About Malawi

Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west.

Nickname: The Warm Heart of Africa—so named for the relational warmth of the people.

Yet, in recent decades the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which has caused excess mortality among a single parental generation, the Warm Heart of Africa has given birth to a new nickname: the Orphan Nation.

Capital: Lilongwe

Government: Democracy

President: Joyce Banda

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Currency:Malawian kwacha

 Currency Exchage Rate 

1.00 USD = 291.550 MWK

US Dollar ↔ Malawian Kwacha

Population: 15,380,888 (2011) World Bank  

• Malawi's population is made up of the Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni and Ngonde native ethnic groups, as well as populations of Asians and Europeans.

Official language: Chichewa & English

• Other major languages include: Chinyanja, Chiyao and Chitumbuka.  
• Malawian Lomwe and Kokola is spoken in the southeast of the country; Lambya, spoken in the northwestern tip; Ndali, spoken by around 70,000; Nyakyusa-Ngonde, in northern Malawi; Malawian Sena, spoken in southern Malawi; and Tonga, spoken by around 170,000 in the north. These languages are spoken by a smaller percentage of the population. 

Economy, Agriculture, & Industry

• Malawi is among the world's least-developed and most-densely populated countries. Around 85% of the population lives in rural areas. It also has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the world.
• The economy is based on agriculture, and more than one-third of GDP and 90% of export revenues come from this.

• The main agricultural products of Malawi include tobacco, sugarcane, cotton, tea, corn, potatoes, sorghum, cattle and goats. The main industries are tobacco, tea and sugar processing, sawmill products, cement and consumer goods.

Religion:

• Approximately 80% of the population is Christian, with the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian making up the largest Christian groups. There are also smaller numbers of Anglicans, Baptists, evangelicals and Seventh-day Adventists.
• Around 13% of the population is Muslim, with most of the Muslim population being Sunni, of either the Qadriya or Sukkutu groups.
• Other religious groups within the country include: Jews, Rastafarians, Hindus and Baha'is, and traditional African religions. Atheists make up around 4% of the population.

Staple Food: Nsima (pronounced en-see-ma)

Nsima is cooked, ground white maize flour that is used as the stodge for the majority of malawian meals.

 

The maize can either:
1. be ground by the family who take the dry maize kernels (sweetcorn to you and I) and then pound it with a huge pestle and Blantyre or Mandala is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, the second largest city with an estimated 728,285 inhabitants as of 2012. It is sometimes referred to as the commercial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe.mortar (most likely made of wood)
2. be bought from a shop where a more industrial process has mass produced the flour.
3. A cheaper version is a brown maize flour which is rougher in texture

People normally eat nsima with their hands. All other side dishes are referred to as relish :)

 
 

The city of Blantyre (Mandala):

Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, the second largest city with an estimated 728,285 inhabitants as of 2012. It is sometimes referred to as the commercial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe.