Geography

Malawi is situated in south-eastern Africa. It has the Great Rift Valley running through the country from north to south. In this deep trough lies Lake Malawi (also called Lake Nyasa or the Calendar Lake), the third-largest lake in Africa (365 miles long and 52 miles wide), making about 20% of Malawi's area.

The Shire River flows from the south end of the lake and joins the Zambezi River 400 km (250 mi) farther south in Mozambique. East and west of the Rift Valley are high plateaus, generally between 900 and 1,200 m (3,000-4,000 ft) above sea level. The Nyika Uplands rise as high as 2,600 m (8,500 ft) in the north; south of the lake lie the Shire Highlands, with an elevation of 600-1,600 m (2,000-5,000 ft), rising to Mts. Zomba and Mulanje, 2,130 and 3,048 m (7,000 and 10,000 ft). In the extreme south, the elevation is only 60-90 m (200-300 ft) above sea level.

Malawi is one of Sub-Saharan Africa's most densely populated countries. Lilongwe, Malawi's capital since 1971, has a population which exceeds 400,000. Blantyre remains Malawi's major commercial centre and largest city, having grown from an estimated 109,000 inhabitants in 1966 to nearly 500,000 in 1998.