Toliara

In the 17th century, French buccaneers landed in the bay of St. Augustine near the Tropic of Capricorn, and founded the city to maintain commercial relations. It was not until the colonial period, after 1897, when the city really grew: with the efforts of Joseph Gallieni to install French administrative services, previously isolated on the island of Nosy Ve, to form the regional capital. Tulear grew along a grid pattern of cross streets, with wide avenues and public monuments.

Toliara has seen a population boom over the last two decades, due to a rural exodus that has brought over 200,000 citizens into urban centers in the region.

The Vezo, nomadic fishermen, are the indigenous ethnic group. Today they are being dominated by migrants from the South (Mahafale, Masikoro, Antandroy) which make up more than half of the urban population. To these are added migrants from other urban regions, occupying positions in government and the private sector.

Ifaty beach near Toliara

Regional cultural highlights include:

• The Ifaty beach near Tulear is famous for its water and sands.
• The Museum of Arts and Traditions of the South of Madagascar (in Cedratom) presents the life, crafts and funerary art of the people in the area.
• The Regional Museum of the University of Toliara: this museum has a small ethnological collection and a huge egg of Aepyornis.
• The Museum of the Sea, founded by Professor Rabesandratana, is hosted by the Oceanographic Institute and covers the local aquatic flora and fauna, including a coelacanth caught in 1995 near Anakao.
• The Antsokay Arboretum: Established in 1980 at the initiative of the Swiss amateur botanist Petignat Hermann (1923-2000). This arboretum covers an area of 52 hectares, with more than 920 plant species, lemurs, radiated tortoises, snakes and chameleons.
• A locally known shell market, on the waterfront, behind the French Alliance, sells shells and various handicraft products.

The port played a key role during the "boom corn" years in the 1980s and 90s. Today, the arrival of migrants contributing to agricultural production (maize, cassava and rice) and livestock (cattle and goats) supplying the city markets with food, has contributed to the development of small informal businesses: particularly among the Mahafale and Masikoro communities. The city specializes in the import and export of various products including sisal, cotton, rice, peanuts and soap. Production of sea salt thrives, from salt marshes and landscaped places in coastal areas.

The Bay of Toliara houses one of Madagascar's oil exploration sites. The sea floor is rich in minerals gemstones (about 200 km to the north lies the Ilakaka sapphire deposit has operated since 1999) and ground salt. More recently, Canadian companies begin operation of the ilmenite in the region of Tolanaro. Beyond this mining and production, the industrial sector has declined in recent decades,

Tourism is a promising sector, thanks to the climate and natural assets of the hinterland (Ifaty, Anakao, Saint Augustin). Calm shallow seas and shallow support scuba diving, and Toliara remains a main destination for tours to southern Madagascar.

The Toliara Sands project, renamed Base Toliara, seeks to exploit ilmenite but encounters strong opposition despite an investment of 700 million dollars.

Toliara is located on a broad coastal plain, surrounded by dunes and mangroves, near the Tropic of Capricorn in the Mozambique Channel. A nearby barrier reef (the Great Reef) is 18 km long and 3 km wide. The beach area is extended by an underwater beach along the continental shelf that slopes gently seaward. To the north lies the Delta Fiherenana.

Toliara is nicknamed the "City of the Sun" because it has a hot climate (24.3 °C average) and is semi-arid (Köppen BSh), with less than 400 mm annual rainfall. The city is constantly swept by a strong prevailing wind, the Tsio Katimo ("South Wind").

The colonial legacy is still visible in the architecture and the urban landscape. Major road works and development were undertaken in 2003 to promote the development of the city.

The University Hospital Centre CHU Mitsinjo Betanimena is located near the city center in the district of Tanambao. Another private health facility, St. Luke's Clinic, is located in the district of Sanfily on the road to the airport.

• 3FB Toliara (football)
• JFC Toliara (football)
• AS Comato (football)

• Isalo National Park
• Beza Mahafaly Reserve
• Coton de Tulear

• See Tulear on WikiMapia
• https://web.archive.org/web/20070929160859/http://www.fimfrance.com/_repository/files/2007-01_FS_exploration_petroliere.PDF

23°21′S 43°40′E