It is a modern democratic state. with a president as head of government and a parliament composed of two chambersa national assembly and a senate. Its constitution proclaims the equality of all men "in rights and duties. without distinction as to origin. race or religion." And the social harmony of the island republic is evidence that the ideals of political and religious freedom so forcefully expressed in the constitution are translated by its governing institutions into reality. for the island is a heterogenous mixture of many races. religions. and cultures. Anthropological studies indicate that early waves of immigration were from Indonesia. and there are still traces of Hindu culture in the Malagasy language and customs. Throughout the Middle Ages Arabs from the Persian Gulf established trading posts on the Madagascar coast and added Moslem immigrants to
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