Geographical Location

Malawi is located in southeast Africa bordered by Mozambique to the east, south and west, Tanzania to the northeast and Zambia to the northwest.

Climate

Malawi lies within an inter-tropical zone. The country experiences three seasons; cool and dry from May to August, hot and dry from September to mid November and hot and wet from November to April.

Size

Malawi covers a geographical area of 118,480 km. It is slightly smaller than the state of Pennsylvania. The country is divided into three regions, namely: the Southern, Central and Northern regions, with a total of 28 districts.

Population

Malawi’s population estimate is 17.50 million, (Source, 2018 Population & housing Census, conducted by the Malawi National Statistical Office).

Coat of Arms

The national crest has the rising sun, representing the dawn of freedom in Africa, at the top and bottom of the shield. The fish eagle and the wavy blue and white bands on the shield symbolize Lake Malawi. The lion and the leopard support and guard the crest as a whole. The land at the base is the rugged Mount Mulanje. The coat of arms bears the motto “Unity and Freedom.”

Language

Malawi is a multi-lingual country which has around nine languages, all of them from the Bantu family. English and Chichewa are the official languages.

Laws and Official government records are written in English and parliament conducts business in English. English is also the language of education although Chichewa is taught merely as a subject.

Currently, there is a drive to promote all indigenous languages and major broadcasting stations air news in the major languages such as Chichewa, Tumbuka, Lhomwe, Yao and Sena as well as English

Major Cities

There are four major cities, Lilongwe (the Capital City), Blantyre (the Commercial Capital), Mzuzu in the northern part of Malawi & Zomba in the eastern region, which also used to be the old capital city of Malawi.