Toamasina


Toamasina, meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, 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 northeast of its capital and biggest city Antananarivo. According to the 2014 official estimate, Toamasina had a population of 300,813. The city is served by Toamasina Airport.

History

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 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.
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; but since the draining of the neighboring marshes, there was an improvement. After 1895, the native population was removed from the town and settled in a new village to the north-west.

Geography

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.

Climate

Toamasina features a trade-wind tropical rainforest climate under the Köppen climate classification. While Toamasina has no true dry season month where less than of precipitation 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, and warmer in the months of January and February, where high temperatures on average are. Toamasina averages roughly of precipitation annually.

Transport

The town is the railhead for the line to the capital. Pousse-pousse, tuk-tuk, 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.

Education

The University of Toamasina was founded in 1977. A regional centre for distance education of the Centre National de Télé-Enseignement de Madagascar is also located in Toamasina.
Lycée Français de Tamatave, a French international school, is in Toamasina.

Places of worship

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 and Iglesia Ni Cristo. There are also Muslim mosques.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Toamasina is twinned with:
The city of Holon used to have a street named Tamatave Street, named so in the 1960s when Israel had cordial relations with Madagascar. After the assassination of Rehav'am Ze'evi in 2001, the street was renamed after him.
The city of Bordeaux in Gironde, France still has a street named Rue de Tamatave.

Sports

Toamasina is home to the basketball club A.S.C.U.T., one of the top teams in the Malagasy N1A, Madagascar's prime basketball league.