Malawi

Landscape of Malawi
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ILRI,_Stevie_Mann_-_Farm_landscape_in_central_Malawi.jpg
Author: Stevie Mann


Malawi is a small landlocked country in southeast Africa. It comprises a strip of land bordered by Tanzania to the north, Mozambique to the south, and Zambia to the west. Lake Malawi forms a natural border separating Malawi from Tanzania and Mozambique.

Malawi covers 118,484 sq km (45,747 sq mi) and has a population of 15 million people. Its capital and biggest city is Lilongwe. Its official languages are English and Chichewa.

Boys undergoing circumcision rites in Malawi
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Initiation_ritual_of_boys_in_Malawi.jpg
Author: Steve Evans


Malawi is in the Central African Time Zone, which is two hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC+2). Traffic is driven on the left, just as in the United Kingdom. The electricity is 230V/50Hz using UK plug. The phone IDD code is +265. The official currency is called the Kwacha (MWK).

Malawi is a very poor country. Its 2010 estimate nominal GDP stood at $4.778 billion, which is only $336 per capita. The per capita GDP at purchasing power parity was only $925. The country has many social problems including low life expectancy, high infant mortality, high HIV/AIDs rate, all of which have sapped the country and impacted its gross domestic product.

Canoes at Monkey Bay, Malawi
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PICT1557-wiki.jpg
Author: Stefan Kraft Lizenz


Malawi was a colony of Britain from 1891 until its independence in 1964. From then on, it was a single-party state under Hastings Banda until 1994, when he was deposed. Today it is a multi-party democracy with a president as head of state.

Planning your visit to Malawi

Visitors from the United States, Canada, most countries of the European Union, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan do not need a visa to enter Malawi. You can get to the country by flying from Johannesburg, Nairobi and Dubai to the international airport in Lilongwe.

Sapitwa Peak, Mount Mulanje, Malawi
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sapitwa1.jpg
Author: fffriendly

Major Cities in Malawi

Places of Interest in Malawi

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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