29 Knuts in a Sickle

     With 29 days to go, here's fact number 29 of Some Things You Probably Didn't Know About...Madagascar!

THE CURRENCY OF MADAGASCAR IS THE ARIARY REALLY HARD TO PRONOUNCE.

        The Ariary is the currency of Madagascar, having replaced the Malagasy Franc in 2005. Every time I try to say it, I feel like I'm saying, "'airy 'arry" (Hairy Harry). It seems there's a lot of repeated syllables in Malagasy words. So since the difficult pronunciation is going to be a recurring theme, let's focus on some somewhat more interesting facts about the money!

     1 Ariary is equal to...not very much. let's rephrase this. 100 Ariary is equal to about 4 Canadian cents. The notes range from 100 Ariary to 50,000 Ariary, and feature famous landmarks and wildlife of the country, including lemurs, zebus, and tsingys. If you're wondering what a tsingy is, that's another fact for another day! Isn't this exciting? The suspense must be killing you. Let's carry on for now, shall we?

     The Ariary is further divided (yes, unlike our penniless nation they have currency smaller than 4 cents), into (and here it gets REEEEALLY hard to pronounce) Iraimbilanja. Iraimbilanja are 1/5 of an Ariary. An Iraimbilanja equals 1 Malagasy Franc. It seems they are phasing out the Franc, with more recent denominations having both Ariary and Franc notation, but the Franc becoming less and less prominent. 

     Bonus fun fact of the day! The Ariary is one of only two non-decimal currencies in the WORLD. Why not decimals you ask? Because fractions are clearly way more interesting. Always halving controversial opinions, and causing division among friends. 

     See what I did there? Ok. You're right. I'm trying to make money way more interesting than it is. Fine. Just enjoy these pictures until tomorrows post. 

WAAAT Do you see that heptagonal coin!? Seven sides!! That's crazy!