Mandritsara is a city and commune (commune urbain, mg, kaominina) in northern

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. 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, municipa ...

Mandritsara Mandritsara is a city and commune (commune urbain, mg, kaominina) in northern Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Mandritsara, which is a part of Sofia Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 17,000 in 200 ...

, which is a part of

Sofia Region Sofia is a region in northern Madagascar. It is named for the Sofia River. The region covers 50,100 km² and had a population of 1,500,227 in 2018. The administrative capital is Antsohihy. Administrative divisions Sofia Region is divided in ...

. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 17,000 in 2001 commune

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

. Farming and raising livestock provides employment for 40% and 35% of the working population. The most important crop is

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

, while other important products are

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

s and

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated a ...

. Services provide employment for 25% of the population.

Education

In addition to primary schooling the town offers secondary education at both junior and senior levels. The Social Sciences Training and Research Unit (UFRSS) is the Mandritsara branch of the University of Mahajanga.

Healthcare

Mandritsara is home to Hopitaly Vaovao Mahafaly, a hospital which aims to show God’s love to those in need and to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every patient. It has 57 inpatient beds, maternity facilities, and the only operating theatre for a 200km radius.

Transport

* RN 32 * Mandritsara is served by a local

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

References and notes

Cities in Madagascar Populated places in Sofia Region {{SofiaMG-geo-stub