Malawi
is a southern African country situated to the southwest of Tanzania,
east of Zambia. The Country is a former British Colony and still
maintains strong ties with the UK. Malawi attained its independence
on the 6th of July 1964. The Country has since been relatively
stable though controversy has always marred the governance of Malawi.
The Country’s first President Kamuzu Banda ruled the then
single-party state until 1994 when the first multi-part elections
were held. Banda was once declared life president of Malawi.
Problems facing the country’s current government include;
widespread corruption, an underperforming economy, debt and
the spread of HIV/AIDS. Malawi has a number of prominent industries
such as tobacco, cement, sugarcane processing, tea and a growing
tourism industry.
Administration:
Malawi is divided into 27 districts for administrative purposes.
These are; Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Chitipa, Dedza,
Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Likoma, Lilongwe, Machinga (Kasupe),
Mangochi, Mchinji, Mulanje, Mwanza, Mzimba, Ntcheu, Nkhata Bay,
Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntchisi, Phalombe, Rumphi, Salima, Thyolo,
Zomba. Lilongwe is the Capital City of Malawi though the City
of Blantyre is the largest.
People:
Malawi has a population of about 13,013,926 people. The main
ethnic groups in the country are; Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuka, Yao,
Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde, Asian, European. English is
the official language and Chichewa is the national language.
Other languages spoken here include; Chinyanja, Chiyao, Chitumbuka,
Chisena, Chilomwe and Chitonga.
