Nearly one and a half times the size of California, the world's fourth-largest island boasts over 12, 000 plant species, nearly 10, 000 of them not found anywhere else, and 346 species of reptile, including 66 varieties of chameleon threatened by a largely illegal international pet trade.

ECONOMIST: Madagascar's natural history: Tales in a twist | The

Darwin, who published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, came fourth in a poll run by the BBC in 2002 to find the public's greatest Briton of all time.

BBC: Darwin's Beagle ship replica plan