Antananarivo travel guide

Antananarivo, also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (pronounced [tana]), is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "Antananarivo-Capital"), is the capital of Analamanga region.

A city of some 1.6 million people at 1280 m, Antananarivo became established by Merina King Andrianjaka around 1610, when he drove out the Vazimba people to create the Kingdom of Imerina. First called Analamanga, the city was renamed Antananarivo, meaning city of the thousand, later by King Andriamasinavalona, in honor of his soldiers. After a period of French rule starting in 1897 and a failed armed rebellion in 1947–1948, the city and country emerged as independent in 1960. Merina and other Malagasy people along with Chinese, Indian, and Europeans live in the city today.

Getting in

Antananarivo is the main entry point for Madagascar by air. International flights to the capital are covered in the main Madagascar page.

Getting around

The city centre is focused on Avenue de L'Independence. Restaurants and shops line both sides of the road and it's the place to go if you want to visit a restaurant or decent cafe, including a good pizzeria and a take-away pizza restaurant. There are also internet cafes and photo-printing facilities. There are three main methods of navigating the capital: taxi, bus and on foot.

Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.