Maevatanana is a city and commune urbaine in Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

. The city is in the central-north part of the island, at the Ikopa River

Ikopa River

The Ikopa River is the second longest waterway in Madagascar and passes through the capital, Antananarivo. It is the largest tributary of the Betsiboka River....

, and is connected by the national road RN 4 to Antananarivo

Antananarivo

Antananarivo , formerly Tananarive , is the capital and largest city in Madagascar. It is also known by its French colonial shorthand form Tana....

 and Mahajanga

Mahajanga

Mahajanga is a city and a district on the north-west coast of Madagascar.- City :The City of Mahajanga is the capital of the Boeny region. Population: 135,660 ....

. The altitude is low and as it is located far from the coast, temperatures tend to be high. The city belongs to the district

Districts of Madagascar

Districts are second-level administrative divisions of Madagascar below the regions. Districts are in their turn divided into communes; while some of the districts on urban areas such as the district of Toliara consists of only one commune, most of the districts are divided typically into...

 of Maevatanana, which is a part of Betsiboka Region. Maevatanana is the capital of the Betsiboka

Betsiboka

Betsiboka is a region of Madagascar. It borders Boeny Region in north, Sofia in northeast, Alaotra-Mangoro in east, Analamanga and Bongolava in south and Melaky in west. The capital of the region is Maevatanana. Until 2009 Betsiboka belonged to Mahajanga Province. The population was estimated to be...

 region, and the population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 24,000 in 2001 commune census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

.

In addition to primary schooling the town offers secondary education at both junior and senior levels. The town has a permanent court and hospital. The majority 60% of the population of the commune are farmers, while an additional 7% receives their livelihood from raising livestock. The most important crops are rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

 and tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

; also sweet potato

Sweet potato

The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...

es are an important agricultural product. Industry and services provide employment for 5% and 15% of the population, respectively. Additionally fishing employs 13% of the population.