Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note:
landlocked; Lake Nyasa, some 580 km long, is the country's most
prominent physical feature

People Malawi

Population:
11,906,855
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower
life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 46.8% (male 2,811,751; female 2,759,515)
15-64 years: 50.5% (male 2,978,406; female 3,029,735)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male 130,600; female 196,848) (2004 est.)

Median age:
total: 16.4 years
male: 16.1 years
female: 16.7 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate:
2.14% (2004 est.)

Birth rate:
44.35 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate:
23.01 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 104.23 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 99.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 108.4 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 37.48 years
male: 37.08 years
female: 37.88 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate:
6.04 children born/woman (2004 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
14.2% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
900,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
84,000 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:
typhoid fever, malaria, plague, schistosomiasis
overall degree of risk: very high (2004)

Nationality:
noun: Malawian(s)
adjective: Malawian

Ethnic groups:
Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde,
Asian, European

Religions:
Protestant 55%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 20%, indigenous beliefs
3%, other 2%

Languages:
English (official), Chichewa (official), other languages important
regionally

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write