Tatamarina Lake in Betafo Betafo ("many roofs") is a town and urban municipality in

Vakinankaratra Vakinankaratra is a region in central Madagascar. The capital of the region is Antsirabe. Vakinankaratra covers an area of , and had a population of 2,074,358 in 2018. History The kingdom of Vakinankaratra, known as the kingdom of the river Andr ...

Region in the Central Highlands of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. It is surrounded by volcanic peaks and is situated 22 km from

Antsirabe Antsirabe () also known as Ville d'eau is the list of cities in Madagascar, third largest city in Madagascar and the capital of the Vakinankaratra region, with a population of 265,018 in 2014. In Madagascar, Antsirabe is known for its relatively ...

. It is a typical

Merina The Merina people (also known as the Imerina, Antimerina, Borizany or Ambaniandro) formerly called Amboalambo are the largest ethnic group in Madagascar.

town in the Central Highlands. The town had an estimated population of 34,336 in 2018 and is the administrative centre of

Betafo District Betafo is a district in Vakinankaratra Region, Madagascar. The administrative centre of the district is the town of Betafo. However the district has subsequently been divided by the creation of the new Mandoto District from former parts of Beta ...

Geography

Betafo is situated at an altitude of above sea level, in the central highlands of Madagascar. The town lies along the RN34 national road to Miandrivazo, west of

and from the country's capital,

Antananarivo Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known ...

Religion

* FLM - Fiangonana Loterana Malagasy ( Malagasy Lutheran Church) The first Lutheran church in Madagascar was built in Betafo by the Norwegian missionaries John Engh and Nils Nielsen in 1867. * FJKM - Fiangonan'i Jesoa Kristy eto Madagasikara ( Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar) * Roman Catholic Diocese of Betafo

UNESCO World Heritage Site

The irrigated rice paddies of the area are emblematic of this technology throughout the Malagasy highlands and were nominated to the Tentative List of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Sites in Madagascar The UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural heritage, cultural or natural heritage as described in the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Th ...

in 1997.

History

In the 19th century, it was the capital of

. The first Lutheran church in Madagascar was built in Betafo by the Norwegian missionaries John Engh and Nils Nielsen in 1867.Betafo
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Sports

The AS Standon Betafo is the local football club. It plays in the Vakinankaratra regional liga.

Books

David Graeber David Rolfe Graeber (; February 12, 1961 – September 2, 2020) was an American and British anthropologist, Left-wing politics, left-wing and anarchism, anarchist social and political activist. His influential work in Social anthropology, social ...

: Lost People: Magic and the Legacy of Slavery in Madagascar. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 2007. ISBN 978-0-253-34910-1.

References

Sights

* Tatamarina Lake * Antafofo Falls * Tombs of Kings of Betafo Populated places in Vakinankaratra {{Vakinankaratra-geo-stub