Andevoranto

Andevoranto lies near the mouth of the Rianila River on Madagascar's eastern coast. The river opens a way between the coast and the island's interior, while the settlement stands close to the Indian Ocean. By the late eighteenth century the port was known as an important centre of the Betanimena, a southern Betsimisaraka community. Canoes carried goods along the waterways connecting the settlement with villages farther inland.

Earlier in the century the southern leader Ramananano brought together communities between Andevoranto and the mouth of the Mangoro. His struggle with Ratsimilaho of the northern coast formed part of the conflicts from which the Betsimisaraka confederation emerged. The river mouth remained a place where inland produce could meet the coastal exchange networks of eastern Madagascar.