Editing Antananarivo (section)

===French Madagascar===
[[File:Presidential office in Antananarivo Madagascar.JPG|thumbnail|The colonial French Residency serves today as a presidential office and has been renamed the [[Ambohitsorohitra Palace]].]]

The [[French Madagascar|French military invaded Antananarivo]] in September 1894, prompting the queen's surrender after a cannon shell blasted a hole through a building at the Rova, causing major casualties. The damage was never repaired. Andohalo square was remodeled to feature a gazebo, walkways, and planted landscaping. Claiming the island as a colony, the French administration retained Antananarivo as its capital and transcribed its name as Tananarive.{{sfn|Appiah|Gates|2010|p=114}} They chose Antaninarenina as the site for the French Governor General's Residency; upon independence, it was renamed [[Ambohitsorohitra Palace]] and converted into presidential offices. Under the French, tunnels were constructed through two of the city's largest hills, connecting disparate districts and facilitating the town's expansion. Streets were laid with cobblestones and later paved; sewer systems and electricity infrastructure was introduced. Water, previously obtained from springs at the foot of the hill, was brought from the [[Ikopa River]].{{sfn|Shillington|2004|p=159}}

This period saw a major expansion of ''la ville moyenne'', which spread along the lower hilltops and slopes of the city centered around the French residency. Modern urban planning was applied in ''la ville basse'' ("lower town"), which expanded from the base of the city's central hills into the surrounding rice fields. Major boulevards like ''Avenue de l'Indépendance'', planned commercial areas like the arcades lining either side of the avenue, large parks, city squares, and other landmark features were built.{{sfn|Shillington|2004|p=159}} A railway system connecting Soarano station at one end of the ''Avenue de l'Indépendance'' in Antananarive with [[Toamasina]] and [[Fianarantsoa]] was established in 1897.{{sfn|McLean Thompson|Adloff|1965|p=271}} Beyond these planned spaces, neighborhoods densely populated by working-class Malagasy expanded without state oversight or control.{{sfn|Shillington|2004|p=159}}

[[File:Beautiful jacaranda Antananarivo Madagascar.jpg|thumbnail|left|Jacarandas planted during the [[French Madagascar|French colonial period]] bloom in October around [[Lake Anosy]].]]
The city expanded rapidly after [[World War II]];{{sfn|Shillington|2004|p=159}} by 1950 its population had grown to 175,000. Roads connecting Antananarivo to surrounding towns were expanded and paved. The first international airport was constructed at [[Arivonimamo]], {{cvt|45|km|0}} outside the city; this was replaced in 1967 with [[Ivato International Airport]] approximately {{cvt|15|km|0}} from the city center. The [[University of Antananarivo]] was constructed in the Ankatso neighborhood and the [[Museum of Ethnology and Paleontology]] was also built. A city plan written in 1956 created suburban zones where large houses and gardens were established for the wealthy. In 1959, severe floods in ''la ville basse'' prompted the building of large-scale embankments along the edges of the Betsimitatatra rice fields and the establishment of new ministerial complexes on newly drained land in the Anosy neighborhood.{{sfn|Shillington|2004|p=159}}