Country Overview

Malawi is a landlocked country located in southern central Africa along the western side of part of the Great Rift Valley of Africa. Covering a total area of 118,484 sq. km, it stretches some 900 kilometres north to south and between 90 and 161 kilometres east to west.

The prominent feature of Malawi is the Lake. The third largest fresh water lake in Africa, Lake Malawi is 568 kilometers long and copies about 20 % of the country's total land area.

The terrain of Malawi is breath -taking comprising plateaus, plains, hills and mountains. These include Nyika and Viphya plateaus and Misuku hills to the North, Dedza and Kirk range mountains in the Centre. In southern Malawi, the terrain is equally varied with escarpments, highlands and mountains and low marshy lands along the Shire River which is an outlet of Lake Malawi. The Mulanje Mountain which is home to the rare Mulanje cedar, it is the highest mountain in Central Africa, with the highest point, Sapitwa peak rising to 3, 050 metres above sea level.

 The People

The population of Malawi constitutes predominantly Bantu speaking black African people. There are 8 major tribes in Malawi: the Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuka Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni and Ngonde. Although these tribes speak their ethnic languages, especially those living in the rural areas, Chichewa is official local language. Asians and a few Europeans also constitute a sizeable number of Malawi's 12 million people.

 Climate

May to August
Cool and dry, July being the coldest month, with temperatures ranging from 15.5 to 18.0 degrees Celsius in the plateau and 20.0 to 24.5 degrees Celsius in the rift valley areas. There is little rain in this season; most of it falling in the high southeast facing slopes.

September to mid-November
Hot and dry, with temperatures ranging from 22 to 25 end 27 to 30 degrees Celsius in the plateau areas and the rift valley respectively.

Mid-November to April
Hot and rainy, with 90% of the annual rainfall being received. December and January are the wettest months. Total annual rainfall overages 760 to 1,015mm with some areas in the plateau recording over 1,525mm.