Map of Malawi | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: Established in 1891 the British protectorate of Nyasaland became the independent nation of Malawi in 1964. It has had one-party rule ever since.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries: 2,881 km total; Mozambique 1,569 km, Tanzania 475 km, Zambia 837 km

Coastline: none--landlocked

Maritime claims: none--landlocked

Climate: tropical; rainy season (November to May; dry season (May to November)

Terrain: narrow elongated plateau with rolling plains, rounded hills, some mountains

Elevation

Natural resources: limestone; unexploited deposits of uranium, coal, and bauxite

Land use: arable land: 25%; permanent crops: NEGL%; meadows and pastures 20%; forest and woodland 50%; other 5%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: a majority of exports would normally go through Mozambique on the Beira or Nacala railroads, but now most go through South Africa because of insurgent activity and damage to rail lines


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Population: 9,438,462 (July 1991), growth rate 1.8% (1991; note--900,000 Mozambican refugees in Malawi (1990 est.)

Nationality: noun--Malawian(s; adjective--Malawian

Ethnic groups: Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuko, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde, Asian, European

Languages: English and Chichewa (official; other languages important regionally

Religions: Protestant 55%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 20%; traditional indigenous beliefs are also practiced

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 52 births/1000 population (1991)

Death rate: 18 deaths/1000 population (1991)

Net migration rate: - 17 migrants/1000 population (1991)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: deforestation

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 136 deaths/1000 live births (1991)

Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 51 years female (1991)

Total fertility rate: 7.6 children born/woman (1991)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 22% (male 34%, female 12%) age 15 and over can read and write (1966)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Malawi

Government type: one-party state

Capital: Lilongwe

Administrative divisions: 24 districts; Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Chitipa, Dedza, Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Lilongwe, Machinga (Kasupe), Mangochi, Mchinji, Mulanje, Mwanza, Mzimba, Ncheu, Nkhata Bay, Nkhota Kota, Nsanje, Ntchisi, Rumphi, Salima, Thyolo, Zomba

Dependent areas

Independence: 6 July 1964 (from UK; formerly Nyasaland)

National holiday: Independence Day, 6 July (1964)

Constitution: 6 July 1964; 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

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal at age 21

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Dr. Hastings Kamuzu BANDA (since 6 July 1966; sworn in as President for Life 6 July 1971)

Legislative branch: Army (includes Air Wing and Naval Detachment), Police (includes paramilitary Mobile Force Unit), paramilitary Malawi Young Pioneers

Judicial branch: High Court, Supreme Court of Appeal

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: 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, SADCC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador Robert B. MBAYA; Chancery at 2,408 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20,008; telephone (202) 797-1007; US--Ambassador George A. TRAIL, III; Embassy in new capital city development area, address NA (mailing address is P. O. Box 30,016, Lilongwe; telephone [265] 730-166

Flag description: 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 Malawi MalawiMalawi

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: A landlocked country, Malawi ranks among the world's least developed with a per capita GDP of $175. The economy is predominately agricultural and operates under a relatively free enterprise environment, 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 1988-90 as a result of good weather and a broadly based economic adjustment effort by the government. The economy depends on substantial inflows of economic assistance from the IMF, the World Bank, and individual donor nations. The closure of traditional trade routes through Mozambique continues to be a constraint on the economy.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 40% of GDP; cash crops--tobacco, sugarcane, cotton, tea, and corn; subsistence crops--potatoes, cassava, sorghum, pulses; livestock--cattle and goats

Industries: agricultural processing (tea, tobacco, sugar), sawmilling, cement, consumer goods

Industrial production growth rate: 4.9% (1989 est.), accounts for about 18% of GDP (1988)

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)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $398 million; expenditures $510 million, including capital expenditures of $154 million (FY91 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $390 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
Commodities: tobacco, tea, sugar, coffee, peanuts
Partners: US, UK, Zambia, South Africa, FRG

Imports: $560 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.)
Commodities: food, petroleum, semimanufactures, consumer goods, transportation equipment
Partners: South Africa, Japan, US, UK, Zimbabwe

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $1.4 billion (December 1990 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Malawian kwacha (MK) per US$1--2.6300 (January 1991), 2.7289 (1990), 2.7595 (1989), 2.5613 (1988), 2.2087 (1987), 1.8611 (1986), 1.7191 (1985)


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Electricity
Capacity: 181,000 kW capacity; 535 million kWh produced, 60 kWh per capita (1989)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: $22 million, 1.6% of GDP (1989 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 48 total, 46 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 9 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi; Shire River, 144 km

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: dispute with Tanzania over the boundary in Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi)

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs