:
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

:Malawi People

Population:
9,605,342 (July 1992), growth rate 1.8% (1992); note - 900,000 Mozambican
refugees in Malawi (1990 est.)
Birth rate:
52 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
17 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
-17 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
134 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
48 years male, 51 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
7.6 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Malawian(s); adjective - Malawian
Ethnic divisions:
Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuko, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde, Asian,
European
Religions:
Protestant 55%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 20%; traditional indigenous
beliefs are also practiced
Languages:
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

:Malawi 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, Ntcheu, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, 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 a