Ambanja amˈbandzə̥ is a city and commune in northern Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

. It is located approximately 500 km north of Antananarivo

Antananarivo

Antananarivo , formerly Tananarive , is the capital and largest city in Madagascar. It is also known by its French colonial shorthand form Tana....

. The town belongs to the district

Districts of Madagascar

Districts are second-level administrative divisions of Madagascar below the regions. Districts are in their turn divided into communes; while some of the districts on urban areas such as the district of Toliara consists of only one commune, most of the districts are divided typically into...

 of Ambanja

Ambanja District

Ambanja is a district in northern Madagascar. It's a part of Diana Region and borders the districts of Ambilobe in east, Bealanana in south and Analalava in south-west. The area is .The district is further divided into 18 communes.-References and notes:...

, which is a part of Diana Region. According to 2001 census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

 the population of Ambanja was 28,468.

Ambanja is served by the local Ambanja Airport

Ambanja Airport

Ambanja Airport is an airport in Ambanja, Diana Region, Madagascar ....

 and maritime harbour, and it is on the Malagasy domestic flight path. In addition to primary schooling the town offers secondary education at both junior and senior levels. The town has a permanent court and hospital.

The majority 60% of the population are farmers, while an additional 2% receives their livelihood from raising livestock. The most important crop is cocoa, while other important products are coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

, rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

 and vanilla

Vanilla

Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...

. Industry and services provide employment for 26% and 2% of the population, respectively. Additionally fishing employs 10% of the population.