Ilakaka

thumb|250px|Ilakaka thumb|Miners' huts and tailings dump near Ilakaka thumb|Miners' huts and tailings dump near Ilakaka

Ilakaka is a small town in Ihorombe Region in the south western part of Madagascar. In the early 1990s there were only about 40 residents in the area. After the discovery of one of Earth's largest known alluvial sapphire deposits in the valley of the Ilakaka river in 1998, the population had boomed to nearly 60,000 in 2005. Since high profits are at stake, violence is common in the town.