The city is now managed by the Commune Urbaine d'Antananarivo (CUA) under the direction of its President of the Special Delegation, Ny Havana Andriamanjato, appointed in March 2014.

Early Merina kings used fanampoana (statute labor) to construct a massive system of irrigated paddy fields and dikes around the city to provide adequate rice for the growing population.

[20] By the time Andrianampoinimerina's son Radama I had ascended the throne upon his father's death in 1810, Antananarivo was the largest and most economically important city on the island, with a population of over 80,000 inhabitants.

The British diplomats who concluded trade treaties with Radama recognized him as the "ruler of Madagascar", a position he and his successors claimed despite never managing to impose their authority over the larger portion of the island's south.

[24] Radama's successor Ranavalona I invited a shipwrecked craftsman named Jean Laborde to construct the tomb of Prime Minister Rainiharo, and Manjakamiadana (built 1839–1841), the largest palace at the Rova.

[25] In 1867, following a series of fires in the capital, Queen Ranavalona II issued a royal decree that permitted the use of stone and brick construction in buildings other than tombs.

[30] The French military invaded Antananarivo in September 1894, prompting the queen's surrender after a cannon shell blasted a hole through a building at the Rova, causing major casualties.

Modern urban planning was applied in la ville basse ("lower town"), which expanded from the base of the city's central hills into the surrounding rice fields.

In 1959, severe floods in la ville basse prompted the building of large-scale embankments along the edges of the Betsimitatatra rice fields and the establishment of new ministerial complexes on newly drained land in the Anosy neighborhood.

[34] Uncontrolled urban sprawl has challenged the city's infrastructure, producing shortages of clean water and electricity, sanitation and public health problems, and heavy traffic congestion.

The city occupies a commanding position on the summit and slopes of a long, narrow, rocky ridge extending north and south for about 4 km (2 mi) and rising to about 200 m (660 ft) above the extensive rice fields to the west.

[49] It includes the royal palace, Andafiavaratra Palace—the former residence of Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony, Andohalo—the principal town square until 1897, a cathedral near Andohalo built to commemorate early Malagasy Christian martyrs, the city's most intact historic entrance gate and the 19th-century houses of Merina nobles.

[47] Under the Kingdom of Madagascar, the commoner class (hova) settled at the periphery of the noble districts,[48] gradually spreading along the slopes of the lower hills during the late 19th century.

In addition to Antaninarenina, the principal neighborhoods of la ville moyenne are Ankadifotsy on the eastern hills and Ambatonakanga and Isoraka to the west, all of which are largely residential.

[45] Andrianampoinimerina decreed Friday (Zoma) as market day,[20] when merchants would erect stalls shaded with white parasols, which extended throughout the valley forming what has been called the largest open-air marketplace in the world.

[51] The market caused traffic congestion and safety hazards prompting government officials to divide and relocate the Friday merchants to several other districts in 1997.

[52] The city's other main commercial and administrative neighborhoods, which spread out from Analakely and extend into the adjacent plain, were established by the French, who drained and filled in the extant rice fields and swampland to create much of the area's design and infrastructure.

[31] As the historic capital of Imerina, Antananarivo is centrally located in the homeland of the Merina people, who comprise about 24 percent of the population and are the largest Malagasy ethnic group.

Key industries include soap production, food and tobacco processing, brewing, textiles, and leather manufacturing, employing around 5.5 percent of the workforce.

Unemployment and poverty are also growing, fueled in part by an inadequately skilled and unprofessional workforce and the lack of a comprehensive national strategy for economic development since 2009.

The national economic crisis in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, and the World Bank's imposition of a structural adjustment program lowered living standards for the average resident of the city.

The end of state subsidies, rapid inflation, higher taxes, widespread impoverishment, and the decline of the middle class was especially evident in Antananarivo, as was the growing wealth of a tiny political and economic elite in the city.

The nearby Andafiavaratra Palace was the home of 19th-century Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony and contains a museum featuring historic artifacts of the Kingdom of Imerina, including items saved from the fire at the Rova.

It was built in 1995 by the Government of China; it regularly hosts concerts, dance, and other arts performances, expositions, and novelty events like monster truck rallies.

The men's basketball teams Challenger and SOE (Équipe du Stade olympique de l'Emyrne) are based in Antananarivo and play in the Palais des Sports at Mahamasina.

Antananarivo is the capital of Madagascar, and the federal governance structures, including the Senate, National Assembly, the Supreme Court, and the presidential office are housed there.

Pharmaceuticals are imported, making them particularly unaffordable; traditional herbal medicines remain popular and are readily available in local markets frequented by most of the population.

[102] The large population in Antananarivo and the high density of its residential zones pose challenges to public health, sanitation, and access to clean drinking water.

He obtained funds from international donors to establish garbage collection and disposal systems, restore dilapidated infrastructures such as roads and marketplaces, and replanted public gardens.

[41] The city is encircled by a ring road and connected by direct routes nationales (national highways) to Mahajanga, Toliara, Antsirabe, Fianarantsoa and Toamasina.