An Overview of Malawi Profile

[BBC]

Malawi, a largely agricultural country, is making efforts to overcome decades of underdevelopment and the more recent impact of a growing HIV-Aids problem.

•   Full name: The Republic of Malawi
•   Population: 15.6 million (UN, 2010)
•   Capital: Lilongwe
•   Area: 118,484 sq km (45,747 sq miles)
•   Major languages: English, Chichewa (both official)
•   Major religions: Christianity, Islam
•   Life expectancy: 56 years (men), 57 years (women) (UN)
•   Monetary unit: 1 Malawi kwacha (MK) = 100 tambala
•   Main exports: Tobacco, tea, sugar, cotton
•   GNI per capita: US $280 (World Bank, 2009)
•   Internet domain: .mw
•   International dialling code: +265

For the first 30 years of independence it was run by the authoritarian and quixotic President Hastings Kamuzu Banda, but democratic institutions have taken a firm hold since he relinquished power in the mid-1990s.

After President Banda lost the first democratic presidential election in 1994 his successor, Bakili Muluzi, established a far more open form of government. Corruption, poverty and the high rate of HIV-Aids continued to hamper development and fostered discontent with the new authorities.

Most Malawians rely on subsistence farming, but the food supply situation is precarious and the country is prone to natural disasters of both extremes - from drought to heavy rainfalls - putting it in constant need of thousands of tonnes of food aid every year.

BBC

[afroboy]

Provides overview, key facts and events, timelines and leader profiles along with current news about Malawi

Attribution: CNN, BBC and IOL Africa.