MALAWI
GEOGRAPHY: Area: 118,484 km ². Local Time: +5 h. Climate: tropical (mostly) and tropical altitude (O). Capital: Lilongwe. Cities: Blantyre (530,000), Lilongwe (480,000) (agglomeration), Mzuzu (95,800) (2010).
POPULATION: 13 million (2010); nationality: Malawian; composition: maraves 58.3% (includes Nyanja, cheua, Tonga and timbucas) lomu 18.4%, 13.2% iaos, Engone 6.7%, other 3 , 4%. Languages: chicheua, English (official). Religion: Christianity 76.8% (Catholic 24.7%, Protestant 19.6%, independents 16.8%, other 15.7%), Islam 14.8%, traditional beliefs 7.8%, other 0.4 %, no religion 0.3%. Currency: Malawian quacha.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Organizations: World Bank, the Commonwealth, IMF, WTO, UN, SADC, AU. Honorary Consulate: Tel (11) 5181-5433, fax (11) 5181-0031 - São Paulo (SP).
GOVERNMENT: Presidential republic. Div Region: 3 regions, subdivided into districts. Parties: United Democratic Front (UDF), Malawi Congress (MCP), the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Legislative branch: unicameral - National Assembly with 193 members. Constitution: 1995.
This small landlocked country to the sea, located in southeastern Africa, has 20% of the area occupied by Lake Malawi, the third longest in the continent. Mountain and the area covered by tropical forests and savannas, attracts tourists for its wildlife parks and tribal villages. Agriculture employs the majority of the workforce. Malawi depends on foreign aid, mainly from South Africa, Zimbabwe, the United States and the United Kingdom.
HISTORY
The country's name derives from its first inhabitants, the Marau, Bantu people who migrate to the region before the European conquest. The territory became a British protectorate in 1891, with the name of Nyasaland from 1907. In 1953 part of a federation with the British colonies of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The federation is dissolved in 1963, and Nyasaland became more independent, with Hastings Kamuzu Banda, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), as prime minister. The independence occurs in 1964. The country bears the name Malawi, Banda and govern in an authoritarian way, becoming president for life in 1971. Under pressure from internal and external Banda accept the holding of referendum in 1993, adopting a multiparty system. The 1994 elections are won by the United Democratic Front (UDF), and its leader, Elson Bakili Muluzi, was elected president. The new government amnesty of political prisoners and repealing the death penalty. In 1999, Muluzi is re-elected.
In 2002, Muluzi's failure to request support for a new election. The following year launched the Economic Planning minister, Bingu wa Mutharika, to succeed him. Mutharika won the election in May 2004. Even with only 49 MPs, the ruling UDF gets 99 votes (51%) to elect the president of Congress. Report 2004 shows that 7.4% of the population has the AIDS virus.
