MALAWI
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 118,480 km2; land area: 94,080 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Pennsylvania
Land boundaries: 2,881 km total; Mozambique 1,569 km, Tanzania
475 km, Zambia 837 km
Coastline: none--landlocked
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
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 NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 20%; forest and woodland 50%; other 5%; includes irrigated
NEGL%
Environment: deforestation
Note: landlocked
PEOPLE
Population: 9,438,462 (July 1991), growth rate 1.8% (1991);
note--900,000 Mozambican refugees in Malawi (1990 est.)
Birth rate: 52 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 18 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 17 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 136 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 51 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 7.6 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Malawian(s); adjective--Malawian
Ethnic divisions: Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuko, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga,
Ngoni, Ngonde, Asian, European
Religion: Protestant 55%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 20%;
traditional indigenous beliefs are also practiced
Language: English and Chichewa (official); other languages
important regionally
Literacy: 22% (male 34%, female 12%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1966)
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)
Organized labor: small minority of wage earners are unionized
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of Malawi
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
Independence: 6 July 1964 (from UK; formerly Nyasaland)
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
National holiday: Independence Day, 6 July (1964)
Executive branch: president, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly
Judicial branch: High Court, Supreme Court of Appeal
Leaders:
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)
Political parties and leaders: only party--Malawi Congress Party
(MCP), Maxwell PASHANE, administrative secretary; John TEMBO, treasurer
general; top party position of secretary general vacant since 1983
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections:
President--President BANDA sworn in as President for Life on
6 July 1971;
National Assembly--last held 27-28 May 1987 (next to be held
by May 1992);
results--MCP is the only party;
seats--(133 total, 112 elected) MCP 133
Communists: no Communist party
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, SADCC, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Robert B. MBAYA; Chancery at
2408 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; 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 30016,
Lilongwe); telephone 265 730-166
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: 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.
GDP: $1.6 billion, per capita $175; growth rate 4.8% (1990 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11.7% (1990)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $398 million; expenditures $510 million, including
capital expenditures of $154 million (FY91 est.)
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
External debt: $1.4 billion (December 1990 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 4.9% (1989 est.); accounts
for about 18% of GDP (1988)
Electricity: 181,000 kW capacity; 535 million kWh produced,
60 kWh per capita (1989)
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 and goats
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $215
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $2.0 billion
Currency: Malawian kwacha (plural--kwacha);
1 Malawian kwacha (MK) = 100 tambala
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)
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 789 km 1.067-meter gauge
Highways: 13,135 km total; 2,364 km paved; 251 km crushed stone,
gravel, or stabilized soil; 10,520 km earth and improved earth
Inland waterways: Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi); Shire River, 144 km
Ports: Chipoka, Monkey Bay, Nkhata Bay, and Nkotakota--all on Lake
Nyasa (Lake Malawi)
Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft
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
Telecommunications: fair system of open-wire lines, radio relay
links, and radio communication stations; 36,800 telephones; stations--8
AM, 4 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 or Nacala railroads, but now most go through South Africa
because of insurgent activity and damage to rail lines
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army (includes Air Wing and Naval Detachment),
Police (includes paramilitary Mobile Force Unit), paramilitary
Malawi Young Pioneers
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,960,082; 995,864 fit for
military service
Defense expenditures: $22 million, 1.6% of GDP (1989 est.)