Known as the warm heart of Africa and with good reason, Malawi has a varied landscape and welcoming people that make it a memorable place. Beautiful it may be, but Malawi is ranked as the 13th poorest country in the world and it is the poorest country in the world that hasn’t been affected by war. With a population of approx. 15 million crammed into such a small country and with approx. 15% of the population having HIV/AIDS (and still rising) it is not surprising that life expectancy is only around 40 years.
Malawi is situated in south east Africa and is a landlocked country surrounded by Tanzania to the North, Mozambique to the South and East and Zambia to the West. The Great Rift Valley runs through the country from north to south, and to the east of the valley lies Lake Malawi, making up over three-quarters of Malawi's eastern boundary. Lake Malawi is sometimes called the Calendar Lake as it is about 365 miles (587 km) long and 52 miles (84 km) wide.
Malawi's climate is hot in the low-lying areas in the south of the country and temperate in the northern highlands. Between November and April the temperature is warm with rains and thunderstorms, with the storms reaching their peak severity in late March. After March, the rainfall rapidly diminishes and from May to September, it is cooler with almost no rainfall during these months.
Malawi's capital is Lilongwe, and its commercial centre and largest city is Blantyre.
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English is now the national language but the most spoken language is Chichewa, an official language spoken by over 57% of the population, with various other native languages.
The Malawian flag was changed in 2010 and is made up of three equal horizontal stripes of black, red and green with a full white sun replacing the red rising sun that symbolised the rise and dawn of hope for all of Africa. The black stripe represents the African people, the red represents the blood of martyrs for African freedom, green represents Malawi’s ever-green nature and the full sun represents the economic progress Malawi has made since becoming an independent country.
Approximately 80% of the population is Christian, with the Roman Catholics making up the largest Christian group. Around 13% of the population is Muslim and the other 7% of the population is made up other minority religions. Atheists make up around 4% of the population, although this number includes people who practice traditional African religions and witchcraft.
Malawi was once a British Colony called Nyasaland, which gained independence in July 1964 and was renamed Malawi. Since then Malawi has been under a democracy government, the first president of Malawi was Banda who ruled for 30 years, followed by Muluzi and at present Dr. Bingu Mutharika is President of Malawi. He was elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2009, this term will end in 2014.
Malawi is among the world's least developed and most densely populated countries. The economy is heavily agriculture-based with around 85% of the population living in rural areas. Agriculture accounts for 90% of the country’s income, the main agricultural products include tobacco, sugarcane, cotton, tea, corn, potatoes, cattle and goats.
In Malawi, primary education is not compulsory, but the Constitution states that all people are entitled to at least five years of primary education. However many children are still unable to attend school due to not having the money to buy school resources or due to ill health and supporting their family. Dropout rates are higher for girls than boys, attributed to security problems for girls during the long travel to school and their role in caring for the family.
One of the leading causes of death in the country is HIV/AIDS with at least 70% of Malawi’s hospital beds being occupied by HIV/AIDS patients. Every day an average of 267 people become infected with the HIV virus wilse AIDS related infections account for approx. 235 deaths daily.
Due to the increasing levels of poverty and the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic the number of orphans in the country has dramatically risen. There are currently an estimated 1.2 million orphans in Malawi, half of whom are orphaned due to HIV/AIDS.
Infant Mortality rate is high and there is a high level of risk from infectious disease, including diarrhoea, typhoid fever, malaria, tuberculosis and plague.
On top of this, Malawi has faced several years of food crisis in a row, malnutrition and dehydration is high. This has made the country even more vulnerable.
