Quick Facts Statistics - see belowHistoryCurrency exchange rate
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| Geography | |
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| Location: | Southern Africa, between Mozambique and Zambia |
| Area: |
total area 118,480 sq km land area 94,080 sq km - larger than Pennsylvania |
| Land boundaries: | total 2,881 km, Mozambique 1,569 km, Tanzania 475 km, Zambia 837 km |
| International disputes: | dispute with Tanzania over the boundary in Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) |
| Climate: | tropical; rainy season (November to May); dry season (May to November) |
| Terrain: | narrow elongated plateau with rolling plains, rounded hills, some mountains |
| Natural resources: | limestone, unexploited deposits of uranium, coal, and bauxite |
| Land use: |
arable land 25% permanent crops 0% meadows and pastures 20% forest and woodland 50% other 5% |
| Irrigated land: | 200 sq km (1989 est.) |
| Environment: |
current issues deforestation; land degradation; water pollution from agricultural
runoff, sewage, industrial wastes; siltation of spawning grounds endangers
fish population natural hazards NA international agreements party to - Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified - Climate Change, Law of the Sea |
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People |
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| Population: | 9,732,409 (July 1994 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | -1.09% (1994 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 50.42 births/1,000 population (1994 est.) |
| Death rate: | 23.19 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | -38.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | 141.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: |
total population 39.73 years male 38.93 years female 40.55 years (1994 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 7.43 children born/woman (1994 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun
Malawian(s) adjective Malawian |
| Ethnic divisions: | Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuko, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde, Asian, European |
| Religions: | Protestant 55%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 20%, traditional indigenous beliefs |
| Languages: | English (official), Chichewa (official), other languages important regionally |
| Literacy: |
age 15 and over can read and write (1966) total population 22% male 34% female 12% |
| Labor force: |
428,000 wage earners agriculture 43% manufacturing 16% personal services 15% commerce 9% construction 7% miscellaneous services 4% other permanently employed 6% (1986) |
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Government |
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| Names: |
conventional long form Republic of Malawi conventional short form Malawi former Nyasaland |
| Type: | multiparty democracy following a referendum on 14 June 1993; formerly a one-party republic |
| Capital: | Lilongwe |
| Administrative divisions: | 24 districts; Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Chitipa, Dedza, Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Lilongwe, Machinga (Kasupe), Mangochi, Mchinji, Mulanje, Mwanza, Mzimba, Ntcheu, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntchisi, Rumphi, Salima, Thyolo, Zomba |
| Independence: | 6 July 1964 (from UK) |
| National holiday: | Independence Day, 6 July (1964) |
| Constitution: | 6 July 1966; republished as amended January 1974 |
| Legal system: | based on English common law and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court of Appeal; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Suffrage: | 21 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: |
chief of state and head of government President Bakili MULUZI
(since 21 May 1994), leader of the United Democratic Front cabinet Cabinet; named by the president |
| Legislative branch: |
unicameral National Assembly elections last held 17 May 1994 (next to be held NA); seats - (177 total) UDF 84, AFORD 33, MCP 55, others 5 |
| Judicial branch: | High Court, Supreme Court of Appeal |
| Political parties and leaders: |
ruling party United Democratic
Front (UDF), Bakili MULUZI opposition groups Malawi Congress Party (MCP), Gwanda CHAKUAMBA Phiri, secretary general (top party position) Alliance for Democracy (Aford), Chakufwa CHIHANA Socialist League of Malawi (Lesoma) Kapote MWAKUSULA, secretary general Malawi Democratic Union (MDU) Harry BWANAUSI Congress for the Second Republic (CSR), Kanyama CHIUME Malawi Socialist Labor Party (MSLP), Stanford SAMBANEMANJA |
| Member of: | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
| Diplomatic representation in US: |
chief of mission Ambassador Robert B. MBAYA chancery 2408 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone (202) 797-1007 |
| US diplomatic representation: |
chief of mission Ambassador Michael T. F. PISTOR embassy address NA, in new capital city development area in Lilongwe mailing address P. O. Box 30016, Lilongwe 3, Malawi telephone [265] 783-166 FAX [265] 780-471 |
| Flag: | three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green with a radiant, rising, red sun centered in the black band; similar to the flag of Afghanistan, which is longer and has the national coat of arms superimposed on the hoist side of the black and red bands |
| Economy | |
| Overview: | Landlocked Malawi ranks among the world's least developed countries. The economy is predominately agricultural, with about 90% of the population living in rural areas. Agriculture accounts for 40% of GDP and 90% of export revenues. After two years of weak performance, economic growth improved significantly in 1988-91 as a result of good weather and a broadly based economic adjustment effort by the government. Drought cut overall output sharply in 1992. The economy depends on substantial inflows of economic assistance from the IMF, the World Bank, and individual donor nations. |
| National product: | GDP - purchasing power equivalent $6 billion (1993 est.) |
| National product real growth rate: | -8% (1992 est.) |
| National product per capita: | $600 (1993 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 21% (1992 est.) |
| Unemployment rate: | NA |
| Budget: |
revenues $416 million expenditures $498 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992 est.) |
| Exports: |
$413 million
(f.o.b., 1992) commodities tobacco, tea, sugar, coffee, peanuts, wood products partners US, UK, Zambia, South Africa, Germany |
| Imports: |
$737 million (c.i.f., 1992) commodities food, petroleum products, semimanufactures, consumer goods, transportation equipment partners South Africa, Japan, US, UK, Zimbabwe |
| External debt: | $1.8 billion (December 1991 est.) |
| Industrial production: | growth rate 3.5% (1992 est.); accounts for about 15% of GDP (1992 est.) |
| Electricity: |
capacity 190,000 kW production 620 million kWh consumption per capita 65 kWh (1992) |
| Industries: | agricultural processing (tea, tobacco, sugar), sawmilling, cement, consumer goods |
| Agriculture: | accounts for 40% of GDP; cash crops - tobacco, sugarcane, cotton, tea, and corn; subsistence crops - potatoes, cassava, sorghum, pulses; livestock - cattle, goats |
| Economic aid: | recipient US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $215 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $2.15 billion |
| Currency: |
1 Malawian
kwacha (MK) = 100 tambala |
| Fiscal year: | 1 April - 31 March |
| Communications | |
| Railroads: | 789 km 1.067-meter gauge |
| Highways: |
total 13,135 km paved 2,364 km unpaved gravel, crushed stone, stabilized earth 251 km; earth, improved earth 10,520 km |
| Inland waterways: | Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi); Shire River, 144 km |
| Ports: | Chipoka, Monkey Bay, Nkhata Bay, and Nkotakota - all on Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) |
| Airports: |
total 47 usable 41 with permanent-surface runways 6 with runways over 3,659 m 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m 10 |
| Telecommunications: | fair system of open-wire lines, radio relay links, and radio communications stations; 42,250 telephones; broadcast stations - 10 AM, 17 FM, no TV; satellite earth stations - 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT |
| Note: | a majority of exports would normally go through Mozambique on the Beira, Nacala, and Limgogo railroads, but now most go through South Africa because of insurgent activity and damage to rail lines |
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Defense Forces |
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| Branches: | Army (including Air Wing and Naval Detachment), Police (including paramilitary Mobile Force Unit) |
| Manpower availability: | males age 15-49 2,046,413; fit for military service 1,043,674 |
| Defense expenditures: | exchange rate conversion - $22 million, 1.6% of GDP (1989 est.) |
