structural:summarization
Pronunciation and etymology

The English pronunciation of Antananarivo is / ˌ æ n t ə ˌ n æ n ə ˈ r iː v oʊ / AN -tə- NAN -ə- REE -voh or / ˌ ɑː n t ə ˌ n ɑː n ə ˈ r iː v oʊ / AHN -tə- NAH -nə- REE -voh. The Malagasy pronunciation is, and the pronunciation of the old French name Tananarive is / t ə ˌ n æ n ə ˈ r iː v / tə- NAN -ə- REEV or / ˌ t æ n ə n ə ˈ r iː v / TAN -ə-nə- REEV in English and in French.

Antananarivo was originally the site of a town called Analamanga, meaning "Blue Forest" in the Central Highlands dialect of the Malagasy language. Analamanga was established by a community of Vazimba, the island's first occupants. Merina King Andrianjaka, who migrated to the region from the southeast coast, seized the location as the site of his capital city. According to oral history, he deployed a garrison of 1,000 soldiers to successfully capture and guard the site. The hill and its city retained the name Analamanga until the reign of King Andriamasinavalona, who renamed it Antananarivo ("City of the Thousand") in honor of Andrianjaka's soldiers.