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Antananarivo, Madagascar

National Capital

Flag of Antananarivo
Antananarivo CoA

See also:

Madagascar

Flag of Antananarivo

by Arnaud Leroy, 29 Sep 2001

Here the flag of the city of Antananarivo, this is the same flag for the province.
Arnaud Leroy, 29 Sep 2001

Does there exist some kind of rule, that the provinces of Madagascar use banner of arms? I ask because on this site you can find the arms of some provinces of Madagascar (I am not quite sure, if these this is the current division of the country)
Dirk Schönberger, 30 Sep 2001

I don't know but I don't think that all provinces use banner of arms, the one of which I was able to have confirmation is Antananarivo, I await an answer for other provinces.
Arnaud Leroy, 1 Oct 2001

The full name of the municipality is "Urban Community of Antananarivo". The Urban Community is located in the province of Antananarivo, and is bordered by the municipalities of Antananarivo-Avaradrano (east and north), Ambohidratrimo (west), and Antananarivo-Atsimondrano (south). The area of the Urban Municipality is 78.7 squ. km, its population 1,265,920 (1995 census). The Urban Municipality is divided into six arrondissements.

The name of Antananarivo means "the City of the Thousands". In the XVIIth century, King Andrianjaka's thousand men conquered the hill of Analamanga, on which was later built the Rova, the royal palace. The Rova is the highest point of the city (range 1,000-1,400 m a.s.l.)
The Imerina kings unified Madagascar under their rule and established Antananarivo as the capital city of their kingdom. Prince Ramboasalama (c. 1787-1810), later known as King Andrianampoinimerina ("The prince wished by Imerina), whose motto was "Ny ranomasina no valamparihiko" (the sea is the limit of my ricefield, i.e. the sea is my border) was appointed king of Ambohimanga in 1787. He sized Antananarivo in 1794 and gave the city its current name. He established the "twelve sacred Imerina hills", each of them being ruleds by one of his twelve spouses. After having pacified the rest of the country, the king modernized his capital city and organized the economic development of the country. He was succeded by his son Radama I, who definitively transfered the capital city from Ambohimanga to Antananarivo. The former capital city kept a status of sacred city.
The French protectorate on Madagascar was signed in 1885 but Queen Ravanola III attempted to resist. In 1894, the French Army bombed the Rova. On 30 December 1895, the French troops seized Antananarivo and the colony of Madagascar was officially recognized by the French National Assembly on 6 August 1896. General Galliéni landed on the island on 7 September and Resident General Laroche abolished the slavery on 26 September. The Queen was overthrown on 28 February 1897 and died in exile in Algiers in 1917.
During the French era, Antananarivo was renamed Tananarive and completely reorganized. The French administrative city was established in Antaninarenina, a borough of the lower city, in order to supress the reference to the royal power of the upper city. Galliéni was appointed Governor General of Madagascar in September 1896. During his 9-year tenure, he founded the School of Medicine; reformed the e