Malawi

Population:19.89 million
Capital city: Lilongwe
Language: English
National currency: Malawi kwacha

History:
Malawi became independent from the British on 6th July 1964. Before that, the country was
ruled by the British and it was called the British Central Africa Protectorate from 1893 to
1907, then it was called Nyasaland and formed part of the Federation of Rhodesia. The leader
at the time of independence was Prime Minister Hastings Banda. The main language of
Malawi is English. This was officially decided in 2008. Under British colonial rule, much of
the infrastructure was built and European settlers moved in. Roads and railways were built
and crops were planted. The slave trade also came to an end when the British Protectorate
took control in 1891.

Development indicators:
Life expectancy is 63.9 years.
Birth rate is 32.8 births per 1000 people. This has decreased each year since 2020. In the
poorest households, the women have an average of 6.8 births per woman.
Infant mortality rate in Malawi has fallen over the last 2 years and is currently 32.5 deaths per
1000 live births.
Death rate for men is around 395 per 1000 and for women is 255 per 1000. Malaria is the
main cause of deaths.

Natural Resources:
Malawi is rich in natural minerals and many of these are sold internationally. These include:
coal, limestone, graphite, aquamarine, ruby, sapphire and marble. Malawi produces its own
crops including tobacco, tea, sugar and cotton. The biggest export from Malawi is tobacco, it
is 55% of its total exports. Malawi is a landlocked country but has 4 main lakes. These are
Lake Malawi, Chilwa, Malombe and Chiuta. Lake Malawi is the most biodiverse lake in the
world. Malawi is struggling with deforestation. The countries that border Malawi are
Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia.

Economy:
Malawi’s services sector brings in more than half of the country’s GDP. These include
banking, health services, retail and tourism. Mining only contributes around 1% of the GDP.