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. After three decades of one-party rule the country held multiparty elections in 1994 under a provisional constitution which took full effect the following year. National multiparty elections were held again in 1999.


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Location: Southern Africa, east of Zambia

Geographic coordinates: 13 30 S, 34 00 E

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total: 118,480 km²
Land: 94,080 km²
Water: 24,400 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Pennsylvania

Land boundaries
Total: 2,881 km
Border countries: (3) Mozambique 1,569 km; , Tanzania 475 km; , Zambia 837 km

Coastline: 0 km (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
Extremes lowest point: junction of the Shire River and international boundary with Mozambique 37 m
Extremes highest point: Sapitwa 3,002 m

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

Land use
Arable land: 18%
Permanent crops: 0%
Permanent pastures: 20%
Forests and woodland: 39%
Other: 23% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 280 km² (1993 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: NA

Geography
Note: landlocked


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Population: 10,000,416 (July 1999 est.)
Growth rate: 1.57% (1999 est.)
Below poverty line: 54% (1990-91 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Malawian(s)
Adjective: Malawian

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

Languages: English (official), Chichewa (official), other languages important regionally

Religions: Protestant 55%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 20%, traditional indigenous beliefs

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 45% (male 2,265,526; female 2,246,135)
15-64 years: 52% (male 2,580,125; female 2,637,464)
65 years and over: 3% (male 112,813; female 158,353) (1999 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.57% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 39.54 births/1000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 23.84 deaths/1000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1999 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: deforestation; land degradation; water pollution from agricultural runoff, sewage, industrial wastes; siltation of spawning grounds endangers fish populations
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 132.14 deaths/1000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 36.3 years
Male: 36.49 years
Female: 36.11 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.48 children born/woman (1999 est.)

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
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 56.4%
Male: 71.9%
Female: 41.8% (1995 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Malawi
Conventional short form: Malawi
Former: Nyasaland

Government type: multiparty democracy

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

Dependent areas

Independence: 6 July 1964 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day 6 July (1964; Republic Day 6 July (1966)

Constitution: 18 May 1995

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: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Bakili MULUZI (since 21 May 1994); note_the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Bakili MULUZI (since 21 May 1994); note_the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Cabinet: Cabinet named by the president
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 17 May 1994 (next to be held by May 1999)
Election results: Bakili MULUZI elected president; percent of vote_NA

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (177 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
Elections: last held 17 May 1994 (next to be held by May 1999)
Election results: percent of vote by party_NA; seats by party_UDF 84, AFORD 33, MCP 55, others 5; note_because of defections and byelections, the distribution of seats in the National Assembly had changed at the end of the 1996 as follows:UDF 84, MCP 47, AFORD 34, independents 8, and vacant 4
Note: the constitution of 18 May 1995, in addition to reducing the age at which universal suffrage is conferred from 21 to 18 years, provided for a bicameral legislature; by 1999, in addition to the existing National Assembly, a Senate of 80 seats is to be elected

Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Appeal; High Court (chief justice appointed by the president, puisne judges appointed on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission; magistrate's courts

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Willie CHOKANI
In the us chancery: 2,408 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 797-1007
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Amelia Ellen SHIPPY
From the us embassy: address NA, in new development area in Lilongwe
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 30,016, Lilongwe 3, Malawi
From the us telephone: [265] 783 166
From the us FAX: [265] 780 471

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green with a radiant, rising, red sun centered in the black band

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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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 45% of GDP and 90% of export revenues. The economy depends on substantial inflows of economic assistance from the IMF, the World Bank, and individual donor nations. The new government faces strong challenges, e.g., to spur exports, to improve educational and health facilities, and to deal with environmental problems of deforestation and erosion.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 3.2% (1998 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity: $940 (1998 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 45%
Industry: 30%
Services: 25% (1995 est.)

Agriculture products: tobacco, sugarcane, cotton, tea, corn, potatoes, cassava (tapioca), sorghum, pulses; cattle, goats

Industries: tea, tobacco, sugar, sawmill products, cement, consumer goods

Industrial production growth rate: 0.9% (1995)

Labor force: 3.5 million
By occupation agriculture: 86%
By occupation wageearners: 14% (1990 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 54% (1990-91 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $530 million
Expenditures: $674 million, including capital expenditures of $129 million (1993)

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: $405 million (f.o.b., 1995)
Commodities: tobacco, tea, sugar, coffee, peanuts, wood products
Partners: US, South Africa, Germany, Japan

Imports: $475 million (f.o.b., 1995)
Commodities: food, petroleum products, semimanufactures, consumer goods, transportation equipment
Partners: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Japan, US, UK, Germany

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $2.3 billion (1996 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Malawian kwachas (MK) per US$1_43.5426 (January 1999), 31.0727 (1998), 16.4442 (1997), 15.3085 (1996), 15.2837 (1995), 8.7364 (1994)


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Electricity
Production: 800 million kWh (1996)
Production by source fossil fuel: 2.5%
Production by source hydro: 97.5%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 0% (1996)
Consumption: 800 million kWh (1996)
Exports: 0 kWh (1996)
Imports: 0 kWh (1996)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones: 43,000 (1985 est.)

Telephone system
Domestic: fair system of open-wire lines, microwave radio relay links, and radiotelephone communications stations
International: satellite earth stations_2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean)

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $17 million (FY96/97)
Percent of gdp: 0.8% (FY96/97)

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: 45 (1998 est.)
With paved runways total: 5
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 3 (1998 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 40
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 16
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 23 (1998 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways
Total: 789 km
Narrow gauge: 789 km 1.067-m gauge

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