Manakara, town, southeastern Madagascar. It is situated along the Indian Ocean and the Pangalanes Canal. An old fishing village, it became a thriving Indian Ocean port after a railway was constructed connecting it to Fianarantsoa (75 miles [120 km] northwest). Now it handles the coastal trade of coffee and cloves, and it has workshops serving the railway. Pop. (2001 est.) 33,000; (2014 est.) 52,400.