Madagascar is a country that is also a very large island in the Indian Ocean, off the southeast coast of Africa. Its capital is Antananarivo.

Madagascar馬達加斯加 is a country that is also a very large island是一個國家，也是一座非常大的島 in the Indian Ocean在印度洋上 off the southeast coast of Africa位於非洲東南方外海。Its capital is它的首都是 Antananarivo安塔那那利佛。

It is famous for plants and animals that live wild almost nowhere else — lemurs are the example people know best. About 22 million people lived there in 2014; the number is higher now.

It is famous for它以...聞名 plants and animals that live wild almost nowhere else幾乎只有在這裡才有野生分布的動植物 lemurs are the example people know best其中狐猴是大家最熟悉的例子。About 22 million people lived there in 2014在2014年大約有兩千兩百萬人住在那裡 the number is higher now現在這個數字更高了。

In English we use Madagascar for the place; a person from there is Madagascan or, often, Malagasy.

In English在英文裡 we use Madagascar for the place地名用Madagascar馬達加斯加 a person from there那裡的人 is稱為 Madagascan or, often, MalagasyMadagascan或更常見的Malagasy馬達加斯加人。

The name came into English from French (Middle French Madagascar, from an older form Madageiscar). People often tell this story: the traveler Marco Polo mixed the island up with Mogadishu, a city on the African mainland, and the mixed-up name stuck. That story is widely repeated; scholars do not all agree it is the whole truth, and old Arabic maps had other names for islands in that sea. What we can say safely is that English borrowed the name through French, rather than inventing it.

The name came into English from French這個名字是從法文傳入英文的 (Middle French Madagascar中古法文的Madagascar, from an older form Madageiscar源自更早的Madageiscar這個形式)。People often tell this story人們常說這樣一個故事 the traveler Marco Polo mixed the island up with Mogadishu旅行家馬可波羅把這座島和非洲大陸上的城市摩加迪休搞混了 a city on the African mainland（摩加迪休是非洲大陸上的一座城市） and the mixed-up name stuck這個搞混的名字就這樣留了下來。That story is widely repeated這個故事被廣為流傳 scholars do not all agree it is the whole truth但學者們並不都同意這就是全部真相 and old Arabic maps had other names for islands in that sea古代的阿拉伯地圖對那片海域的島嶼也有別的名稱。What we can say safely is我們能確定的是 that English borrowed the name through French英文是透過法文借用這個名字的 rather than inventing it而不是自己發明的。