Many geographic place names, assigned French spellings during the colonial period, were altered following Malagasy independence in 1960.

[2] As a port town it acts as a major import/export hub for commodities such as sisal, soap, hemp, cotton, rice and peanuts.

In the 17th century, French buccaneers landed in the bay of St. Augustine near the Tropic of Capricorn, and founded the city to maintain commercial relations.

It was not until the colonial period, after 1897, when the city really grew: with the efforts of Joseph Gallieni to install French administrative services, previously isolated on the island of Nosy Ve, to form the regional capital.

Toliara has seen a population boom over the last two decades, due to a rural exodus that has brought over 200,000 citizens into urban centers in the region.

The sea floor is rich in minerals gemstones (about 200 km to the north lies the Ilakaka sapphire deposit has operated since 1999) and ground salt.

Toliara is located on a broad coastal plain, surrounded by dunes and mangroves, near the Tropic of Capricorn in the Mozambique Channel.

Toliara is nicknamed the "City of the Sun" because it has a hot climate (25.3 °C average) which is arid (Köppen BWh), with less than 400 mm annual rainfall.