Itasy is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in central

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 borders

Analamanga Analamanga is a region in central Madagascar, containing the capital Antananarivo and its surrounding metropolitan area. The region has an area of , and had a population of 4,325,226 in 2018. Administrative divisions Analamanga Region is divided i ...

region in northeast,

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 ...

in south and Bongolava in northwest. The capital of the region is Miarinarivo, and the population was 897,962 in 2018. It is the smallest of all the 22 regions in area with , and is the most densely populated region after Analamanga.

Administrative divisions

Itasy Region is divided into three districts, which are sub-divided into 51 communes. * Arivonimamo District – 22 communes * Miarinarivo District – 12 communes * Soavinandriana District – 15 communes

Infrastructure

Airport

* Arivonimamo Airbase

Roads

The National road 1, National road 1bis and National road 43 cross this region.

Bodies of water

There are 58 rivers in Itasy. 21 rivers flow in Miarinarivo District, 17 rivers in Arivonimamo District and 20 in Soavinandriana District. 3,500 ha are covered by lakes: there are 40 lakes in Miarinarivo, 9 in Soavinandriana and 2 in Arivonimamo.

Lake Itasy

The region of Itasy is named after Lake Itasy, the fourth largest lake in Madagascar. The lake is in Ampefy, 120 km from the capital city of

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 ...

Tourism

According to the ONTM (Office National de Tourism de Madagascar), more 60% of domestic tourists from the capital city use this as their short-stay holiday destination each year. However, this still amounts to less than 200 tourists per day, or up to 1200 tourists per day on national holidays. Ampefy, by lake Itasy, is the main tourist town.

Tourist sights

The region is famous for several features: * Lake Itasy, which is a source of livelihood for 3000 fisherman, with over 100 small canoes out daily; * The monument of the Virgin Mary, on the edge of the lake, marking the very centre of the country; * The isle of the Lake Itasy King, with a stone circle; * The two Lily Waterfalls, of which the first is 16 m high by 35 m wide and the second over 22 m high, but not as wide; * The Analavory Chute, which is over 20 m high; * Over 20 small lakes; * Boating and trekking experiences; * The Analavory geysers, which are coldwater geysers that occasionally reach a height of nearly 3 m and have formed high travertine mounds; * An ancient double-moated hillfort which can be seen near the town of Soavinandriana; * Substantial numbers of huge extinct volcanic craters, some with crater lakes; and * Lemurs' Park, which is seen at PK 22 (22 km) en route to Lake Itasy from the capital city.

Agriculture

Base of the economy is agriculture. Main crops and their size of cultivation (ha) are: * Rice (66000 ha) *

Peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

(37279 ha) *

Maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

(37279 ha) *

Manioc ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

(22872 ha) *

Bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

s (12204 ha) * Potatoes (9211 ha) *

Bambara groundnut ''Vigna subterranea'' (common names: Bambara groundnut, Bambara nut, Bambara bean, manicongo, Congo goober, earth pea, ground-bean, or hog-peanut) is a member of the family Fabaceae. Its name is derived from the Bambara ethnic group. The plan ...

(4836 ha) * Tomatoes (4168 ha) *

Sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of ...

es (1377 ha) * Ananas (3135 ha) *

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

(222ha) There is also cattle breeding. Itasy produces 2.7% of the zebu bread in Madagascar and 4,9 % of the porc that is raised in Madagascar.Guide Region Itasy
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References

{{Authority control Regions of Madagascar