  Top: A Malagasy street vendor;Bottom: A traditional Malagasyvaliha orchestra | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 30+ million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Madagascar,Comoros,Mayotte,Réunion,Mauritius,France,United Kingdom,United States,South Africa,Australia,Canada,New Zealand,Peru | |
| Languages | |
| Malagasy (L1) French (L2) | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity,Islam, andindigenous Malagasy religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
TheMalagasy (French:Malgache orMalagasy:Gasy[1]) are theAustronesian-speakingethnic groups indigenous to theisland country ofMadagascar. They emerged over several centuries through interaction betweenAustronesians fromMaritime Southeast Asia, who settled mainly in the island's interior, andBantu migrants fromSoutheast Africa who arrived later and established communities along the coasts. Traditionally, the Malagasy have been divided into various sub-ethnic groups. The "Highlanders," such as theMerina andBetsileo of the central highlands aroundAntananarivo,Alaotra(Ambatondrazaka) andFianarantsoa, tend to have more Austronesian ancestry. In contrast, the "coastal dwellers," including theSakalava,Bara,Vezo,Betsimisaraka, andMahafaly, generally have a higher proportion of Bantu ancestry.
TheMerina are broadly divided into two subgroups that differ in their ancestral composition. The first, often referred to as the "Merina A," includes theHova andAndriana classes, who possess approximately 77 percent Asian ancestry (mainly fromBorneo and otherAustronesian peoples, with around 7 percentHan-related), 20 percent African ancestry (largelyBantu andYoruba-related), and about 3 percent from other origins. The second subgroup, known as the "Merina B" orAndevo, have roughly 50 percent African ancestry, 46 percent Asian (primarily Austronesian with minor Han-related ancestry), and 4 percent from other sources.[2] The Malagasy population was 2,242,000 in the first census in 1900. Their population had a massive growth in the next hundred years, especially under the French colonial period asFrench Madagascar.
An island-wide survey of the genetic diversity was performed from 2008 to 2018. This project was called "MAGE" (for Madagascar, Anthropology Genetics Ethno-linguistic[3]). Around 3000 inhabitants of Madagascar participated in this study and provided their saliva for a genetic study. Three hundred villages across Madagascar were sampled in terms of genetic, linguistic and cultural diversity. This research was led and performed by Malagasy and European researchers and academics. This study demonstrated that all Malagasy people have mixed African and Asian ancestry.[4]
But the proportion of ancestral genes differs. Coastal Malagasy populations, including theTemoro,Vezo, andMikea, etc. have approximately 70% African ancestry and 30% Asian ancestry,[5] while highlander tribes tend to have lower African ancestry at around 45%.[4] In a recent island-wide survey the male-onlyY chromosomes of African origin are more common than those of East Asian origin, but it varies depending on the study (70.7 vs. 20.7 or 51% vs 34%).[6] However themtDNA lineages, passed down from mother to child, are the opposite (42.4% African origin vs. 50.1% East Asian origin).[7][8] Male-onlyY chromosome of East/Southeast Asian paternal frequencies such as HaplogroupO-M175 varies from 45% in Antalaotra, 16% in the Ampanabaka, 5% Anteony. In contrast, African male haplogroup such as E1b1a1 constituted 76% of the Ampanabaka genetic diversity, but only 7% in the Antalaotra and 12% in the Anteony.[9]
Due to the proximity to Africa, the connection with Asian populations aroused the most curiosity. Around 1996, a study was launched in an attempt to identify the presence of thePolynesian motif in the Malagasy population (mtDNAhaplotype B4a1a1a). A more recent study identified two additional mutations (1473 and 3423A) found in all Polynesian motif carriers of Madagascar, hence was named the Malagasy motif.[10] The frequency varied among three ethnic groups: 50% inMerina, 22% in Vezo, and 13% in Mikea.
Based on this result, a study suggested that Madagascar was settled approximately 1,200 years ago by a very small group, which consisted of approximately 30 women; 28 (93%) of them had maritime Southeast Asian descent and 2 (7%) of them were of African descent.[10] The Malagasy population developed through the intermixing of the first small founding population with African males. The closest Asian parental population of the Malagasy are found in what is now Indonesia, among theBanjar and other South KalimantanDayak people of south eastBorneo.[11][12] Language footprints of their ancestors fromSoutheastern Asia can be traced by the many shared words of basic vocabulary withMa'anyan, a language from the region of theBarito River in southernBorneo.
Physical difference had been always noticed by early European travellers. In early 1600s, Portuguese distinguished already "Malagasy" or "Bouki" from mainland Africans who they called as "Caffres". French traveller Dubois described Malagasy people as mixed with some looking like Indians or Mulattoes after he visited the Lahifotsy realm in Menabe. Term "Highlanders" and "Coastal dwellers" was coined by the English missionaries in the 19th century. In addition to the distinction in term of ancestral proportion between highland and coastal Malagasy, one may speak of a political distinction as well. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the French colonial administration capitalized on and further exacerbated these political inequities by appropriating existing Merina governmental infrastructure to run their colony. This legacy of political inequity dogged the people of Madagascar after gaining independence in 1960; candidates' ethnic and regional identities have often served to help or hinder their success in democratic elections.Within these two broad ethnic and political groupings, the Malagasy were historically subdivided into specifically named ethnic groups, who were primarily distinguished from one another on the basis of cultural practices. These were namely agricultural, hunting, or fishing practices;construction style of dwellings;music; hair and clothing styles; and local customs or taboos, the latter was known in the Malagasy language asfady. The number of such ethnic groups in Madagascar has been debated. The practices that distinguished many of these groups are less prevalent in the 21st century than they were in the past. But, many Malagasy are proud to proclaim their association with one or several of these groups as part of their own cultural identity.
Countries with a significant Malagasy diaspora includeFrance (specifically the overseas departments ofMayotte andRéunion),[13]Comoros (specifically the island ofMoheli),South Africa, and theUnited States.
The Malagasy diaspora in the United States includes those descended from people who, slave or free, came during the 18th and 19th centuries.[14] Other Americans of Malagasy ancestry are recent immigrants from Madagascar. Some notable Americans who have Malagasy ancestry includeAndy Razaf,Katherine Dunham,Regina M. Anderson,William H. Hastie,George Schuyler andPhilippa Schuyler,Muhammad Ali,[15]Robert Reed Church andMary Church Terrell,Frederick D. Gregory,[16]Thomas P. Mahammitt,[17]Paschal Beverly Randolph,Maya Rudolph,[18]Claude McKay,Jess Tom,Ben Jealous,[19] andKeenen Ivory Wayans.[20]
The first recorded African slave in Canada,Olivier Le Jeune, was taken from Madagascar toNew France in 1628.
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