“Freedom is not free” (various artists sing songs) is the only quote that describes the hardships and hardships that Madagascar experienced, from the 7th century until its independence in June 1960 Madagascar and its people are in constant turmoil. Through its eventful past it is easy to see how Madagascar has acquired its history, culture and religion, this is the identity the country has taken on over this vast span of time. Archaeologists such as Jarred Diamond, the author of "Guns, Germs, and Steel," place the first humans in Madagascar as Austronesian people from Indonesia around 500 BC. The Malagasy people are believed to have arrived directly from Indonesia to Madagascar ; this is evident through the many similarities in the materials used for the fabrics and the distinct rigger canoe used by both people. Jared Diamond writes the following: “These Austronesians, with their Austronesian language and their modified Austronesian culture, were already established in Madagascar when it was visited for the first time by Europeans, in 1500. This seems to me the most surprising fact of human geography for the whole world blue-eyed and blond-haired who spoke a language close to Swedish, even though the nearby North American continent was inhabited by Native Americans who spoke Amerindian languages. How could prehistoric men from Borneo, supposedly traveling in boats without maps or compasses, end up in Madagascar? (Diamond, Jared (2001) Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, New Edition. New York: W. W. Norton.) The first European settlers arrived in Madagascar in 1500 when a Portuguese sailor Diogo Dias acci... . .. middle of paper ...... war the French continued to control Madagascar, even during the Malagasy uprising of 1947, which resulted in the bloody deaths of 80-90,000 people Malagasy rebels. Several years after the Malagasy uprising, French citizens began a movement towards an independent Madagascar. In 1959 the Malagasy Republic was formed from the ashes of a destroyed country and in June 1960 the Malagasy Republic gained its full independence as an autonomous state of the French community. Madagascar has had a bumpy and beaten path to its overall freedom and independence. This path to freedom took hundreds of years and too much blood, but like most free countries it was worth it in the end because, after all, freedom is not free. Through all this history and conflicts, Madagascar has developed its own identity and with that identity has earned its place in today's world.