Toamasina
Toamasina
Tamatave | |
|---|---|
| Toamasina Toamasina | |
|
Coat of arms of Toamasina Coat of arms | |
| Motto: Lakana tsara voha manafak'onja ("A good boat, open to the waves") | |
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| Coordinates: Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Country | File:Flag of Madagascar.svg Madagascar |
| Region | Atsinanana |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Nantenaina Rakotonirina |
| Area | |
• Total | 30.9 km2 (11.9 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 11 m (36 ft) |
| Population (2018 census) | |
• Total | 325,857 |
| • Density | 10,500/km2 (27,300/sq mi) |
| • Ethnicities | Betsimisaraka |
| Time zone | UTC3 (EAT) |
| Postal code | 501 |
| Area code | +261 |
| Climate | Af |
Toamasina (Malagasy pronunciation: [toˈmasinə̥]), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave or in the past as Port aux prunes, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated 215 km (134 mi) northeast of its capital and largest city Antananarivo. In 2018 Toamasina had a population of 325,857.[3]
History
[edit | edit source]Under French rule, Toamasina was the seat of several foreign consuls, as well as of numerous French officials, and was the chief port for the capital and the interior. Imports consisted principally of piece-goods, farinaceous foods, and iron and steel goods; main exports were gold dust, raffia, hides, caoutchouc (natural rubber) and live animals. Communication with Europe was maintained by steamers of the Messageries Maritimes and the Havraise companies, and also with Mauritius, and thence to Sri Lanka, by the British Union-Castle Line.[4]
During the colonial period, owing to the character of the soil and the formerly crowded native population, the town was often plagued by epidemics; the plague broke out in 1898, and again in 1900. Since the draining of the neighboring marshes, there is some improvement, although there are still outbreaks of malaria and other diseases, such as chikungunya.
Notable person
[edit | edit source]- André Michaux (1746–1802), botanist and explorer, died in Tamatave.
Geography
[edit | edit source]Toamasina owes its importance to the existence of a coral reef which forms a spacious harbour, entered by two openings. The city center is built on a sandy peninsula which projects at right angles from the general coastline.
South of the town there is the mouth of the Ivondro River in the Indian Ocean.
Climate
[edit | edit source]Toamasina features a trade-wind tropical rainforest climate under the Köppen climate classification. While Toamasina has no true dry season month where less than 60 mm (2.4 in) of precipitation (on average) falls, the seaport has noticeably wetter and drier periods of the year. September–November is the driest period of the year, while February–April is the wettest time of the year. Average temperatures are relatively constant throughout the course of the year, though it is slightly cooler in the months of July and August, where average highs are around 24 °C (75 °F), and warmer in the months of January and February, where high temperatures on average are 30 °C (86 °F). Toamasina averages 3,368.2 mm (132.61 in) of precipitation annually.
| Climate data for Toamasina (1991–2020, extremes 1889–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 37.4 (99.3) |
38.6 (101.5) |
39.0 (102.2) |
35.0 (95.0) |
34.0 (93.2) |
29.6 (85.3) |
31.2 (88.2) |
30.2 (86.4) |
30.6 (87.1) |
33.2 (91.8) |
33.0 (91.4) |
33.6 (92.5) |
39.0 (102.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.7 (87.3) |
30.9 (87.6) |
30.4 (86.7) |
29.5 (85.1) |
28.0 (82.4) |
26.4 (79.5) |
25.2 (77.4) |
25.5 (77.9) |
26.3 (79.3) |
27.5 (81.5) |
28.9 (84.0) |
30.2 (86.4) |
28.3 (82.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.9 (80.4) |
27.0 (80.6) |
26.7 (80.1) |
25.7 (78.3) |
24.2 (75.6) |
22.6 (72.7) |
21.3 (70.3) |
21.5 (70.7) |
22.1 (71.8) |
23.4 (74.1) |
24.8 (76.6) |
26.3 (79.3) |
24.4 (75.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 23.2 (73.8) |
23.1 (73.6) |
23.0 (73.4) |
21.9 (71.4) |
20.2 (68.4) |
18.7 (65.7) |
17.4 (63.3) |
17.3 (63.1) |
17.8 (64.0) |
19.3 (66.7) |
20.8 (69.4) |
22.3 (72.1) |
20.4 (68.7) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 18.0 (64.4) |
17.5 (63.5) |
17.0 (62.6) |
15.0 (59.0) |
13.2 (55.8) |
11.0 (51.8) |
11.8 (53.2) |
10.0 (50.0) |
11.0 (51.8) |
11.0 (51.8) |
13.5 (56.3) |
16.0 (60.8) |
10.0 (50.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 412.2 (16.23) |
438.0 (17.24) |
454.6 (17.90) |
299.6 (11.80) |
269.7 (10.62) |
276.8 (10.90) |
279.7 (11.01) |
178.5 (7.03) |
117.9 (4.64) |
98.9 (3.89) |
121.4 (4.78) |
250.6 (9.87) |
3,197.9 (125.91) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 18.5 | 17.4 | 19.5 | 15.7 | 17.2 | 19.7 | 21.3 | 17.3 | 13.8 | 12.1 | 10.9 | 15.4 | 198.8 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 83 | 83 | 85 | 84 | 85 | 85 | 84 | 85 | 83 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 84 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 224.7 | 198.2 | 191.0 | 196.9 | 192.1 | 162.5 | 162.8 | 184.6 | 209.7 | 232.7 | 236.0 | 219.2 | 2,410.4 |
| Source 1: NOAA[5] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Deutscher Wetterdienst (humidity, 1951–1967),[6] Meteo Climat (record highs and lows)[7][8] | |||||||||||||
Transport
[edit | edit source]
The town is the railhead for the line to the capital. Pousse-pousse (bicycle rickshaws), tuk-tuk (motorized rickshaws), and taxis are available throughout Toamasina to get around the city. Toamasina is the northern end of the Canal des Pangalanes.
The port of Toamasina serves as Madagascar's most important gateway to the Indian Ocean and to the world.
The city is served by Ambalamanasy Airport, which has limited domestic and international service. The city is the country's main seaport for international shipping.
Roads
[edit | edit source]- National Road 2 leads westwards to Antananarivo
- National Road 5 leads northwards to Maroantsetra.
Education
[edit | edit source]The University of Toamasina was founded in 1977. There is also a Lycée Français de Tamatave, a French international school.
Hospitals
[edit | edit source]The CHU Morafeno is the university hospital of Toamasina.
Sports
[edit | edit source]The Barikadimy Stadium with a capacity 25,000 spectators. It mostly hosts football competitions and the AS Fortior and Tia Kitra FC Toamasina.
Places of worship
[edit | edit source]Among the places of worship, they are predominantly Christian churches and temples: Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar, Malagasy Lutheran Church, Assemblies of God, Association of Bible Baptist Churches in Madagascar, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toamasina (Catholic Church seated in the Cathedral of St. Joseph) and Iglesia ni Cristo.[9] There are also Muslim mosques.
Neighborhoods
[edit | edit source]- Anjoma
- Tanamakoa
- Tanambao V
- Mangarivotra
- Ankirihiry
- Manangareza
- Andranomadio
- Ambohijafy
International relations
[edit | edit source]Twin towns – Sister cities
[edit | edit source]Toamasina is twinned with:
See also
[edit | edit source]- Battle of Tamatave, 1811
- Transport in Madagascar
- Parc Ivoloina, a nature park 12 km from the city center.
Notes
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Estimated based on DEM data from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission
- ^ Census 2018
- ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 387.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ https://www.mherrera.org/temp.htm
- ^ J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 1768
- ^ Le Port est jumelé à quatre villes portuaires Archived 2015-09-08 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
References
[edit | edit source]- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]
- Map
- (in French) University of Toamasina
- (in French) Regional Tourist information office – Toamasina
- (in French) Regional Harbour of Toamasina
- (in French) City Hall of toamasina
- (in French) Association of the native of toamasina Archived 2019-06-22 at the Wayback Machine
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