Toamasina

File:Rue de Commerse. Tamatave. Madagaskar - SMVK - 021960.tif

Under French rule, Toamasina was the seat of several foreign consuls, as well as of numerous French officials, and was the chief port for the capital and the interior. Imports consisted principally of piece-goods, farinaceous foods, and iron and steel goods; main exports were gold dust, raffia, hides, caoutchouc (natural rubber) and live animals. Communication with Europe was maintained by steamers of the Messageries Maritimes and the Havraise companies, and also with Mauritius, and thence to Sri Lanka, by the British Union-Castle Line.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=387}}

During the colonial period, owing to the character of the soil and the formerly crowded native population, the town was often plagued by epidemics; the plague broke out in 1898, and again in 1900. Since the draining of the neighboring marshes, there is some improvement, although there are still outbreaks of malaria and other diseases, such as chikungunya.

• André Michaux (1746–1802), botanist and explorer, died in Tamatave.

Toamasina owes its importance to the existence of a coral reef which forms a spacious harbour, entered by two openings. The city center is built on a sandy peninsula which projects at right angles from the general coastline.

South of the town there is the mouth of the Ivondro River in the Indian Ocean.

Toamasina features a trade-wind tropical rainforest climate under the Köppen climate classification. While Toamasina has no true dry season month where less than {{cvt|60|mm|abbr=off}} of precipitation (on average) falls, the seaport has noticeably wetter and drier periods of the year. September–November is the driest period of the year, while February–April is the wettest time of the year. Average temperatures are relatively constant throughout the course of the year, though it is slightly cooler in the months of July and August, where average highs are around {{cvt|24|C|F}}, and warmer in the months of January and February, where high temperatures on average are {{cvt|30|C|F}}. Toamasina averages {{cvt|3368.2|mm|abbr=off}} of precipitation annually.

{{Weather box

|location = Toamasina (1991–2020, extremes 1889–present)

|collapsed =

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|Jan record high C = 37.4

|Feb record high C = 38.6

|Mar record high C = 39.0

|Apr record high C = 35.0

|May record high C = 34.0

|Jun record high C = 29.6

|Jul record high C = 31.2

|Aug record high C = 30.2

|Sep record high C = 30.6

|Oct record high C = 33.2

|Nov record high C = 33.0

|Dec record high C = 33.6

|year record high C = 38.6

|Jan high C = 30.7

|Feb high C = 30.9

|Mar high C = 30.4

|Apr high C = 29.5

|May high C = 28.0

|Jun high C = 26.4

|Jul high C = 25.2

|Aug high C = 25.5

|Sep high C = 26.3

|Oct high C = 27.5

|Nov high C = 28.9

|Dec high C = 30.2

|year high C =

|Jan mean C = 26.9

|Feb mean C = 27.0

|Mar mean C = 26.7

|Apr mean C = 25.7

|May mean C = 24.2

|Jun mean C = 22.6

|Jul mean C = 21.3

|Aug mean C = 21.5

|Sep mean C = 22.1

|Oct mean C = 23.4

|Nov mean C = 24.8

|Dec mean C = 26.3

|year mean C =

|Jan low C = 23.2

|Feb low C = 23.1

|Mar low C = 23.0

|Apr low C = 21.9

|May low C = 20.2

|Jun low C = 18.7

|Jul low C = 17.4

|Aug low C = 17.3

|Sep low C = 17.8

|Oct low C = 19.3

|Nov low C = 20.8

|Dec low C = 22.3

|year low C =

|Jan record low C = 18.0

|Feb record low C = 17.5

|Mar record low C = 17.0

|Apr record low C = 15.0

|May record low C = 13.2

|Jun record low C = 11.0

|Jul record low C = 11.8

|Aug record low C = 10.0

|Sep record low C = 11.0

|Oct record low C = 11.0

|Nov record low C = 13.5

|Dec record low C = 16.0

|year record low C = 10.0

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 412.2

|Feb precipitation mm = 438.0

|Mar precipitation mm = 454.6

|Apr precipitation mm = 299.6

|May precipitation mm = 269.7

|Jun precipitation mm = 276.8

|Jul precipitation mm = 279.7

|Aug precipitation mm = 178.5

|Sep precipitation mm = 117.9

|Oct precipitation mm = 98.9

|Nov precipitation mm = 121.4

|Dec precipitation mm = 250.6

|year precipitation mm =

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 18.5

|Feb precipitation days = 17.4

|Mar precipitation days = 19.5

|Apr precipitation days = 15.7

|May precipitation days = 17.2

|Jun precipitation days = 19.7

|Jul precipitation days = 21.3

|Aug precipitation days = 17.3

|Sep precipitation days = 13.8

|Oct precipitation days = 12.1

|Nov precipitation days = 10.9

|Dec precipitation days = 15.4

|year precipitation days =

|Jan humidity = 83

|Feb humidity = 83

|Mar humidity = 85

|Apr humidity = 84

|May humidity = 85

|Jun humidity = 85

|Jul humidity = 84

|Aug humidity = 85

|Sep humidity = 83

|Oct humidity = 82

|Nov humidity = 83

|Dec humidity = 84

|year humidity = 84

|Jan sun = 224.7

|Feb sun = 198.2

|Mar sun = 191.0

|Apr sun = 196.9

|May sun = 192.1

|Jun sun = 162.5

|Jul sun = 162.8

|Aug sun = 184.6

|Sep sun = 209.7

|Oct sun = 232.7

|Nov sun = 236.0

|Dec sun = 219.2

|year sun = 2410.4

|source 1 = NOAA{{cite web

| url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Madagascar/CSV/TOAMASINA_67095.csv

| title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020

| publisher = World Meteorological Organization

| access-date = 2 August 2023}}

|source 2 = Deutscher Wetterdienst (humidity, 1951–1967),{{cite web |url=http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_670950_kt.pdf |title=Klimatafel von Toamasina (Tamatave) / Madagaskar |work=Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world |publisher=Deutscher Wetterdienst |language=de |access-date=April 7, 2017 |archive-date=June 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602085117/https://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_670950_kt.pdf |url-status=live }} Meteo Climat (record highs and lows){{cite web |url=http://meteo-climat-bzh.dyndns.org/index.php?page=stati&id=769 |title=Station Toamasina |publisher=Meteo Climat |language=fr |access-date=April 7, 2017 |archive-date=August 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822140559/http://meteo-climat-bzh.dyndns.org/index.php?page=stati&id=769 |url-status=live }}

|date=August 2010

}}

File:Port Toamasina Madagascar.jpg

File:Phare de l'Ile aux Prunes.jpg

The town is the railhead for the line to the capital. Pousse-pousse (bicycle rickshaws), tuk-tuk (motorized rickshaws), and taxis are available throughout Toamasina to get around the city. Toamasina is the northern end of the Canal des Pangalanes.

The port of Toamasina serves as Madagascar's most important gateway to the Indian Ocean and to the world.

The city is served by Ambalamanasy Airport, which has limited domestic and international service. The city is the country's main seaport for international shipping.

• National Road 2 leads westwards to Antananarivo
• National Road 5 leads northwards to Maroantsetra.

The University of Toamasina was founded in 1977. There is also a Lycée Français de Tamatave, a French international school.

The CHU Morafeno is the university hospital of Toamasina.

The Barikadimy Stadium with a capacity 25,000 spectators. It mostly hosts football competitions and the AS Fortior and Tia Kitra FC Toamasina.

Among the places of worship, they are predominantly Christian

churches and temples: Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar, Malagasy Lutheran Church, Assemblies of God, Association of Bible Baptist Churches in Madagascar, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toamasina (Catholic Church seated in the Cathedral of St. Joseph) and Iglesia ni Cristo.J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 1768 There are also Muslim mosques.

• Anjoma
• Tanamakoa
• Tanambao V
• Mangarivotra
• Ankirihiry
• Manangareza
• Andranomadio
• Ambohijafy

Toamasina is twinned with:

• {{flagicon|FRA}} Saint-Étienne, France
• {{flagicon|Réunion}} Le Port, Réunion[http://www.ville-port.re/portail/index.php?id=48 Le Port est jumelé à quatre villes portuaires] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908095756/http://www.ville-port.re/portail/index.php?id=48 |date=2015-09-08 }} {{in lang|fr}}

• Battle of Tamatave, 1811
• Transport in Madagascar
• Parc Ivoloina, a nature park 12 km from the city center.

{{Reflist}}

• {{EB1911|wstitle=Tamatave|volume=26|page=387}}

{{commons category}}

{{Wikivoyage|Toamasina}}

• [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/MA/4/ Map]
• {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.univ-toamasina.mg/ University of Toamasina ]
• {{in lang|fr}} [http://tamatave-501.com/ Regional Tourist information office – Toamasina]
• {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.port-toamasina.com/ Regional Harbour of Toamasina ]
• {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20170225132257/http://mairie-toamasina.mg/ City Hall of toamasina ]
• {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.adopt-tamatave.com/ Association of the native of toamasina ] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622014822/http://www.adopt-tamatave.com/ |date=2019-06-22 }}

{{Authority control}}

{{Atsinanana|state=collapsed}}

Category:Cities in Madagascar

Category:Populated places in Atsinanana

Category:Regional capitals in Madagascar

Category:Port cities in Africa

Category:Ports and harbours of the Indian Ocean

Category:Populated coastal places in Madagascar