Soalala is a town and commune in western Madagascar

Madagascar

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

. It 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 Soalala

Soalala District

Soalala is a district in western Madagascar. It's a part of Boeny Region and borders the districts of Mitsinjo in northeast, Ambato-Boeni in east, Kandreho in south and Besalampy in west. The area is and the population was estimated to be 27,434 in 2001....

, which is a part of Boeny Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 15,000 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...

.

Soalala is served by a local airport and maritime harbour. It also has riverine harbour. Primary and junior level secondary education are available in town. The majority 78% of the population of the commune are farmers. The most important crop is 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...

, while other important products are banana

Banana

Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....

s and cassava

Cassava

Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...

. Industry and services provide employment for 5% and 1% of the population, respectively. Additionally fishing employs 16% of the population.