Eastern Africa
Video Chat with People from Madagascar
Madagascar is a world of its own: rainforest in the east, high plateaus in the middle, dry spiny forest in the south, and wildlife such as lemurs that you won't find anywhere else. You could find yourself talking to someone in Antananarivo, the hilly capital everyone calls Tana; in Toamasina, the main port on the east coast; in Antsirabe, with its colorful rickshaws; or in Mahajanga, Toliara or on the island of Nosy Be. Malagasy is spoken across the whole island, and French is common in business, the media and higher education. English is less widespread but growing among younger adults and people who work in tourism.
The island runs on East Africa Time, UTC+3, so 8 PM in Tana is lunchtime or early afternoon in New York and late afternoon or early evening in London. Food talk usually starts with rice, served with almost every meal, and moves on to romazava stew, ravitoto with pork and mofo gasy rice cakes for breakfast. Ask about vanilla, the Avenue of the Baobabs near Morondava, salegy and tsapiky dance music, the valiha bamboo zither, or the national football team, the Barea.
Madagascar at a glance
| Flag | 🇲🇬 |
|---|---|
| Official name | Republic of Madagascar |
| Capital | Antananarivo |
| Region | Africa · Eastern Africa |
| Official languages | French and Malagasy |
| Currency | Malagasy ariary (Ar, MGA) |
| Calling code | +261 |
| Time zone | East Africa Time (Indian/Antananarivo) |
How to say hello
A few words of French make a great first impression, even if you switch to English right after.
| Language | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malagasy | Manao ahoana! | mah-now ah-OHN | Hello! |
| Malagasy | Salama! | sah-LAHM | Hi! (casual) |
| Malagasy | Inona no vaovao? | EE-noon noo vow-VOW | What's new? |
| Malagasy | Misaotra! | mee-SOW-tch | Thank you! |
Tips for chatting with people from Madagascar
- Malagasy words are often said shorter than they look, with final vowels barely sounded. Listen once, then copy.
- Ask about their home region; the highlands around Tana, the east coast and the dry southwest have different food, music and dialects.
- If someone asks "Inona no vaovao?", the easy answer is "Tsy misy" (tsee MEESH), meaning "nothing much."
- French is the natural backup if English gets tricky; a few phrases from our French page go a long way.
Only meet people from Madagascar
Omlet matches you Worldwide by default. To meet only people from Madagascar, use the country filter, the only filter Omlet has:
- Open Omlet and press Country on the control panel.
- Search for Madagascar and select it.
- Press Start. Press Next to meet someone else from Madagascar, or switch back to Worldwide any time.
Your first day is free: you add a card through Stripe to start it, and nothing is charged that day. When the 24 hours end, the country filter costs $3 one time, charged to that card, unless you cancel before then in Settings (if you cancel, you can still pick a country until the day ends). It's not a subscription, and it stays unlocked on that device and browser. It doesn't carry over to other devices or browsers, and clearing your browser data removes it. There's one free day per device, home network and card. Payment goes through Stripe, so Omlet never sees your card number.
The filter works both ways, and matching can be slower when fewer people from Madagascar are online. Chatting itself is free, and Worldwide matching never costs anything.
Your own country is detected automatically and shown to the people you meet as a flag.
Nearby countries
Other countries in Eastern Africa: