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Malawi is a Southern African country, designated by
Malawi in Portuguese. Situated on the shores of Lake
Malawi (formerly Lake Niassa), Malawi is a very rugged
terrain, where numerous and extensive lakes are
present. It covers a total area of 118 480 km2 and
is bordered by Tanzania in the north, Mozambique in the
east, south and southwest, and Zambia in the west and
northwest. It is an inland country that therefore has no
sea coast. The main cities are Blantyre, with 562 400
inhabitants (2004), the capital Lilongwe (512 800
inhab.) And Mzuzu (102 400 inhab.). From the point of
view of relief, Malawi is divided into four regions: the
eastern rift valley, the central highlands region, the
highland region and the isolated mountain region.
Climate
Malawi has a humid tropical climate characterized by a
wet season, which occurs between May and October, and a
dry season, between November and April. In the higher
areas the temperature is lower.
Economy
Agriculture is Malawi's main economic sector, as it
constitutes 1/3 of GDP and represents about 90% of
export earnings. The main crops are tobacco, tea and
sugar. The Government has been promoting the
agricultural sector through the integrated use of land
or irrigation schemes, this in addition to the creation
of subsidized credit lines, the construction of more and
better communication routes, etc. The industry is
underdeveloped and is limited to the processing of
agricultural products. On the other hand, the fishing
sector is quite developed, due to the great richness of
fish, both in Lake Malawi and in other lakes, such as
Lake Chilwa and Malombe or even the Shire
River. Malawi's main trading partners are South Africa,
Germany, Japan and the United States of America.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide
emissions, per capita (metric tons, 1999), is
0.1.
Population
The population was, in 2006, 13 013 926 inhabitants,
which corresponds to a population density of 102.62
inhab./km2. The birth and death rates are
respectively 43.13% and 19.33%. Average life expectancy
is 41.7 years. The value of the Human Development Index
(HDI) is 0.387 and the value of the Gender-adjusted
Development Index (IDG) is 0.378 (2001).
There are nine main ethnic groups that are associated
with modern Malawi: Chewa, Nyanja, Lomwe, Yao, Tumbuka,
Sena, Tonga, Ngoni and Ngonde. In religious terms,
Protestants represent 55% of the population, followed by
Muslims (20%), Catholics (20%) and the faithful of
traditional beliefs (5%). Chichewa is the national
language and English is the official language.
History
Although archaeological remains reveal that the
territory of Malawi has been inhabited for 50,000 years,
only historical records written in Portuguese and
English after 1500 are known. However, it is known,
however, that in the 15th century there was a political
system strongly established under the Maravi
Confederation, which integrated the central and southern
parts of present-day Malawi and, at the height of its
influence, in the 17th century, the adjacent areas of
Zambia and Mozambique. This confederation was successful
at all levels until the arrival of the slave trade at
the end of the 18th century, a fact that caused ethnic
divisions, since tribes on the East African coast
imposed themselves on Maravi territory, playing, since
then, a important role in the slave trade. But the final
blow came from the British occupation of the territory
between 1880 and 1890, occupation from which the
Protectorate of the District of Niassaland was born in
1891 which, in 1907, came to be called
Niassaland. Despite the construction of social and
economic infrastructures, the truth is that the English
administration did little to benefit the well-being of
the people of Malawi, as they were committed to European
interests. Furthermore, and against the overwhelming
opinion of the population, England decided, in 1953, to
annex Nyasaland to Northern Rhodesia and Southern
Rhodesia under the Federation of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland. This negative performance on the part of the
colonial administration led to the birth of a
nationalist movement that, under the leadership of
Hastings Kamuzu Banda, culminated, first, in the
dissolution of the federation in 1963, and then with the
proclamation of independence on July 6 1964.
Following a conservative, pro-Western policy and with
the economy as its main concern, Malawi has established
strong relations with South Africa, although it refused
to align its foreign policy with this, as stated at the
Coordinating Conference for South Development Africa,
which he joined in 1980.
In 1993, Kamuzu lost the title of president for life,
which opened the door to the holding of the first
multiparty elections on May 17, 1994, the results of
which gave little victory to the main opposition party,
the Democratic Union Front, led by Bakili. Muluzi. The
beginning of that same year was marked by another event,
this with serious consequences for the country's
economy: a devastating drought, which left the main
economic sector, agriculture, in a miserable state,
forcing the Government to ask for international
emergency aid, namely the World Food Program.
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