Where is Malawi?
About Malawi
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media
Malawi is an average size landlocked country in south east Africa.
Malawi has no coastal borders.
The land is a mixture of rolling plains and hills with some mountains.
The geographical coordinates for the centre of Malawi, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 13 30S
Longitude - 34 00E
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The Malawian flag is three equal horizontal stripes of black, at the top, red and green with a semi-circular, rising, red sun centred on the black band.
Black represents the native peoples, red the blood shed in their struggle for freedom, and green the color of nature. The rising sun represents the hope of freedom
for the continent of Africa
We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Malawi to provide us with a detailed history of
their own country. Check how here.
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The total land area of Malawi is 94,080 sq kms which is the 40th largest in Africa.
Malawi has lakes, rivers and canals which total 24,404 sq kms.
Malawi has boundaries with 3 countries
Malawi has no coastline.
The highest point in Malawi is Sapitwa (Mount Mlanje) at 3,002 metres.
The total population of Malawi is 19.84 million people, making it the 20th largest country in Africa by population.
Of this number 10.03 million are females and 9.81 million are males.
A person from Malawi is called a Malawian.
To be a citizen of Malawi, one of your parents must be a citizen of Malawi. It is not sufficient to be born in Malawi. You have to live in Malawi for
7 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.
The largest five cities in Malawi, by population are:-
The birth rate in Malawi is 40.7 births per 1,000 of population
The death rate in Malawi is 7.7 deaths per 1,000 people.
Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then
the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.
There are 35.5 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 48.6 deaths of boys.
The median age for females is 16.8 and for males is 16.5. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number
of people above the median age as below it.
The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 18.9.
The elderly dependency ratio is 5.7. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).
The potential support ratio is 17.4. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.
Malawi spends 11.4% of its total income on health care.
There are 0.02 doctors per 1,000 people.
There are 1.3 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
5.8% of the population are estimated as obese.
95.7% of the urban population and 89.1% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or
protected rainwater collection facility.
47.3% of the urban population and 39.8% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a
permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.
Malawi spends 4.0% of its total income on education.
Children usually start school at age 6 in Malawi. Primary education is for eight years until age 14 and secondary education can continue till 18. This may be followed
by further education at a university or college.
Generally the school year consists of 3 terms and starts in the middle of September and finishes at the end of July. There is usually a 3 week
break at Christmas and a 2 week break at Easter.
55.2% of females and 69.8% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.
8.5% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 10.6% are unemployed while with males 6.7% can't find work.
The total number of people available for work in Malawi is 7.00 million.
They work in the following sectors.
There are 7 paved airports in Malawi, which is the 31st highest number in Africa.
There are 767 kilometres of railways in Malawi, the 24th longest in Africa.
There are 15,450 kilometres of roads in Malawi, which means Malawi is in 31st place for the most kilometres of roads in Africa.