Maintirano is a coastal city, urban municipality, and Catholic bishopric in western

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 ...

approximately 325 kilometres west of the 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 ...

. It belongs to the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Maintirano Maintirano is a coastal city, urban municipality, and Catholic bishopric in western Madagascar approximately 325 kilometres west of the capital Antananarivo. It belongs to the Districts of Madagascar, district of Maintirano District, Maintirano, w ...

, which is a part of

Melaky Region Melaky is a region in northwestern Madagascar. It borders Boeny Region in northeast, Betsiboka in east, Bongolava in southeast and Menabe in south. The capital of the region is Maintirano. The population was estimated to be 309,805 in 2018 within ...

– and is capital of both. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 25,788 in 2018. The city is inhabited mainly by the

Sakalava The Sakalava are an ethnic group of Madagascar. They are primarily found on the western edge of Madagascar from Toliara in the south to the Sambirano River in the north. The Sakalava constitute about 6.2 percent of the total population, or abou ...

tribe.

Economy and infrastructure

The climate is fairly hot and access to the region is difficult due to lack of roads and few commercial flights. Maintirano is served by

Maintirano Airport Maintirano Airport is an airport in Maintirano, Melaky Region, Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off t ...

and a local maritime harbour. The town has a permanent court and hospital. As of 2002, the majority, 55% of the population, works in fishing. 34% are farmers. Main local products include

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

and

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

. The most important crop is

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

s, while other important products are

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 ...

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 and

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

. Industry and services provide employment for 0.8% and 10.2% of the population, respectively.

Roads

*The hardly practicable Nationale Road 1a connects the city with

Tsiroanomandidy Tsiroanomandidy is a city (''commune urbaine'') in central-western Madagascar, approximately 210 kilometres west of the Capital city, capital Antananarivo. Tsiroanomandidy is the capital of Bongolava, Bongolava Region and of Tsiroanomandidy Distr ...

and inlands. *The Nationale Road 8a leads southwards to

Antsalova Antsalova is a town and commune () in western Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Antsalova, which is a part of Melaky Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 58,280 in 2018. Antsalova is served by a local ...

. *The Nationale Road 19 northwards to

Mahajunga Mahajangā (French: Majunga) is a city and an administrative district on the northwest coast of Madagascar. The city of Mahajanga (Mahajanga I) is the capital of the Boeny Region. The district (identical to the city) had a population of 258,068 ...

Protected areas

55 kilometres east of Maintirano is situated the Beanka Reserve, a limestone

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

plateau that is the natural extension of the

Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park The Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park is a national park located in northwest Madagascar. It is mainly within the boundaries of Antsalova District, with a small part in the northeast falling within Morafenobe District. The national park centers on ...

Religion

* FJKM - Fiangonan'i Jesoa Kristy eto Madagasikara (

Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar The Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar ( (FJKM); is the second-largest Christian denomination in Madagascar. The current officers include the Rev. Ammi Irako Andriamahazosoa, President; the Rev. Jean Louis Zarazaka, Clerical Vice President; Mr ...

) *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Maintirano The Roman Catholic Diocese of Maintirano is a Latin Catholic suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Antananarivo (national capital), one of five on Madagascar), yet it remains in the juris ...

Climate

References

{{coord, 18, 4, S, 44, 1, E, display=title Cities in Madagascar Populated places in Melaky Regional capitals in Madagascar