Mahajanga Province

Mahajanga Province encompasses Madagascar's northwest coast and interior savanna, the Sakalava heartland that resisted Merina highland dominance for centuries. Where the east coast drowns in rain, the northwest bakes—dry savanna, seasonal rivers, and fishing communities facing the Mozambique Channel. The province's economy split between coastal fishing, inland agriculture, and secondary port infrastructure that never received the investment Toamasina commanded. Dissolved in 2007, the province persists as a regional identity: Sakalava culture, Islamic influence from centuries of Arab trade, and geographic separation from highland power. French colonizers recognized this distinctiveness, making Mahajanga a protectorate in 1841 separate from Merina treaties. Today the former province area maintains its alternative character—fishing fleets, cattle ranching on dry grasslands, and port activity that handles regional trade without competing for national cargo volumes. By 2026, the northwest tests whether backup infrastructure and regional economies can survive when primary trade routes contract.