![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Malawi-in-Africa-300x279.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>The part of Africa now known as Malawi was settled by migrating Bantu groups<\/a> around the 10th century. Centuries later in 1891 the area was colonized by the British. In 1953 Malawi, then known as Nyasaland, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, became a protectorate within the semi-independent Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland<\/a>. The Federation was dissolved in 1963. In 1964 the protectorate over Nyasaland was ended and Nyasaland became an independent country under Queen Elizabeth II<\/a> with the new name Malawi. Two years later it became a republic. Upon gaining independence it became a totalitarian one-party state under the presidency of Hastings Banda<\/a>, who remained president until 1994. Malawi now has a democratic, multi-party government headed by an elected president, currently Lazarus Chakwera<\/a>. The country has a Malawian Defence Force that includes an army, a navy and an air wing. Malawi’s foreign policy is pro-Western and includes positive diplomatic relations with most countries and participation in several international organizations, including the United Nations<\/a>, the Commonwealth of Nations<\/a>, the Southern African Development Community (SADC)<\/a>, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)<\/a>, and the African Union (AU)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Malawi is among the world’s least-developed countries. The economy is heavily based in agriculture, with a largely rural population that is growing at a rapid rate. The Malawian government depends heavily on outside aid to meet development needs, although this need (and the aid offered) has decreased since 2000. The Malawian government faces challenges in building and expanding the economy, improving education, healthcare, environmental protection, and becoming financially independent amidst widespread unemployment. Since 2005, Malawi has developed several programs that focus on these issues, and the country’s outlook appears to be improving, with a rise in the economy, education and healthcare seen in 2007 and 2008.<\/p>\n Malawi has a low life expectancy and high infant mortality. There is a high prevalence of HIV\/AIDS, which is a drain on the labor force and government expenditures. There is a diverse population of native peoples, Asians and Europeans, with several languages spoken and an array of religious beliefs. Although there was periodic regional conflict fueled in part by ethnic divisions in the past, by 2008 it had diminished considerably and the concept of a Malawian nationality had reemerged.<\/p>\n The area of Africa now known as Malawi had a very small population of hunter-gatherers before waves of Bantu peoples began emigrating from the north around the 10th century. Although most of the Bantu peoples continued south, some remained and founded ethnic groups based on common ancestry. By 1500 AD, the tribes had established the Kingdom of Maravi that reached from north of what is now Nkhotakota<\/a> to the Zambezi River<\/a> and from Lake Malawi to the Luangwa River<\/a> in what is now Zambia.<\/p>\n Soon after 1600, with the area mostly united under one native ruler, native tribesmen began encountering, trading with and making alliances with Portuguese traders and members of the military. By 1700, however, the empire had broken up into areas controlled by many individual ethnic groups. The Arab slave trade reached its height in the mid- 1800s, when approximately 20,000 people were enslaved and considered to be carried yearly from Nkhotakota to Kilwa where they were sold.<\/p>\n Missionary and explorer David Livingstone<\/a> reached Lake Malawi (then Lake Nyasa) in 1859 and identified the Shire Highlands south of the lake as an area suitable for European settlement. As the result of Livingstone’s visit, several Anglican and Presbyterian missions were established in the area in the 1860s and 1870s, the African Lakes Company Limited<\/a> was established in 1878 to set up a trade and transport concern working closely with the missions, and a small mission and trading settlement was established at Blantyre in 1876 and a British Consul took up residence there in 1883. The Portuguese government was also interested in the area so, to prevent Portuguese occupation, the British government sent Harry Johnston<\/a> as British consul with instructions to make treaties with local rulers beyond Portuguese jurisdiction.<\/p>\n In 1889, a British protectorate<\/a> was proclaimed over the Shire Highlands, which was extended in 1891 to include the whole of present-day Malawi as the British Central Africa Protectorate<\/a>. In 1907, the protectorate was renamed Nyasaland, a name it retained for the remainder of its time under British rule. In a prime example of what is sometimes called the “Thin White Line” of colonial authority in Africa, the colonial government of Nyasaland was formed in 1891. The administrators were given a budget of \u00a310,000 (1891 nominal value) per year, which was enough to employ ten European civilians, two military officers, seventy Punjab<\/a> Sikhs and eighty-five Zanzibar<\/a> porters. These few employees were then expected to administer and police a territory of around 94,000 square kilometers with between one and two million people.<\/p>\n In 1944, the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC)<\/a> was formed by the Africans of Nyasaland to promote local interests to the British government. In 1953, Britain linked Nyasaland with Northern and Southern Rhodesia in what was the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland<\/a>, often called the Central African Federation (CAF), for mainly political reasons. Even though the Federation was semi-independent, the linking provoked opposition from African nationalists, and the NAC gained popular support. An influential opponent of the CAF was Hastings Banda, a European-trained doctor working in Ghana<\/a> who was persuaded to return to Nyasaland in 1958 to assist the nationalist cause. Banda was elected president of the NAC and worked to mobilise nationalist sentiment before being jailed by colonial authorities in 1959. He was released in 1960 and asked to help draft a new constitution for Nyasaland, with a clause granting Africans the majority in the colony’s Legislative Council.<\/p>\n In 1961, Banda’s Malawi Congress Party (MCP) gained a majority in the Legislative Council elections and Banda became Prime Minister in 1963. The Federation was dissolved in 1963, and on 6 July 1964, Nyasaland became independent from British rule and renamed itself Malawi, and that is commemorated as the nation’s Independence Day, a public holiday. Under a new constitution, Malawi became a republic with Banda as its first president. The new document also formally made Malawi a one-party state with the MCP as the only legal party. In 1971, Banda was declared president-for-life. For almost 30 years, Banda presided over a rigidly totalitarian regime, which ensured that Malawi did not suffer armed conflict. Opposition parties, including the Malawi Freedom Movement of Orton Chirwa<\/a> and the Socialist League of Malawi, were founded in exile.<\/p>\n Malawi’s economy while Banda was president was often cited as an example of how a poor, landlocked, heavily populated, mineral-poor country could achieve progress in both agriculture and industrial development. While in office, and using his control of the country, Banda constructed a business empire that eventually produced one-third of the country’s GDP and employed 10% of the wage-earning workforce.<\/p>\n Under pressure for increased political freedom, Banda agreed to a referendum in 1993, where the populace voted for a multi-party democracy. In late 1993, a presidential council was formed, the life presidency was abolished and a new constitution was put into place, effectively ending the MCP’s rule. In 1994 the first multi-party elections were held in Malawi, and Banda was defeated by Bakili Muluzi<\/a> (a former Secretary General of the MCP and former Banda Cabinet Minister). Re-elected in 1999, Muluzi remained president until 2004, when Bingu wa Mutharika<\/a> was elected. Although the political environment was described as “challenging”, it was stated in 2009 that a multi-party system still existed in Malawi. Multiparty parliamentary and presidential elections were held for the fourth time in Malawi in May 2009, and President Mutharika was successfully re-elected, despite charges of election fraud from his rival.<\/p>\n President Mutharika was seen by some as increasingly autocratic and dismissive of human rights, and in July 2011 protests over high costs of living, devolving foreign relations, poor governance and a lack of foreign exchange reserves erupted. The protests left 18 people dead and at least 44 others suffering from gunshot wounds. In April 2012, Mutharika died of a heart attack; the presidential title was taken over by Vice-President Joyce Banda<\/a> (not related to the former president Banda).<\/p>\n In 2014 Joyce Banda lost elections (coming third) and was replaced by Peter Mutharika<\/a>, the brother of ex-President Mutharika.<\/p>\n Malawi is a landlocked country in southeastern Africa, bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique to the south, southwest and southeast.<\/p>\n The Great Rift Valley<\/a> runs through the country from north to south, and to the east of the valley lies Lake Malawi<\/a> (also called Lake Nyasa), making up over three-quarters of Malawi’s eastern boundary. Lake Malawi is sometimes called the Calendar Lake as it is about 587 kilometers (365 mi) long and 84 kilometers (52 mi) wide. The Shire River flows from the south end of the lake and joins the Zambezi River 400 kilometers (250 mi) farther south in Mozambique. The surface of Lake Malawi is at 457 meters (1,500 ft) above sea level, with a maximum depth of 701 meters (2,300 ft), which means the lake bottom is over 213 meters (700 ft) below sea level at some points.<\/p>\n In the mountainous sections of Malawi surrounding the Rift Valley, plateaus rise generally 914 to 1,219 meters (3,000 to 4,000 ft) above sea level, although some rise as high as 2,438 meters (8,000 ft) in the north. To the south of Lake Malawi lie the Shire Highlands<\/a>, gently rolling land at approximately 914 meters (3,000 ft) above sea level. In this area, the Zomba and Mulanje<\/a> mountain peaks rise to respective heights of 2,134 and 3,048 meters (7,000 and 10,000 ft).<\/p>\n Malawi’s capital is Lilongwe, and its commercial center is Blantyre with a population of over 500,000 people. Malawi has two sites listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List<\/a>. Lake Malawi National Park<\/a> was first listed in 1984 and the Chongoni Rock Art Area<\/a> was listed in 2006.<\/p>\n Malawi’s climate is hot in the low-lying areas in the south of the country and temperate in the northern highlands. The altitude moderates what would otherwise be an equatorial climate. Between November and April the temperature is warm with equatorial rains and thunderstorms, with the storms reaching their peak severity in late March. After March, the rainfall rapidly diminishes and from May to September wet mists float from the highlands into the plateaus, with almost no rainfall during these months.<\/p>\n Malawi is among the world’s least developed countries. Around 85% of the population live in rural areas. The economy is based on agriculture, and more than one-third of GDP and 90% of export revenues come from this. In the past, the economy has been dependent on substantial economic aid from the World Bank<\/a>, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)<\/a>, and other countries. Malawi was ranked the 119th safest investment destination in the world in the March 2011 Euromoney Country Risk rankings.<\/p>\n In December 2000, the IMF stopped aid disbursements due to corruption concerns, and many individual donors followed suit, resulting in an almost 80% drop in Malawi’s development budget. However, in 2005, Malawi was the recipient of over US$575 million in aid. The Malawian government faces challenges in developing a market economy, improving environmental protection, dealing with the rapidly growing HIV\/AIDS problem, improving the education system, and satisfying its foreign donors that it is working to become financially independent. Improved financial discipline had been seen since 2005 under the leadership of President Mutharika and Financial Minister Gondwe<\/a>.<\/p>\n In addition, some setbacks have been experienced, and Malawi has lost some of its ability to pay for imports due to a general shortage of foreign exchange, as investment fell 23% in 2009. There are many investment barriers in Malawi, which the government has failed to address, including high service costs and poor infrastructure for power, water, and telecommunications.<\/p>\n Agriculture accounts for 35% of GDP, industry for 19% and services for the remaining 46%. Malawi has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the world, although economic growth was estimated at 9.7% in 2008 and strong growth is predicted by the International Monetary Fund for 2009. The poverty rate in Malawi is decreasing through the work of the government and supporting organizations, with people living under the poverty line decreasing from 54% in 1990 to 40% in 2006, and the percentage of “ultra-poor” decreasing from 24% in 1990 to 15% in 2007.<\/p>\n Many analysts believe that economic progress for Malawi depends on its ability to control population growth.<\/p>\n In January 2015 southern Malawi was devastated by the worst floods in living memory, stranding at least 20,000 people. These floods affected more than a million people across the country, including 336,000 who were displaced, according to UNICEF. Over 100 people were killed and an estimated 64,000 hectares of cropland were washed away.<\/p>\n Transportation in Malawi is poorly developed. The country of almost 14 million has 39 airports, 6 with paved runways and 33 with unpaved runways. It has 495 miles (797 km) of railways, all narrow-gauge and about 45 percent of its roads are paved. Though it is landlocked, Malawi also has 435 miles (700 km) of waterways on Lake Malawi and along the Shire River<\/a>.<\/p>\n Recent assessments indicate that there were 9,601 miles (15,451 km) of roads in the country; of these, 4,322 miles (6,956 km) (45 percent) were paved. The remaining 5,279 miles (8,496 km) were not paved.<\/p>\n Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) and Shire River (144 kilometres) provide the major waterways. There is a railhead at the port of Chipoka<\/a>, Salima district in central Malawi. Smaller ports exist at Monkey Bay<\/a>, Nkhata Bay<\/a>, Nkhotakota<\/a> and Chilumba<\/a>.<\/p>\n The MV Ilala<\/a> connects Likoma Island<\/a> with the mainland, as well as the Malawian and Mozambican sides of the lake. In 2010, a port in Nsanje<\/a> was opened to connect the country through the Shire and Zambezi rivers with the Indian Ocean. As of 2015, the port is not operational due to unresolved contracts with Mozambique.<\/p>\n Malawian Airlines Limited<\/a> is the national airline of Malawi which operates regional passenger service. Based in Lilongwe<\/a>, it is 51% owned by the Malawi government. 49% are controlled by Ethiopian Airlines. The airline’s main base of operations is Lilongwe International Airport<\/a>, with a secondary hub at Chileka International Airport<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2001 there was a total of 44 airports in the country. As of 2015, two airports have scheduled passenger services.<\/p>\n Malawi Railways<\/a> is the national rail network in Malawi, run by a government corporation until privatization in 1999. As of 1 December 1999 the Central East African Railways<\/a>, a consortium led by Railroad Development Corporation<\/a>, won the right to operate the network. This was the first rail privatization in Africa which did not involve a parastatal operator.<\/p>\n The rail network totalled 797 kilometres in 2001. It is a narrow gauge line with a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) track.<\/p>\n The flag of Malawi was officially adopted on 6 July 1964 when the colony of Nyasaland became independent from British rule and renamed itself Malawi.<\/p>\n The first flag of independent Malawi was adopted on 6 July 1964. A rising sun against a black field is also present in the coat of arms of Malawi and in the flag it officially represents the dawn of hope and freedom for the continent of Africa (when the flag was created, more countries in Africa were gaining independence from European rule). The 31 rays of the sun represent the fact that Malawi was the 31st African nation at the time of its independence. The black represents the indigenous people of the continent, the red symbolizes the blood of their struggle, and the green represents nature. The flag resembles the Pan-African flag<\/a> designed by Marcus Garvey’s<\/a> Universal Negro Improvement Association<\/a>, with the red and black bands reversed and a red sun in the top.<\/p>\n It also resembles the flag of the now-defunct Republic of Biafra<\/a> and the national flag of Afghanistan<\/a> used from 1973 to 1992.<\/p>\n A new flag of Malawi was adopted on 29 July 2010, as proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party\u2013led government. The stripes were altered from the previous flag to match the original Pan-African Flag layout, with the red stripe at the top, the black stripe in middle, and the green stripe at the bottom. The rising sun at the flag’s top was replaced with a full, centred white sun with 45 rays representing the “economic progress” Malawi has made since becoming independent. The opposition United Democratic Front announced that it would challenge the legitimacy of flag change in court. The flag was endorsed by the President of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika<\/a>, who approved the flag change on 29 July 2010. There was much public outcry about whether there was a need to change the flag, but the process continued despite being unwelcome to much of the public. The flag was pejoratively nicknamed “Bingu’s flag” by the majority of the nation who saw it as an illegitimate flag. Many objected to the new flag, perceiving its adoption as undemocratic.<\/p>\n On 28 May 2012, under new president Joyce Banda, Parliament voted to revert to the independence flag.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The first flag of independent Malawi was adopted on 6 July 1964. A rising sun against a black field is also present in the coat of arms of Malawi and in the flag it officially represents the dawn of hope and freedom for the continent of Africa (when the flag was created, more countries in Africa were gaining independence from European rule). The 31 rays of the sun represent the fact that Malawi was the 31st African nation at the time of its independence. The black represents the indigenous people of the continent, the red symbolizes the blood of their struggle, and the green represents nature. The flag resembles the Pan-African flag designed by Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association, with the red and black bands reversed and a red sun in the top.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[19,59,5,6,7,18,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Lazarus-Chakwera-280x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Chongoni-Rock-Art-Area-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/David-Livingstone-247x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Harry-Johnston-217x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/British-Central-Africa-Stamp-253x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Hastings-Banda-left-with-Tanzanias-President-Julius-Nyerere-1-300x246.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Bakili-Muluzi-208x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Joyce-Banda-300x252.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/11\/Lake-Malawi-300x206.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/11\/Topographic-Map-of-Malawi-140x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/11\/Treemap-of-Malawi-Exports-300x234.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/11\/Crafts-in-Lilongwe-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/11\/Road-Map-of-Malawi-162x300.gif\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/11\/Airport-in-Lilongwe-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/11\/Malawi-and-Northern-Mozambique-Railways-300x205.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of Malawi:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/11\/Flag-of-Malawi-300x200.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>