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General Information
Area: 118,484 sq km (45,747 sq miles).
Population: 9,933,868 (1998).
Population density: 83.8 per sq km.
Capital: Lilongwe. Population: 440,471 including suburbs (1998). Blantyre, with a population of 502,053 (2000), is the largest city in the country.
GEOGRAPHY: Malawi shares borders to the north and northeast with Tanzania, to the south, east and southwest with Mozambique and to the west with Zambia. Lake Malawi, the third largest lake in Africa, is the dominant feature of the country, forming the eastern boundary with Tanzania and Mozambique. The scenery varies in the country’s three regions. The Northern Region is mountainous, with the highest peaks reaching over 3000m (9843ft), and features the rolling Nyika Plateau, rugged escarpments, valleys and the thickly forested slopes of the Viphya Plateau. The Central Region is mainly a plateau, over 1000m (3300ft) high, with fine upland scenery. This is the country’s main agricultural area. The Southern Region is mostly low-lying except for the 2100m-high (6890ft) Zomba Plateau south of Lake Malawi and the huge, isolated Mulanje Massif (3000m/10,000ft) in the southeast. The variety of landscape and the wildlife it supports make this relatively unspoilt country particularly attractive to visitors.
Government: Republic since 1966. Gained independence from the UK in 1964. Head of State and Government: President Bakili Muluzi since 1994.
Language: The national language is the widely spoken Chichewa but the official language, and that of the business community, is English.
Religion: Eighty per cent are Christian, 13 per cent Muslim, and the remaining seven per cent follow traditional beliefs and there is a small Hindu minority.
Time: GMT + 2.
Electricity: 220/240 volts AC, 50Hz. The standard plug is square three-pin.
Communications:
Telephone
IDD is available. Country code: 265 (no area codes). Outgoing international code: 101. The digit 1 was added to the beginning of each land telephone number in 2002 and the number of landlines has doubled in the past three years.
Mobile telephone
GSM 900 network. The digits 8 and 9 are added to the beginning of each mobile telephone for the two providers respectively. Network providers include CelTel Limited (website: www.msi-cellular.com) and Callpoint 900. Roaming agreements currently exist with Vodafone.
Fax
There are facilities for travellers in the main towns, including those in hotel business centres.
Internet
ISPs include MalawiNet (website: www.malawi.net). Services are available in business centres in hotels, and there are a few Internet cafes.
Telegram
Public facilities for sending telegrams exist at the main post offices.
Post
Letters take about seven to ten days to reach Europe by airmail. Post offices are generally open Mon-Fri 0730-1200 and 1300-1700. Post offices in some of the larger towns may be open Sun 0900-1000, but only to sell stamps or to accept telegrams.
Press
There are two daily English-language newspapers, The Daily Times and The Nation. The Malawi News and The Weekend Nation are published weekly, and a number of other newspapers are published periodically.
BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change.
BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice):
Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov):
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
Terms and Conditions apply.
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