Nosy Be

Nosy Be [ˌnusʲ ˈbe] (also Nossi-bé and Nosse Be) is an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar. Nosy Be is Madagascar's largest and busiest tourist resort. It has an area of 320.02 square kilometres (123.56 sq mi) and its population was officially estimated at 73,010 in 2013.

Nosy Be means "big island" in the Malagasy language. The island was called Assada during the early colonial era of the seventeenth century. Nosy Be has been given several nicknames over the centuries, including "Nosy Manitra" (the scented island).

The first human inhabitants of Nosy Be were small bands of Antankarana and Zafinofotsy, before the Sakalava migrated there and became the most numerous ethnic group on the island. These people were joined later by some Comorians, Indians or Antandroy.

Nosy Be made first major appearance in Madagascar's history when King Radama I announced that he intended to conquer the whole west of the red island up to the sea. That plan was eventually achieved when the Sakalava Kingdom of Boina came into his possession in 1837 when Queen Tsiomeko of Boina's army was defeated. The French colonized the island from 1840, founding an outpost named Hell-Ville (from French Admiral de Hell). In 1849, slavery was abolished by the French, though the slaves were owned by Malagasies. It caused a Malagasy revolt against the French. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the island was ruled by the French, using military force and diplomacy to maintain their position in the Island. Though it was difficult for the French to control the littoral, they found a plantation colony in Nosy Be, mainly producing sugar and cash crops. During the Russo-Japanese War Nosy Be became a supply station for Russia's Second Pacific Squadron. The main fleet led by Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky reached Nosy Be on January 9, 1905, where it met a smaller detachment led by Admiral Dmitry von Fölkersam that had arrived already on December 28, 1904. The fleet stayed for two months for refurbishing and coaling, leaving on March 17 to meet its fate ten weeks later at the Battle of Tsushima.

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