28-27 Double Down

Oh dear. I'm already getting behind on this.

Well, time to double up!

MADAGASCAR WAS COLONIZED BY THE FRENCH IN 1896. 

    The Kingdom of Madagascar, also known as the Merina Kingdom, lasted from the early 17th century until Madagascar was invaded and colonized by the French in the 1890's. Prior to colonization, the country was shifting to western ideals; improving access to education, modernizing the army, and adopting a British-style legal system. Then the French were like, "hey! We used to have a trade agreement with you guys, and now you're ignoring it and  getting all buddy-buddy with the British! Better invade." This sent the royal family into exile, and led to fact #27. In 1960, after only 64 years of French rule, Madagascar gained their independence as an autonomous, and eventually democratic republic. Perhaps this was to avoid the inevitable complications of counting above 60 in French.

THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES OF MADAGASCAR ARE MALAGASY AND FRENCH.

     The Malagasy language traces back to the early settlers of the island, who sailed west from the Polynesian islands. It is, thus, quite distinctive from the languages of its closer African neighbours, but similar to the languages of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The written Malagasy language utilizes the Latin Alphabet, with the exception of the letters Q, U, W, and X. They're silly letters anyway. Who needs 'em. Um. Oh. I guess I do, since I just used U and W quite a bit. Shoot. I just used Q, too. X. X is a silly letter. Why does it exist anyw-...um...nevermind. Miala tsiny (sorry).

     The language also borrows some elements from Arabic, and another form of written Malagasy uses Sorabe script, which looks like this:

     Of course, the French language was introduced during the French colonization. Being such a widely-spoken language internationally, and especially among other African nations, it has remained a major second language. It is, however, more prevalent among the educated and well-off. 

     Well, that's it for me today. Time to brush up mon Franglais et puis get some dormir.