The Merina are the dominant "highlander" Malagasy ethnic group in Madagascar, and one of the country's eighteen official ethnic groups. Their core territory corresponds to the former Antananarivo Province in the center of the island. Beginning in the late 18th century, Merina sovereigns extended political domination over the rest of the island, ultimately uniting it under their rule. The French colonized Madagascar in 1895–96 and abolished the Merina monarchy in 1897.
Austronesian settlement of Madagascar took place in the 1st millennium AD, and the various Malagasy sub-ethnicities would have emerged by the mid-2nd millennium. The Merina emerged as the politically dominant group in the course of the 17th and 18th century. Oral history traces the emergence of a united kingdom in the central highlands of Madagascar – a region called Imerina – back to early 16th-century king Andriamanelo. By 1824, sovereigns in his line had conquered nearly all of Madagascar, particularly through the military strategy and ambitious political policies of Andrianampoinimerina (circa 1785–1810) and his son Radama I (1792–1828). The kingdom's contact with British and later French powers helped modernize the state, allowing its very capable leaders to build schools and an impressive modern army.
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