Tôlanaro

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Country	Madagascar
Tôlanaro

Map of Toliara Province showing the location of Tôlanaro (red).
Province	Toliara

Tôlanaro is a city (commune urbaine) on the southeastern edge of Madagascar.

Tôlanaro is the capital of the Anosy region, and also in the Toliara Province.

1 History
2 Modern
3 Also known as
4 Ecology
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

History of the Great Isle of Madagascar and Relations

Fort Dauphin was the most durable French settlement in Madagascar, at the modern site of Tôlanaro, before the 19th century.

Plan of the fort from 1650

It was founded in 1643 by the French East India Company who built a fort there, named in honor of the crown prince of France, the future Louis XIV. It was settled by around a hundred colonists, who found themselves involved in the local politics. The poor trade results (some ebony and little more was obtained) hardly justified the difficulties of the settlers, who suffered from tropical illnesses and other problems. After a conflict with the Antanosy people, the survivors were evacuated in 1674.

One temporary settler of this colony, Etienne de Flacourt, published, back in France, the History of the Great Isle of Madagascar and Relations, that was the main source of information on the island for Europeans until the late 19th century.

[edit] Modern

The new port and access roads under construction in April 2007

For long time, there had only been a port of local importance, and no good road connections to the rest of the country.

However the area is currently undergoing a massive transformation associated the development of a new ilmenite mine by the Rio Tinto Group in the area^[1]. A new port as well as new roads are being built, these being the first investment in the region's infrastructure for many decades. The mine is controversial however due to the predicted social upheaval and adverse environmental impact it will have. In particular, health officials fear that HIV/Aids, which to date has been almost unknown in Madagascar, could spread to the island via Tôlanaro^[2].