Madagascar is an island in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of southern Africa, east of Mozambique.

It is the fourth largest island in the world.

The first archaeological evidence for human foraging on Madagascar dates to 2000 BCE.

Human settlement of Madagascar occus between 350 BCE and CE 550 by Austronesian peoples arriving on outrigger canoes from Borneo.

These are joined around 1000 by Bantu migrants crossing the Mozambique Channel from East Africa.

Other groups continue to settle on Madagascar over time, each one making lasting contributions to Malagasy cultural life.

The Malagasy ethnic group is often divided into eighteen or more sub-groups of which the largest are the Merina of the central highlands.