Geography of Madagascar - Natural Resources

Natural Resources

Madagascar has a number of natural resources, including graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, salt, quartz, tar sands, semi-precious stones and mica. There are also fishing areas offshore and potential for hydropower. In 2001, it was estimated that 5.07% of the land area was used for arable land, 1.03% had permanent crops. Twenty-six percent of the land is forested. The majority of the population depend on subsistence farming, largely rice and cattle. The manufacturing sector is small but growing.

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