Malagasy is spoken by approximately 29 million people, primarily in Madagascar, where it is the official language, and in communities in the French overseas territory of Mayotte. Originating from the Austronesian family, it uses the Latin alphabet and features an agglutinative structure with a verb-object-subject (VOS) word order, a rarity among world languages. Malagasy culture is deeply connected to oral storytelling and music, with the language acting as a unifying force for the island’s diverse population.