Introduction to Malawi

I enjoyed reading about Malawi on the CIA World Factbook. Here are some interesting facts that stood out to me:

Malawi is a land-locked country in Southern Africa, one of the smaller countries in the world at about the size of Pennsylvania.

Malawi has a sub-tropical climate, and we will be going during the dry season. Lake Nyasa is the eighth largest lake in the world and shares the previous name of the country, Nyasaland.

Lake Nyasa

Malawi has a population of almost 16 million, which, considering its small geographical size, makes it one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Interestingly, despite Malawi's dense population, it remains 80% rural and 90% of the workforce is employed in agriculture. The two largest cities still have less than 900,000 people.

The capital of Malawi, Lilongwe

The population is very young, with a median age of 17, with a high population growth rate and birth rate. Life expectancy is about 51 years, the 11th worst in the world. Malawi's geographical neighbors also rank among the bottom 12 for life expectancy, worsening Malawi's situation.

Some social statistics:
- Almost 1/10 infant mortality rate
- Fertility rate: 5.43 children per woman
- HIV/AIDS adult prevalency rate 11% (9th highest in the world)
- 80% Christian, with Muslim ranking second.

Adult literacy rate is 76% for males, but only 50% for females. This highlights some of the inequality that women face. Education expectancy is 9 years, which is like 8th grade as my last school year.

A market in Lilongwe

Malawi has the 10th lowest GDP per capita in the world, at only $900 per person. More than half of the population is below the poverty line. Malawi has very poor transportation and communication networks (telephone, Internet, roadways, airports, etc.).  90% of workforce is employed in agriculture, but agriculture only makes up 33% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Still, Malawi is about in the middle in terms of inequality of income distribution as measusred by the Gini coefficient. Tobacco is one of Malawi's major exports at 53%.

Tobacco industry in Malawi

We will be in country for Malawi's 46th independence day from the UK on July 6. The two official languages of Malawi are English and Chichewa.

The government is multi-party democracy with universal adult suffrange (18+). It appears to be proportional representation, my personal favorite, like in Scandinavia, although I need to do more reading on the government and politics of Malawi.

National Anthem: "Oh God Bless Our Land Malawi"

Malawian flag

Black represents the native peoples, red the blood shed in their struggle for freedom, and green the color of nature; the sun represents Malawi's economic progress since attaining independence.

Some interesting NGOs we should look up: Council for NGOs in Malawi or CONGOMA (human rights, democracy, and development); Human Rights Consultative Committee or HRCC (human rights); Malawi Law Society (human rights and law reform); Malawi Movement for the Restoration of Democracy or MMRD (acts to restore and maintain democracy); Public Affairs Committee or PAC (promotes democracy, development, peace and unity), Partners In Health, Malawi Voice (Malawian news agency)