Everything about Antsiranana totally explained
Antsiranana, named
Diego-Suárez prior to 1975, is a city at the northern tip of
Madagascar.
Antsiranana is the capital of the
Diana region and of the
Antsiranana autonomous province.
Transports
Antsiranana has a natural harbour, but the remote location, and, until recently, bad road to the south, has made it rather unimportant for freight traffic.
History
The place was named for Diogo Soares (
Diego Suárez in Spanish), a
Portuguese navigator who visited the bay in 1543 .
In the
1880s, the
bay was coveted by
France, which desired it as a
coaling station for
steamships. After the first
Franco-Hova War, Queen
Ranavalona III signed a treaty on
December 17,
1885 giving France a protectorate over the bay and surrounding territory, as well as the islands of
Nossi-Be and
Ste. Marie de Madagascar.
The colony's administration was subsumed into that of Madagascar in
1896.
The Second Pacific Squadron of
Imperial Russia anchored and was resupplied at Diego-Suarez on its way to the
Battle of Tsushima in
1905.
Diego Suárez was one of the points of invasion for
Allied forces when they
captured Madagascar during 1942. There were fears that Japan would pressure Vichy France into granting use of Madagascar in much the same way as
French Indo-China during the previous year. Consequently an invasion of the island was launched. Diego Suarez was selected as the initial invasion point due to its superlative harbour and the fact that it was the seat of many important officials. This was also the site of an attack by Japanese midget submarines on the British fleet.
France continued to use the city as a military base after the Malagasy independence 1960 until the socialist revolution of 1973.
Postage stamps
Further Information
Get more info on 'Antsiranana'.
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