Task: Question Answering
Input (English): Context: Auch (Gascon: "Aush" or "Aux" ) is a commune in southwestern France. Located in the region of Occitanie, it is the capital of the Gers department. Auch is the historical capital of Gascony., Isolationism is the foreign policy position that a nations' interests are best served by keeping the affairs of other countries at a distance. One possible motivation for limiting international involvement is to avoid being drawn into dangerous and otherwise undesirable conflicts. There may also be a perceived benefit from avoiding international trade agreements or other mutual assistance pacts., The Malagasy Republic was a state situated in Southeast Africa. It was established in 1958 as an autonomous republic within the newly created French Community and existed until the proclamation of the Democratic Republic of Madagascar in 1975., The Gers (French: "le Gers", or ; Gascon: "Gers") is a department in the Occitanie region in the southwest of France named after the Gers River., India, officially the Republic of India ("Bhrat Gaarjya"), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country (with over 1.2 billion people), and the most populous democracy in the world. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Myanmar (Burma) and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia. Its capital is New Delhi; other metropolises include Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad., Andriana refers to both the noble class and a title of nobility in Madagascar. Historically, many Malagasy ethnic groups lived in highly stratified caste-based social orders in which the "andriana" were the highest strata. They were above the Hova (Madagascar) (free commoner castes) and Andevo (slaves). The Andriana and the Hova were a part of "Fotsy", while the Andevo were "Mainty" in local terminology., The London Missionary Society was a missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and various nonconformists. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational missions in Oceania and Africa, although there were also Presbyterians (notable for their work in China), Methodists, Baptists and various other Protestants involved. It now forms part of the Council for World Mission (CWM)., A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is under threat from humans.
Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in The Environmentalist (1988), & 1990 revised after thorough analysis by Myers and others in Hotspots: Earths Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions and a paper published in the journal "Nature", Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, and previously known as the Malagasy Republic, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Southeast Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar (the fourth-largest island in the world), and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from the Indian peninsula around 88 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The island's diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the rapidly growing human population and other environmental threats., Gascony (Gascon: "Gasconha" ) is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined, and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; by some they are seen to overlap, while others consider Gascony a part of Guyenne. Most definitions put Gascony east and south of Bordeaux., The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering (approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface). It is bounded by Asia on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, and on the south by the Southern Ocean or, depending on definition, by Antarctica. It is named after the country of India. The Indian Ocean is known as "Ratnkara", ""the mine of gems"" in ancient Sanskrit literature, and as "Hind Mahsgar", ""the great Indian sea"", in Hindi., Jean Laborde ( 16 October 1805 in Auch - 27 December 1878 in Madagascar ) was an adventurer and early industrialist in Madagascar . He became the chief engineer of the Merina monarchy , supervising the creation of a modern manufacturing center under Queen Ranavalona I. Later he became the first French consul to Madagascar , when the government of Napoleon III used him to establish French influence on the island . Laborde was shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar at the age of 26 and soon after was granted large tracts of land and unlimited labor to provide armaments for the Merina army . Laborde had some engineering background . With the help of five other Europeans , he set up a manufacturing and engineering center . They had no imported machinery beyond simple blacksmith 's tools and no documents , but within a few years were producing iron ( cast and wrought ) , steel ( via the crucible method ) , muskets , gunpowder , light cannons , metal - working lathes , watermills , window and blown glass , machine - spun cotton , spinning machinery , and power looms . Laborde built a complete industrial complex . Within 6 years , he had blast furnaces with waterwheel - powered draught producing cast iron , puddling mills producing wrought iron , a steeling plant producing spring steel , a glassworks , brickworks and cement - plant , a heavy foundry capable of producing 24 - pound cannons , a musket factory , a gunpowder mill , a tower to make lead shot , and textile mills . Laborde also opened up mines , roads , and bridges in various parts of the island . He built ox and horse wagons and a short horse - drawn stretch of railway . Laborde got involved in the 1857 coup instigated by Joseph - François Lambert and was banned by the queen . After the queen was succeeded by Radama II , he was able to return . Napoleon III named him as the first French consul to the Merina court . The French government pressed the Merina to compensate Laborde and his inheritors for the loss of his wealth when he had been banned , which became one of the justifications for the Franco - Hova War . A species of chameleon endemic to Madagascar , Furcifer labordi , is named in his honor ., Radama I "the Great" (17931828) was the first Malagasy sovereign to be recognized as King of Madagascar (1810-1828) by a European state. He came to power at the age of 18 following the death of his father, King Andrianampoinimerina. Under Radama's rule and at his invitation, the first Europeans entered his central highland Kingdom of Imerina and its capital at Antananarivo. Radama encouraged these London Missionary Society envoys to establish schools to teach tradecraft and literacy to nobles and potential military and civil service recruits; they also introduced Christianity and taught literacy using the translated Bible. A wide range of political and social reforms were enacted under his rule, including an end to the international slave trade, which had historically been a key source of wealth and armaments for the Merina monarchy. Through aggressive military campaigns he successfully united two-thirds of the island under his rule. Abuse of alcohol weakened his health and he died prematurely at age 35. He was succeeded by his highest-ranking wife, Ranavalona I., In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. However, the definition of a supercontinent can be ambiguous. Many earth scientists, such as P.F. Hoffman (1999), use the term "supercontinent" to mean "a clustering of nearly all continents". This definition leaves room for interpretation when labeling a continental body and is easier to apply to Precambrian times. Using the first definition provided here, Gondwana (a.k.a. Gondwanaland) is not considered a supercontinent, because the landmasses of Baltica, Laurentia and Siberia also existed at the same time but physically separate from each other. The landmass of Pangaea is the collective name describing all of these continental masses when they were in proximity to one another. This would classify Pangaea as a supercontinent. According to the definition by Rogers and Santosh (2004), a supercontinent does not exist today. Supercontinents have assembled and dispersed multiple times in the geologic past (see table). The positions of continents have been accurately determined back to the early Jurassic. However, beyond , continental positions are much less certain., Ranavalona I (born Rabodoandrianampoinimerina; 1778  August 16, 1861), also known as Ramavo and Ranavalo-Manjaka I, was sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar from 1828 to 1861. After positioning herself as queen following the death of her young husband and second cousin, Radama I, Ranavalona pursued a policy of isolationism and self-sufficiency, reducing economic and political ties with European powers, repelling a French attack on the coastal town of Foulpointe, and taking vigorous measures to eradicate the small but growing Malagasy Christian movement initiated under Radama I by members of the London Missionary Society. She made heavy use of the traditional practice of "fanompoana" (forced labor as tax payment) to complete public works projects and develop a standing army of between 20,000 and 30,000 Merina soldiers, whom she deployed to pacify outlying regions of the island and further expand the realm. The combination of regular warfare, disease, difficult forced labor and harsh measures of justice resulted in a high mortality rate among soldiers and civilians alike during her 33-year reign., Subject: jean laborde, Relation: place_of_death, Options: (A) africa (B) antananarivo (C) antarctica (D) asia (E) auch (F) august (G) bay of bengal (H) best (I) bordeaux (J) central (K) delhi (L) england (M) france (N) gascony (O) hyderabad (P) india (Q) indian ocean (R) kolkata (S) london (T) madagascar (U) most (V) mumbai (W) norman (X) ocean (Y) pakistan (Z) rogers ([) sea (\) siberia (]) sri lanka (^) thailand
Output (English): antananarivo