Buccaneers, kids, shanties… between the big island and the mainland island, there are many similarities. Both places are destinations worth visiting, each with their own style, desirable, discordant and unique. The populations are welcoming and dynamic with a strong attraction for tourism. Although they do not share the same language, both islands have typical cultures, open minds, and a desire to build society. In this article, we take a look at the similarities and differences between these two nations, Canberra and Antananarivo.

9 key points bring the two nations together and make them, to a certain extent, similar islands.

1-Islands in the Indian Ocean.

With areas of 7.688 million km² and 587,000 km² respectively, Australia and Madagascar are large islands: they are the first and fifth largest islands in the world. Both are bordered by the Indian Ocean. They are located in the southern hemisphere and have attractive coastlines. Most of the beaches on these two super islands are protected by coral reefs. Characteristic of the club of large islands, both countries have port cities with strong economic and maritime dynamism: Tamatave, Majunga and Tulear for Madagascar and Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney for Australia. The size of the two islands generates significant overseas territories for each of them.

2-Different food systems

Agriculture is an important sector for both islands, employing 80% of the population in Madagascar, and in Australia it is a thriving sector producing high-quality food products. However, although agriculture plays a central role in both countries, it differs in the way it is practised.

Traditional agriculture:

This is the type of agriculture practised in Madagascar. It is often organic, with unpredictable yields. It is practised for subsistence purposes, with produce either consumed, sold on the local market or exported. Very few products undergo processing; they are traded as they are.

In Madagascar, agriculture produces rice, grains, cassava, spices, and tropical products such as vanilla and cocoa.

There are both small and large agricultural estates.

Industrial agriculture:

Australia is an agricultural country that produces cereals and fruit: wheat (20.9 million tonnes), maize (387,000 tonnes), oranges (378,000 tonnes), tomatoes (386,000 tonnes), rapeseed (3.9 million tonnes), oats (1.2 million tonnes), sugar cane (33.5 million tonnes) and other cereals. The quantities produced are enormous, and the country often ranks among the world’s top 10 food-producing regions. The farms are huge, with an average size of 6,000 hectares per agricultural plantation. This is cutting-edge agriculture with a small number of farmers (400,000) producing a large volume of products.

Agricultural products are sold worldwide (Europe, United States, New Zealand, China) or processed locally by a state-of-the-art agri-food industry.

3-A welcoming land.

Both countries are characterised by a high influx of foreigners.

Historically a settlement colony and penal colony, Madagascar and Australia have developed a lifestyle and way of life that exudes good living and attracts visitors from all over the world. For both countries, although the 30% cap on corporate tax is not yet an attractive proposition for capital, both islands do attract individuals to their shores.

31.5% of the Australian population was born abroad, representing 8.6 million people. Several communities are present in Madagascar. For example, in 2025, there were 40,000 French nationals living in Madagascar, and the waves of migration experienced by the island through years make it one of the most ethnically diverse places on the planet.

4-Distinctive fauna and biodiversity.

Madagascar and Australia are both crossed by the imaginary line of the ‘Tropic of Capricorn’. In Australia, it crosses the states of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, and in Madagascar, it crosses the outskirts of the province of Tulear. The two countries have similar climates: tropical arid and semi-desert. The landscapes of northern Australia and western Madagascar are similar, both covered with dry vegetation, while southern Madagascar and central Australia share similar climates and landscapes.

Fauna:

Wombats, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, koalas and marsupials are the most famous representatives of Australian fauna. Australia has a unique fauna that is found nowhere else in the world.

Madagascar, similarly, has unique fauna, the best-known representatives of which are lemurs, chameleons and birds endemic to the island.

Both territories have rare animals that have few equivalents elsewhere.

Flora:

Like its fauna, Australia has unique flora that is unmatched in other territories. Acacias and banksias are the island’s most famous plants.

Madagascar, a fertile land, also abounds in plants, with several species of orchids (more than 1,200 species), certain species of hardwoods, and common woods are endemic to the island.

5-Regional leaders.

Australia is an island with five direct neighbours: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, New Zealand and New Caledonia. It is no surprise that the world’s largest island is the regional leader in its geographical area, dominating its neighbours numerically, economically and politically. Australia also has a powerful army that is undergoing modernisation and is ranked among the 12 most effective armies in the world: frigates, unmanned ships and long-range Tomahawk missiles are among the equipment available to the Australian army.

As for Madagascar, the large island has six direct neighbours: Mozambique, Comoros, Mayotte, Seychelles, Mauritius and Réunion. Like Australia, Madagascar has significant dominance and leadership over its neighbours: its size, population and political influence are advantageous factors for Madagascar’s regional influence. The island of Madagascar has a voice that carries weight and counts in regional and international exchanges. It is undoubtedly a regional leader.

6-Countries with proven mysticism.

Australia and Madagascar are both countries with mystical beliefs. In Australia, it is Aboriginal mysticism with the famous myth of the ‘Dreamtime’ that forms the basis of this belief system. In Madagascar, beliefs are very important, with ancestor worship and respect for sacred taboos forming the pillars of Malagasy life. It is easy to find Aboriginal marabouts or indigenous sorcerers in Australia and Madagascar. On both islands, people believe in luck, the power of symbols and, in some regions, the spells and curses of local healers. Australia and Madagascar are both countries where great importance is attached to chance and signs of destiny, fate or the game of chance. They both have their national holidays on the 26th of the month, 26 January for Australia and 26 June for Madagascar.

Mysticism is attributed to supernatural and divine forces whose designs remain a mystery.

7-An ‘identical’ population size.

Australia and Madagascar have identical population sizes: approximately 30 million inhabitants live on each of the two islands.

This number is fuelled in different ways for the two islands. Australia, with a natural growth rate of nearly 0.4%, mainly uses migration to support its population growth, while Madagascar has a natural growth rate of 3%, which enables it to support its population growth.

White population of Anglo-Saxon origin:

Australia has a predominantly white population, whose first settlers were deported prisoners and gold prospectors. Today, the United Kingdom remains the country of birth for many Australians.

Afro-Indonesian population:

The Madagascan population is made up of several ethnic groups, with a strong representation of the African-Indonesian type on the island. The population is often black with an average height of 1.70 m.

8-Different languages.

In Australia, English is spoken as the national language. It is spoken by almost 100% of the Australian population and used as the everyday language. Although there is no official language mentioned in the island’s status, English is the administrative and commercial language. Other languages are spoken on the island: Italian, Arabic, Cantonese, French, Greek and Kriol.

In Madagascar, Malagasy and French are the official languages of the island. Malagasy is the most widely spoken language in everyday life. French is spoken by 50% of the population and is the language of technical and scientific communication. Languages such as Arabic, Italian, Cantonese, Mandarin and Greek are also spoken on the island.

9-Import markets.

Finally, one of the last points in common between Australia and Madagascar is their similar purchases in terms of electronic products and mobile phones. Indeed, both countries are major consumers of these products and have few or no production units on their soil. Imports come mainly from China, the United States and Europe. These products accompany Australians and Madagascans in their daily lives.

It should be noted that Australia is a developed economy. It has a larger domestic market and advanced technical sectors on its soil, namely the space industry, mining industry and automotive industry. The country has industrial assembly design zones and is much less dependent on imports than Madagascar. However, it remains a major buyer of Chinese and global manufactured goods.

Its wheat, iron and natural gas are among the products that contribute to its trade surplus, which is expected to reach nearly $3 billion in 2025.

Madagascar, on the other hand, has a trade deficit of nearly $1.86 billion. The developing economy imports large quantities of petroleum products and various equipment, in addition to its demand for transport vehicles and portable electronic products.

The market is dependent on imports for sectors such as industrial design, aviation and agriculture.