50 Fun Facts About Malawi

What is the capital and largest city of Malawi?

It became capital in 1975, replacing Zomba, though parliament stayed in the old capital until 1994.

Which city was Malawi's capital until 1975, and before that the colonial capital?

The city in the Shire Highlands is known for its British colonial architecture.

Malawi's commercial capital, Blantyre, was named after the Scottish birthplace of which explorer?

The city grew from a Church of Scotland mission founded in 1876 and is now the country's second-largest.

What does the name Malawi mean in the local languages?

Hastings Banda chose the name at independence in 1964; it derives from the Maravi people who arrived around 1400.

By what affectionate nickname is Malawi widely known?

It refers to the perceived loving nature of the Malawian people.

Lake Malawi holds what world record among lakes?

It has at least 700 species of cichlids alone, and is Africa's third-largest and second-deepest lake.

Lake Malawi is nicknamed the "Calendar Lake" because of what?

It makes up over three-quarters of Malawi's eastern boundary and is called Lake Nyasa in Tanzania.

Which river flows out of the southern end of Lake Malawi to join the Zambezi?

It joins the Zambezi 400 km to the south in Mozambique.

What is Malawi's highest point, at 3,002 m on the Mulanje Massif?

The great inselberg rises sharply from the plains 65 km east of Blantyre; Sapitwa was first climbed in 1894.

Likoma and Chizumulu islands are exclaves of Malawi entirely surrounded by which country's waters?

The two islands in Lake Malawi together form Likoma District.

Which is Malawi's largest national park, covering a plateau in the north?

It spans about 3,200 km2, roughly 480 km north of the capital.

Malawi's two UNESCO World Heritage Sites are Lake Malawi National Park and what?

The lake park was listed in 1984 and the rock art in 2006; the lake park exists mainly to protect fish and aquatic habitats.

Which Bantu kingdom, source of the country's name, flourished between Lake Malawi and the Zambezi?

The Nkhamanga kingdom flourished in the same era; the earlier Akafula hunter-gatherers were displaced by Bantu farmers.

Mid-19th-century slavers shipped about 20,000 people a year from Nkhotakota to which port?

The Indian Ocean slave trade peaked just as Livingstone reached the lake in 1859.

The Scottish missionary-explorer who put the lake on European maps reached it in which year?

He identified the Shire Highlands as suitable for European settlement, and missions followed in the 1860s and 1870s.

Under what name was Malawi a British protectorate from 1907 until independence?

It had been the British Central Africa Protectorate since 1891, run by a "thin white line" of just ten European civilians.

From 1953 to 1963 the colony was joined with which two territories in a federation?

The Central African Federation was created for mainly political reasons and fiercely opposed by Hastings Banda.

On what date did the colony become independent as Malawi?

The date is celebrated as Independence Day; the country became a republic in 1966.

Who led Malawi from independence in 1964 until his election defeat in 1994?

The European-trained doctor returned from Ghana in 1958, was jailed in 1959 and became prime minister in 1963.

In which year was Malawi's first president declared president for life?

His party had already made him its president for life in 1970; his regime was rigidly totalitarian for almost 30 years.

Who defeated Banda in Malawi's first multi-party election in 1994?

A 1993 referendum had voted for a multi-party system; Muluzi was re-elected in 1999.

Who became Malawi's president in 2012 after the death of Bingu wa Mutharika?

The vice-president took over after South Africa threatened to reveal the death; she is no relation to Hastings Banda.

Which opposition leader won Malawi's 2020 presidential election?

Peter Mutharika, brother of the late Bingu, returned to power in the 2025 election.

Malawi is divided into three regions and how many districts?

The regions are Northern, Central and Southern, further split into about 250 traditional authorities.

What is the currency of Malawi?

It replaced the Malawian pound in 1971 and is divided into 100 tambala.

What symbol sits at the centre of the black stripe on Malawi's flag?

The black stands for the African people, red for martyrs' blood, green for nature, and the sun for the dawn of freedom.

Which language, spoken by about 42% of Malawians, is used for instruction in all public primary schools?

The constitution names no national language; private schools may teach in English.

Nsima, Malawi's staple food, is made from what?

It is served with side dishes of meat and vegetables, often with fish from the lake.

Chambo, the prized fish of Lake Malawi, is similar to which fish?

Usipa resembles sardines and mpasa resembles salmon; tea and fish are popular features of the cuisine.

Which crop supplies the bulk of Malawi's export revenue?

Its share jumped from 53% to 70% of exports between 2007 and 2008; the burley leaf grown is unusually harmful, so farmers are urged towards spices.

Roughly what share of Malawi's export revenues comes from agriculture?

Tea, tobacco, sugar and coffee together make up more than 90% of exports.

Government surveys put what share of Malawians as Christian?

Catholics are the largest group at 19%, followed by the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian at 18%; about 11% are Muslim.

Malawian teenager William Kamkwamba became famous in 2001 for building what from scrap?

He used blue gum trees and bicycle parts near Kasungu; his story became the book and film The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

The Gule Wamkulu "Big Dance" of masked performers belongs to which Chewa secret society?

Its cosmology forms the indigenous religion of the Chewa people.

Malawi's national netball team was ranked where in the world as of March 2021?

The Queens have far outperformed the football Flames, who have never reached a World Cup.

Malawi's men's football team has appeared how many times at the Africa Cup of Nations?

The women's team qualified for the 2027 World Cup by reaching the 2026 African semi-finals.

Malawi's navy operates three vessels on Lake Malawi from which base?

The navy was set up in the early 1970s with Portuguese support.

The Zomba and Mulanje peaks rise to roughly what heights?

They stand above the Shire Highlands, which roll along at about 914 m.

What did Malawi's LGBT community hold for the first time in the capital on 26 June 2021?

Peter Mutharika had suspended the anti-gay laws in 2015 pending review.

Malawi has been a haven for refugees from which two countries since 1985?

The country's relations with Mozambique were strained in 2010 over use of the Zambezi.

Britain suspended budget aid to Malawi in July 2011 after President Mutharika did what?

A leaked cable had shown the ambassador criticising the president.

Malawi has how many public universities?

They are Mzuzu, LUANAR, the University of Malawi and the Malawi University of Science and Technology; primary schooling has been free since 1994.

The 1890 British Ultimatum that opened the way to a Malawi protectorate was directed at which country?

Portugal's 1885 Pink Map had claimed the land between Angola and Mozambique.

The African Congress that was the forerunner of Banda's party was formed in which year?

Banda's Malawi Congress Party won a majority in the 1961 Legislative Council elections.

Which three countries border landlocked Malawi?

Lake Malawi makes up more than three-quarters of the country's eastern boundary.

Under what name did London first administer the whole of present-day Malawi from 1891?

A protectorate over just the Shire Highlands had been declared in 1889, before the name changed again in 1907.

In which country was Hastings Banda working as a doctor before returning home in 1958?

The European-trained physician was persuaded back to lead the nationalist cause against the Central African Federation.

How many members sit in Malawi's unicameral National Assembly?

The constitution also provides for an 80-seat Senate for chiefs and special interests, but it has never been created.

Since 2006 Malawi has blended its petrol with 10% of what locally produced fuel?

Two in-country plants make it from sugarcane, cutting reliance on imported fuel.

Roughly what share of Malawi's population lives in rural areas?

Over 80% of people farm for subsistence, even though agriculture was only 27% of GDP in 2013.