Port of Maroantsetra

Maroantsetra, formerly Louisbourg, is a market town and port in Madagascar. Located at the northern end of the Bay of Antongil on Madagascar's east coast, it is the capital of Ambatosoa, the country's newest administrative region. In 2018, Maroantsetra counted 42,529 people. Even though it is a small city, Maroantsetra played an important role in the Betsimisaraka history as the unification of this tribe by Ratsimilaho started there. Throughout the 18th century, Maroantsetra was involved in the reccurent attacks carried by the Sakalavas and the Betsimisarakas against the islands of Comoros and some east African countries.Such attacks might have been motivated by the increasing need for commodities imposed by European imperialism in the region. A scholar argued that the first Anglo-American pirates who sailed into the Indian Ocean during the 1680s visited Madagascar for provisions. Communities on the east coast were then struggling to control and benefit from commerce with Europeans, but they likely found this task impossible without dominating the trade routes that stretched far into the interior. By 1655, the French found that frequent warfare between populations on Nosy Boraha and Antongil Bay was contributing to a strong demand for guns by populations living near the bay.