Editing Madagascar (section)

===Ethnic groups===
{{Main|Ethnic groups of Madagascar}}
[[File:Antanosy Girl Fort Dauphin.jpg|thumb|Little [[Antanosy]] girl with dark blond hair]] 
The [[Malagasy people|Malagasy]] ethnic group forms over 90&nbsp;percent of Madagascar's population and is typically divided into 18 ethnic subgroups.<ref name=BGNote/> Recent DNA research revealed that the genetic makeup of the average Malagasy person constitutes an approximately equal blend of [[Southeast Asia]]n, [[Oceania]]n and East African genes,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Hurles ME, Sykes BC, Jobling MA, Forster P |year=2005 |title=The dual origin of the Malagasy in Island Southeast Asia and East Africa: evidence from maternal and paternal lineages |url=http://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/press/2005/050504.html |url-status=dead |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=76 |issue=5 |pages=894–901 |doi=10.1086/430051 |pmc=1199379 |pmid=15793703 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303210750/http://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/press/2005/050504.html |archive-date=3 March 2011 |access-date=30 April 2011}}</ref><ref name="Tofanelli">{{cite journal |vauthors = Tofanelli S, Bertoncini S, Castrì L, Luiselli D, Calafell F, Donati G, Paoli G |year = 2009 |title = On the origins and admixture of Malagasy: new evidence from high-resolution analyses of paternal and maternal lineages |journal = Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume = 26 |issue = 9|pages = 2109–2124 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msp120 |pmid = 19535740|doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Cox">{{cite journal|last1=Cox|first1=Murray P.|last2=Nelson|first2=Michael G.|last3=Tumonggor|first3=Meryanne K.|last4=Ricaut|first4=François-X.|last5=Sudoyo|first5=Herawati|date=2012|title=A small cohort of Island Southeast Asian women founded Madagascar|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=279|issue=1739|pages=2761–2768|doi=10.1098/rspb.2012.0012 |doi-access=free|pmc=3367776|pmid=22438500}}</ref> although the genetics of some communities show a predominance of Southeast Asian or East African origins or some Arab, [[Indians in Madagascar|Indian]], or European ancestry.<ref name=Adelaar>Adelaar (2006), pp. 205–235</ref>

Southeast Asian features – specifically from the southern part of [[Borneo]] – are most predominant among the [[Merina people|Merina]] of the central highlands,<ref name=ethnicstrife/> who form the largest Malagasy ethnic subgroup at approximately 26&nbsp;percent of the population, while certain communities among the western coastal peoples (collectively called ''côtiers'') have relatively stronger East African features. The largest coastal ethnic subgroups are the [[Betsimisaraka people|Betsimisaraka]] (14.9&nbsp;percent) and the [[Tsimihety]] and [[Sakalava]] (6&nbsp;percent each).<ref name="LOC"/> Peoples along the east and southeastern coasts often have a roughly equal blend of Austronesian and Bantu ancestry; coastal peoples also usually show the largest genetic influence from the centuries of Arab, Somali, Gujarati, and Tamil traders and merchants of the area, compared to the inland highlander peoples.

{|class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"
|-
!Malagasy ethnic subgroups !!Regional concentration
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|[[Antankarana]], [[Sakalava people|Sakalava]], [[Tsimihety people|Tsimihety]] ||Former [[Antsiranana Province]]; north and northwestern coasts
|-
|[[Sakalava people|Sakalava]], [[Vezo people|Vezo]] ||Former [[Mahajanga Province]]; western coast
|-
|[[Betsimisaraka people|Betsimisaraka]], [[Sihanaka]], [[Bezanozano]] ||Former [[Toamasina Province]]; eastern coast
|-
|[[Merina people|Merina]] ||Former [[Antananarivo Province]]; central highlands
|-
|[[Betsileo people|Betsileo]], [[Antaifasy]], [[Antambahoaka]], [[Antemoro people|Antaimoro]], [[Antaisaka people|Antaisaka]], [[Tanala]] ||Former [[Fianarantsoa Province]]; southeastern coast
|-
|[[Mahafaly]], [[Antandroy]], [[Antanosy people]], [[Bara people|Bara]], [[Vezo]] ||Former [[Toliara Province]]; southern inland regions and coast
|}

[[Chinese people in Madagascar|Chinese]], [[Indians in Madagascar|Indian]] and [[Comoros|Comoran]] minorities are present in Madagascar, as well as a small European (primarily [[French people|French]]) populace. Emigration in the late 20th century has reduced these minority populations, occasionally in abrupt waves, such as the exodus of Comorans in 1976, following anti-Comoran riots in Mahajanga.<ref name="LOC"/> By comparison, there has been no significant emigration of Malagasy peoples.<ref name=EBLand/> The number of [[French people in Madagascar|Europeans]] has declined since independence, reduced from 68,430 in 1958<ref name="Kitchen 1962, p. 256"/> to 17,000 three decades later. There were an estimated 25,000&nbsp;Comorans, 18,000&nbsp;Indians, and 9,000&nbsp;Chinese living in Madagascar in the mid-1980s.<ref name="LOC"/>