Toliara

Toliara, formerly Tuléar, town in southwestern Madagascar, capital of Toliara Province, on Saint-Augustin Bay, an arm of Mozambique Channel, near the mouth of the Onilahy River. The town is the major port of southwestern Madagascar and a road hub, and such commodities as sisal, hemp, cotton, rice, corn, shellfish, peanuts, mother-of-pearl, and tortoiseshell are exported. A fishing, livestock-breeding, and sisal-processing center, it is also the site of a large agricultural experimental station, a technical school, and a stadium. The present name was adopted in the late 1970s. Population (1993) 80,826.