Radama II is assassinated
1865 & 1868 - treaties are signed with England and France respectively
1883-1885 - Franco-Malagasy War results in December 17, 1885 peace agreement that gives France a greater influence in the affairs of Madagascar
1890 - The British recognize a French protectorate over Madagascar in exchange for concessions in Zanzibar.
December 1894 - France invades Madagascar and takes the captial Tana on October 1, 1895. France loses only 20 men in battle during the campaign but more than 6,000 to disease.
1896 - France annexes Madagascar as a colony and later unifies the country under a single government.
1918 - the first of several uprisings against French rule
1947 - The French crush rebellion lead by Jean Ralaimongo. Up to 80,000 Malagasy are killed.
June 26, 1960 - Madagascar gains independence
1975 - After a three years of political instability, Didier Ratsiraka takes control and establishes a quasi-Maxist state by nationalizing institutions, launching social and economic reforms, and cultivating friendships with Communist states. The economy begins a sustained decline that will last into the 1990s.
1991 - After an economic collapse, Malagasy take to the streets and demand a new government
1993 - Ratsiraka is ousted and replaced with Albert Zafy who wins democratic elections and forms the Thrid Republic. Zafy later runs into trouble by continually breaching the constitution and is impeached by the National Assembly.
1997 - Ratsiraka is voted back into power and is successful in restoring some of his dictatorial powers.
2001 - Marc Ravalomanana, mayor of Tana, is elected president with 52% of the vote. Ratsiraka refuses to accept the result and a political snafu ensues. Ratsiraka sets up a a rival government in his home town of Toasmasina and his supporters lay seige to Antananarivo, blocking roads and dynamiting bridges. The population in Tana suffered greatly -- prices for food and vital supplies soared, thousands of jobs were lost, businesses went under, the poor starved. After a court monitored recount reaffirmed that Ravalomanana was indeed the victor, the army lent its support and other nations recognized the elected president's government. Ratsiraka fled in exile to France in July 2002.

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Beautifully illustrated with full color photographs throughout, Madagascar Wildlife is a celebration of the unique fauna of a remarkable island and the perfect accompaniment to Bradt's popular general travel guide, Madagascar.

RECENT NEWS
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(08/30/2009) Rio Tinto's ilmenite mine in southeastern Madagascar is among the largest on the planet. At peak capacity, its owners say, it could produce as much as 2 million tons of the stuff—worth roughly $100 a ton—each year, to be shipped off and smelted abroad. What's left of it after refining—some 60 percent of the ore that arrives from Madagascar—will be sold for $2000 a ton as titanium dioxide, a pigment used in everything from white paint and tennis court lines to sunscreen and toothpaste.

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(08/11/2009) On March 17th of this year the President of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana, resigned his post. This made way for Andry Rajoelina, mayor of Madagascar's capital, to install himself as president with help from the military. The unrest and confusion that usually accompanies such a coup brought disaster on many of Madagascar's biological treasures. Within days of Ravalomanana's resignation, armed gangs, allegedly funded by Chinese traders, entered two of Madagascar's world-renowned national parks, Marojejy and Masoala parks, and began to log rosewood, ebonies, and other valuable hardwoods. The pillaging lasted months but the situation began to calm down over the summer. Now that the crisis in Madagascar has abated—at least for the time being—it's time to take stock. In order to do so, Mongabay spoke to Erik Patel, an expert on the Critically Endangered Silky Sifaka and frequent visitor to Madagascar, to find out what the damage looks like firsthand and to see what lessons might be learned.

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(06/12/2009) Despite the popularity he enjoyed abroad, domestic support for ousted president Marc Ravalomanana eroded rather quickly last February when he went head to head with Andry Rajoelina, the rookie mayor of Madagascar's capital. Rajoelina rallied disparate opposition groups to the cause and soon toppled the incumbent to become, at his own proclamation, President of the "High Authority of Transition." For the country as a whole, the results have not been encouraging. The tourism industry has shriveled to a shadow of itself, important donors have suspended non-humanitarian aid, and a power vacuum has set in in remote regions of the island, wreaking havoc on some of its most fragile and prized ecosystems.

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This portable guide offers a full survey of all Madagascar's mammals, both endemic and introduced, including many newly identified species. With vivid color photographs, line illustrations, and maps, Mammals of Madagascar: A Complete Guide is an essential book for any visitor.

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