Which recorded places fit my offer?
The Foursquare collection includes 6,372 historical place records. Explore names and categories to identify businesses or gathering places worth investigating.
COUNTRY RESEARCH · FACTS YOU CAN USE
Madagascar.
The facts behind the story.
Explore recorded businesses, places, travel years, and international connections. Read what the figures mean, then choose a research path that fits your next business conversation.
YOUR QUESTION COMES FIRST
What would you
like to explore?
Choose a question below. Each path uses the evidence available for Madagascar, with its own dates and coverage.
Where should I look more closely?
GeoNames includes 24,174 location records, such as cities, towns, villages, and city sections. Open a place to review its location, time zone, and available population information.
Find a city or village →How can we start a useful conversation?
The country reference lists 2 languages. Agree on a meeting language, then explore international networks and available U.S. community connections.
Prepare for an introduction →What can the travel years tell me?
The latest available observation is 39,000 trips abroad in 1995. This is one historical reference point; it cannot show a trend.
Read the available travel history →Start with a lead, then ask a business question. A recorded place can help you identify someone to research. Confirm customer demand, supplier fit, and operating details with the people involved.
Two collections.
Two ways to understand a place.
Foursquare describes recorded businesses and other gathering places. GeoNames helps you find named locations such as cities and villages. Keep their totals separate because they describe different things.
Historical business and place records
Explore recorded shops, services, restaurants, cultural attractions, and other places. Category fields describe the place types where that information is supplied.
See what makes up the collection →City, town, village, and related location records
Find a named place and review the available geographic facts. The collection also includes city sections and some historical locations.
Explore named locations →Use these as historical research references. Records were collected in 2026 and include source status information. Check a place’s details before planning a visit or making an introduction.
Read the full definitions of these two collections
Foursquare Open Source Places
6,372 business and other place records. Historical source records, including source-classified closed and review records. Not a census of businesses.
GeoNames populated-place reference
24,174 populated-place feature records. Every feature-class P row in the complete downloaded allCountries file. No country, population, ready-lead, or top-N filter. Includes villages, city sections, and historical or abandoned populated-place features; inspect the feature type. Not a list of formal city governments or sister-city partners.
Prepare the conversation.
Start with language.
Language shapes the first meeting, written material, and follow-up. Ask your host which language works best and whether an interpreter would help.
Languages listed for Madagascar
- French
- Malagasy
- Capital
- Antananarivo
- Currency
- Ariary · MGA
- International calling code
- +261
- Country reference codes
- MG · MDG
A useful first question: “Which language will we use for our meeting and the information we send afterward?”
Language source, scope, and original codes
Languages come from countryInfo.txt and are country context, not city language counts, official-language status, or individual language skills.
French (fr-MG), Malagasy (mg)
GeoNames country reference · retrieved 2026-10-20. The country reference does not establish the language skills or preferences of any individual.
INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS · REVIEWED MEMBERSHIPS
Know the networks.
Plan the conversation.
International organizations and forums provide context for cross-border conversations. Follow the official links below to explore the programs, policy information, and regional connections that fit your business question.
| Organization | Country’s relationship | What you can explore |
|---|---|---|
| UN ↗United Nations | Member state | Explore the country’s diplomatic participation and published UN information. |
| WTO ↗World Trade Organization | WTO member | Research trade commitments and policies before choosing a market-entry route. |
Choose a program or rule to investigate. A listed membership explains an international relationship. Check which requirements, services, or opportunities apply to your own plan.
Which organizations were checked, and what does membership mean?
Reviewed lists: UN, NATO, APEC, G20, ASEAN, EU, and WTO. Reviewed October 23, 2026. This selection is not a complete list of every international affiliation.
APEC lists member economies. Observer relationships retain their source status. A regional organization’s membership is kept separate from the membership of its individual countries.
Membership alone does not establish a tariff preference, access to a particular program, or a completed business deal.
Read the value.
Understand the comparison.
The measures below describe this historical place collection. Use them to understand how much recorded information is available and how you might explore it.
A snapshot position is not an overall country score. Each position compares the named measure within its stated group of countries and territories. Read the actual value as well as its position. Near-complete mapping coverage can receive a low position when other geographies have slightly higher percentages.
| Measure | Recorded value | What it helps you understand | Snapshot position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mapped and categorized place recordsRecords with a usable map location and a place category, outside the source’s closed and review groups. | 6,181 | Use these records when you need both a map location and a recorded place type. | 133 of 248 |
| Place records retained for explorationRecords outside the closed and source-review groups when this historical collection was built. | 6,263 | These records were outside the snapshot’s closed and source-review groups. Confirm operating details before making contact. | 133 of 248 |
| Records with a websiteThe share of all country place records with a website address. | 1.16% | A recorded website gives you a route to further research. A blank field does not establish that a website is absent. | 227 of 237 |
| Records with a categoryThe share of all country place records with a category name or identifier. | 98.67% | Use the categories to explore the recorded businesses and gathering places that fit your question. | 38 of 237 |
| Records with valid coordinatesThe share of all country place records with valid latitude and longitude. | 100.00% | Nearly all recorded places can be located on a map. The percentage describes this collection’s mapping coverage. | 1 of 237 |
| Records retained for exploration: shareThe share of all country records outside the closed and source-review groups. | 98.29% | This is the share outside the closed and source-review groups when the snapshot was built. | 29 of 237 |
| Records marked for source reviewThe share of all country place records with unresolved source flags. | 0.20% | These records need another source check. A higher position means a larger share flagged for review. | 215 of 237 |
| Records with a closure dateThe share of all country place records with a closure date recorded in the source. | 1.51% | These records contain a closure date. This is not an annual business-closure rate. | 175 of 237 |
Comparison groups, missing values, and source-status definitions
Count positions cover the geographies in the source’s count comparison group. Percentage positions use the group that meets the source’s minimum record-base rule. The size of each comparison group appears beside its position.
“Not supplied” means a value is absent. “Not ranked” means no position is published for that measure. Neither is changed to zero.
“Retained for exploration” means the record was outside the source’s closed and unresolved-review groups when the snapshot was built. A closure date or source-review flag describes the stored record; it does not measure a country’s annual business performance.
Very high coordinate coverage can receive a low relative rank when comparison geographies also have near-complete coordinates.
OUTBOUND TRAVEL · ONE RECORDED YEAR
Follow the recorded
travel years.
The collection records 39,000 international departures from Madagascar in 1995. One observation gives you a historical reference point; it does not establish a trend.
International departures
One recorded year
| Year | Departures | Change from the previous available year |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 39,000 | No earlier comparison |
What this can help you ask: What could a travel or visitor partner help you understand about this recorded year?
Departures count trips abroad to all destinations. One person can make several trips. This series does not identify U.S. destinations or the purpose of a trip.
Explore Madagascar’s separate U.S. arrival history ↗Connect the place
with people and routes.
Which U.S. community views can I explore?
An exact community view is not matched here. Explore the available country-of-birth, origin, ancestry, and Indigenous identity views in the U.S. community directory.
Explore the available community connections →How could goods and people reach the place?
The supplied lookup includes 67 airport references for Madagascar. Explore the available airport and port references, then ask about the route, service, timing, and last mile you need.
Explore the transport references →Community patterns can help you prepare an introduction. Transport references can help you frame route questions. Confirm the people, services, and current arrangements relevant to your plan.
Keep the research.
Bring the source along.
Save Madagascar’s country summary with its figures, reporting years, definitions, and source notes. The filename includes the country name and reference code so you can recognize it later.
Download Madagascar research · JSONDownload original source reference · JSONExplore category counts & their download →
Source dates, full definitions, and downloadable data
Foursquare Open Source Places: NDS snapshot built August 18, 2026. GeoNames: country and populated-place references retrieved October 20, 2026. International networks: seven organization rosters reviewed October 23, 2026.
Travel: One recorded year. Available years differ by country. Full source definitions and reporting years are retained in the download.
The organized JSON groups identity, the country story, source collections, languages, affiliations, category coverage, measures, travel years, and provenance. The original reference preserves its stored field names and values. These reference measures add no index points.
Read the place-source methodology · Read the full reference and coverage guide
Inspect the organized JSON
{
"document_type": "country_reference_reader",
"schema_version": "1.0.0",
"presentation_release": "country-stories-2026-v2",
"identity": {
"name": "Madagascar",
"iso2": "MG",
"iso3": "MDG"
},
"summary": {
"headline": "Madagascar: A recorded place footprint. A story to explore.",
"sections": [
{
"id": "scale",
"title": "A place footprint to explore",
"text": "Madagascar has 6,372 place records in the Foursquare historical reference. Of these, 6,263 were outside the source’s closed and quality-review groups, placing it 133 of 248 on that count. The collection includes businesses and other places where people work, visit, and gather."
},
{
"id": "mapping",
"title": "From a location to a useful lead",
"text": "100% of the recorded places have valid coordinates. Almost every record can be placed on a map. 6,181 records also meet the source-status and category rules for exploration, placing this count 133 of 248."
},
{
"id": "discovery",
"title": "Make the recorded places easier to find",
"text": "6,287 records (98.67%) have a category field. 85 have no category field. Category labels can help organize the recorded activities and places. A website is recorded for 1.16% of the places. A blank website field does not establish whether a business has a website elsewhere."
},
{
"id": "travel",
"title": "Follow the outbound travel record",
"text": "The collection records 39,000 international departures from Madagascar in 1995. One observation gives you a historical reference point; it does not establish a trend. Departures count trips abroad to all destinations. One person can make several trips. This series does not identify U.S. destinations or the purpose of a trip."
}
],
"language_story": {
"title": "Plan the conversation before the meeting",
"languages": [
{
"code": "fr-MG",
"name": "French"
},
{
"code": "mg",
"name": "Malagasy"
}
],
"text": "Agree on a language everyone in the meeting can use. It shapes how you explain an offer, understand questions, prepare written material, and keep a relationship moving.",
"questions": [
"Which language will we use for the meeting and follow-up?",
"Do we need an interpreter or translated written materials?",
"Who can help both sides check that the message is understood?"
],
"scope": "The language list comes from the GeoNames country reference. Ask the people taking part which language works best."
},
"research_reading": [
{
"metric": "Category coverage",
"value": "98.67%",
"source_position": "38 of 237",
"meaning": "The category fields help describe the recorded place types."
},
{
"metric": "Records meeting the exploration rules",
"value": "6,181",
"source_position": "133 of 248",
"meaning": "These records combine an eligible source status, valid coordinates, and a category."
},
{
"metric": "Records with a website",
"value": "1.16%",
"source_position": "227 of 237",
"meaning": "The reference can offer a direct research route where a website is recorded. A blank field does not establish website absence."
},
{
"metric": "Records carrying quality-review flags",
"value": "13 · 0.2%",
"source_position": "215 of 237",
"meaning": "Review these source records before using them for detailed comparisons or introductions. The source position compares the review share."
}
],
"period_comparison": null,
"business_question": "Which recorded places and local partners in Madagascar fit the customers, suppliers, visitor offer, or introduction you want to explore?",
"next_step": "Use the place footprint to choose questions and locations to investigate. Check product demand, operating details, and introductions with local sources.",
"interpretation": "NDS explanatory text derived from the source figures; not additional observations or proof of commercial outcomes."
},
"source_footprints": [
{
"id": "foursquare",
"name": "Foursquare Open Source Places",
"record_count": 6372,
"unit": "Business and other place records",
"reference_year": 2026,
"source_built_at": "2026-08-18T14:24:54.963243-05:00",
"scope": "Historical source records, including source-classified closed and review records. Not a census of businesses."
},
{
"id": "geonames",
"name": "GeoNames populated-place reference",
"record_count": 24174,
"unit": "Populated-place feature records",
"retrieved_on": "2026-10-20",
"scope": "Every feature-class P row in the complete downloaded allCountries file. No country, population, ready-lead, or top-N filter. Includes villages, city sections, and historical or abandoned populated-place features; inspect the feature type. Not a list of formal city governments or sister-city partners."
}
],
"geography_context": {
"source": "GeoNames countryInfo and populated-place reference",
"retrieved_on": "2026-10-20",
"capital": "Antananarivo",
"currency": {
"code": "MGA",
"name": "Ariary"
},
"calling_code": "261",
"languages": [
{
"code": "fr-MG",
"name": "French"
},
{
"code": "mg",
"name": "Malagasy"
}
],
"language_scope": "Languages come from countryInfo.txt and are country context, not city language counts, official-language status, or individual language skills.",
"geonames_country_id": "1062947",
"available_city_facts": [
"Source city/place name",
"Coordinates",
"Source population value",
"Time zone",
"Region",
"Feature type",
"Record modification date"
]
},
"country_affiliations": {
"reviewed_on": "2026-10-23",
"scope": "Seven selected organizations and forums. Current roster review is separate from the dated Foursquare and GeoNames snapshots. This is not a complete inventory of every country relationship.",
"entries": [
{
"organization_id": "UN",
"organization": "United Nations",
"type": "Global intergovernmental organization",
"status": "Member state",
"source_url": "https://research.un.org/en/unmembers/currentmembers",
"source_publisher": "United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library",
"reviewed_on": "2026-10-23",
"business_context": "A place to research the country’s participation in global diplomacy and its published UN record."
},
{
"organization_id": "WTO",
"organization": "World Trade Organization",
"type": "Multilateral trade organization",
"status": "WTO member",
"source_url": "https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/sli_e/4wtomembers.pdf",
"source_publisher": "World Trade Organization",
"reviewed_on": "2026-10-23",
"business_context": "Find official membership evidence and use the WTO’s country resources to investigate trade commitments and policy."
}
],
"reviewed_organizations": [
{
"id": "UN",
"name": "United Nations",
"source_url": "https://research.un.org/en/unmembers/currentmembers"
},
{
"id": "NATO",
"name": "North Atlantic Treaty Organization",
"source_url": "https://www.nato.int/en/about-us/organization/nato-member-countries"
},
{
"id": "APEC",
"name": "Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation",
"source_url": "https://www.apec.org/who-we-are/our-members"
},
{
"id": "G20",
"name": "Group of Twenty",
"source_url": "https://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/organisations/g20"
},
{
"id": "ASEAN",
"name": "Association of Southeast Asian Nations",
"source_url": "https://asean.org/member-states/"
},
{
"id": "EU",
"name": "European Union",
"source_url": "https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/eu-countries_en"
},
{
"id": "WTO",
"name": "World Trade Organization",
"source_url": "https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/sli_e/4wtomembers.pdf"
}
],
"rules": [
"Direct membership is matched by ISO3 to the existing country catalog.",
"Regional organization membership is not assigned to each constituent country.",
"Observer states, member economies, and member states retain separate labels.",
"Missing matches do not establish absence from all international organizations.",
"Membership alone does not establish a business deal, tariff preference, current invitation, or commercial outcome.",
"Business-context descriptions are NDS research guidance, not additional membership facts."
],
"source_directory": "/country-affiliations",
"download": "/downloads/country-affiliations-v1.json",
"score_effect": "NONE"
},
"us_community_connections": {
"version": "1.0.0",
"connection": {
"country": {
"name": "Madagascar",
"birthplace": null,
"related": []
},
"feed": null
},
"research_path": "https://commercialdiplomacyindex.com/sister-city-pathways?country=MDG"
},
"transportation": {
"covered_airport_references": 67,
"airport_api": "/api/v1/airports?country=MG",
"reference_section": "/countries/mg#transportation",
"score_effect": "NONE"
},
"place_composition": {
"total_records": 6372,
"categorized_records": 6287,
"uncategorized_records": 85,
"category_coverage_pct": 98.666,
"breakdown_scope": "Category presence is available here. Exact business/place category totals are a separate source tabulation; they cannot be recovered from this coverage percentage."
},
"measures": [
{
"code": "ANALYSIS_ELIGIBLE_PLACE_COUNT",
"label": "Mapped and categorized place records",
"definition": "Records with a usable map location and a place category, outside the source’s closed and review groups.",
"value": 6181,
"unit": "COUNT",
"rank": 133,
"comparison_geographies": 248,
"interpretation_direction": "HIGHER_IS_LARGER_USABLE_SCALE"
},
{
"code": "CURRENT_CANDIDATE_PLACE_COUNT",
"label": "Place records retained for exploration",
"definition": "Records outside the closed and source-review groups when this historical collection was built.",
"value": 6263,
"unit": "COUNT",
"rank": 133,
"comparison_geographies": 248,
"interpretation_direction": "HIGHER_IS_LARGER_OBSERVED_SCALE"
},
{
"code": "WEBSITE_PRESENCE_SHARE",
"label": "Records with a website",
"definition": "The share of all country place records with a website address.",
"value": 1.1613,
"unit": "PERCENT",
"rank": 227,
"comparison_geographies": 237,
"interpretation_direction": "HIGHER_IS_MORE_DIGITAL_PRESENCE"
},
{
"code": "CATEGORY_COVERAGE_SHARE",
"label": "Records with a category",
"definition": "The share of all country place records with a category name or identifier.",
"value": 98.666,
"unit": "PERCENT",
"rank": 38,
"comparison_geographies": 237,
"interpretation_direction": "HIGHER_IS_MORE_COMPLETE"
},
{
"code": "VALID_COORDINATE_SHARE",
"label": "Records with valid coordinates",
"definition": "The share of all country place records with valid latitude and longitude.",
"value": 100,
"unit": "PERCENT",
"rank": 1,
"comparison_geographies": 237,
"interpretation_direction": "HIGHER_IS_MORE_COMPLETE"
},
{
"code": "CURRENT_CANDIDATE_SHARE",
"label": "Records retained for exploration: share",
"definition": "The share of all country records outside the closed and source-review groups.",
"value": 98.2894,
"unit": "PERCENT",
"rank": 29,
"comparison_geographies": 237,
"interpretation_direction": "HIGHER_IS_MORE_CURRENT_CANDIDATE"
},
{
"code": "QUALITY_REVIEW_SHARE",
"label": "Records marked for source review",
"definition": "The share of all country place records with unresolved source flags.",
"value": 0.204,
"unit": "PERCENT",
"rank": 215,
"comparison_geographies": 237,
"interpretation_direction": "HIGHER_IS_MORE_REVIEW_PRESSURE"
},
{
"code": "CLOSED_SHARE",
"label": "Records with a closure date",
"definition": "The share of all country place records with a closure date recorded in the source.",
"value": 1.5066,
"unit": "PERCENT",
"rank": 175,
"comparison_geographies": 237,
"interpretation_direction": "HIGHER_IS_MORE_CLOSURE_PRESSURE"
}
],
"outbound_travel": {
"measure": "International tourist departures",
"unit": "Trips",
"source": {
"source_file": "international-tourist-departures.csv",
"original_columns": [
"Entity",
"Code",
"Year",
"International tourist departures",
"iso3",
"iso3_status",
"iso3_source",
"indicator_slug",
"source_file"
],
"measure": "International tourist departures",
"interpretation": "Trips leaving the reporting country; not unique people and not specifically trips to the United States."
},
"observations": [
{
"year": 1995,
"departures": 39000,
"previous_available_year": null,
"change_since_previous_available_year_pct": null
}
],
"latest_change_pct": null,
"latest_comparison_year": null
},
"source_provenance": {
"release": "nds-country-reference-2026-v1",
"source_build": {
"engine_id": "NDS-ENGINE-FOURSQUARE-OS-PLACES-GLOBAL-US-V1",
"engine_version": "1.0.8",
"run_id": "NDS_FSQ_OS_PLACES_20260818_140158",
"built_at": "2026-08-18T14:24:54.963243-05:00",
"source_family": "FOURSQUARE_OPEN_SOURCE_PLACES",
"geography_scope": "GLOBAL",
"canonical_remote_object": "places.datasets.places_os",
"source_schema_profile": "FSQ_OS_PLACES_SCHEMA_2026",
"ingest_scope": "PLACES_ONLY_BASELINE",
"separate_category_hierarchy_materialized": false,
"delta_objects_materialized": false,
"category_baseline_policy": "Category IDs and labels preserved on every source Place row."
},
"score_effect": "NONE",
"rank_context": "Source positions compare the named measure. A relative position does not replace its actual value or imply an overall country rating.",
"coordinate_context": "Very high coordinate coverage can receive a low relative rank when comparison geographies also have near-complete coordinates."
},
"links": {
"business_name_search": "/countries/mg#find-businesses",
"business_search_api": "/api/v1/business-search?country=MG",
"category_page": "/countries/mg#place-categories",
"country_page": "/countries/mg",
"structured_data_page": "/countries/mg/data",
"original_json": "/api/v1/country-context/mg",
"reader_json": "/api/v1/country-context/mg?view=reader",
"category_json": "/api/v1/country-categories/mg"
}
}