In the Malagasy language, the island of Madagascar is called ''Madagasikara'' () and its people are referred to as ''Malagasy''. The island's appellation "Madagascar" is not of local origin but rather was popularized in the Middle Ages by Europeans. The name ''Madageiscar'' was first recorded in the memoirs of 13th-century Venetian explorer Marco Polo as a corrupted transliteration of the name Mogadishu, the Somali port with which Marco Polo had confused the island.