Map of Toliary
Toliary is a first-level division of Madagascar. Its largest mapped city is Toliara, with about 115,319 people in the metropolitan area. The interactive map below is centred on Toliary, and the tables list its 8 mapped cities along with the ports nearest to them.
- Cities Mapped
- 8
- Largest City
- Toliara
- Country
- Madagascar
Interactive Map of Toliary
About Toliary
Toliara (also known as Toliary, [tuliˈarʲ]; formerly Tuléar) is a city in southern Madagascar. It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of the national capital Antananarivo.
The current spelling of the name was adopted in the 1970s, reflecting the orthography of the Malagasy language. Many geographic place names, assigned French spellings during the colonial period, were altered following Malagasy independence in 1960.
The city has a population of 168,758 in 2018. As a port town it acts as a major import/export hub for commodities such as sisal, soap, hemp, cotton, rice and peanuts.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Toliara (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Toliary in Depth
History
In the 17th century, French buccaneers landed in the bay of St. Augustine near the Tropic of Capricorn, and founded the city to maintain commercial relations.
It was not until the colonial period, after 1897, when the city really grew: with the efforts of Joseph Gallieni to install French administrative services, previously isolated on the island of Nosy Ve, to form the regional capital. Tulear grew along a grid pattern of cross streets, with wide avenues and public monuments.
Geography and climate
Toliara is located on a broad coastal plain, surrounded by dunes and mangroves, near the Tropic of Capricorn in the Mozambique Channel. A nearby barrier reef (the Great Reef) is 18 km long and 3 km wide. The beach area is extended by an underwater beach along the continental shelf that slopes gently seaward. To the north lies the Delta Fiherenana.
Toliara is nicknamed the "City of the Sun" because it has a hot climate (25.3 °C average) which is arid (Köppen BWh), with less than 400 mm annual rainfall. The city is constantly swept by a strong prevailing wind, the Tsio Katimo ("South Wind").
Economy and production
The port played a key role during the "boom corn" years in the 1980s and 90s. Today, the arrival of migrants contributing to agricultural production (maize, cassava and rice) and livestock (cattle and goats) supplying the city markets with food, has contributed to the development of small informal businesses: particularly among the Mahafale and Masikoro communities. The city specializes in the import and export of various products including sisal, cotton, rice, peanuts and soap. Production of sea salt thrives, from salt marshes and landscaped places in coastal areas.
The sea floor is rich in minerals gemstones (about 200 km to the north lies the Ilakaka sapphire deposit has operated since 1999) and ground salt.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Toliara (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Toliary: Key Facts
| Area | 16 km² |
|---|
Facts from Wikidata Q824043 (CC0).
History of Toliary: Empires and States
The atlas records 6 polities whose mapped territory included part of Toliary, from Merina Kingdom in 1824 CE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.
| Polity | Period here |
|---|---|
| Merina Kingdom | 1824–1897 CE |
| French Third Republic | 1898–1939 CE |
| French Africa | 1898–1957 CE |
| The French Colonial Empire | 1898–1957 CE |
| French Fourth Republic | 1945–1957 CE |
| Madagascar | 1960–2024 CE |
Historical Maps of Toliary
Toliary on the world map in each year one of these states held it:
Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.
Largest Cities in Toliary
8 cities mapped. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.
| # | Name | Population | Region | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toliara | 115,319 | Toliary | Admin-1 capital |
| 2 | Morondava | 36,803 | Toliary | Populated place |
| 3 | Miandrivazo | 20,631 | Toliary | Populated place |
| 4 | Tôlanaro | 16,818 | Toliary | Populated place |
| 5 | Morombe | 16,727 | Toliary | Populated place |
| 6 | Bekiy | 4,286 | Toliary | Populated place |
| 7 | Manja | 1,536 | Toliary | Populated place |
| 8 | Androka | 174 | Toliary | Populated place |
Ports in Toliary
2 ports mapped. Ranked by approach channel depth, the figure that limits which ships can call. Harbours link to their write-up on the page of the sea or coast they lie on. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.
Toliary: Quick Answers
- Where is Toliary?
- Toliary is a first-level division of Madagascar, in Africa. Its mapped cities centre on 22.5742° S, 44.6900° E.
- What is the largest city in Toliary?
- Toliara is the largest city mapped in Toliary, with a metropolitan population of about 115,319.
- How many cities are in Toliary?
- YearMaps maps 8 cities and towns in Toliary, with a combined metropolitan population of about 212,294. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.