Tag Archives: Study in Malawi

Deeply wedged in the territory of Mozambique, Malawi corresponds to the former British protectorate of Nyasaland, or Niassa, from the name of Lake Niassa (today Malawi) on which E. XIV or XV formed N of the Zambezi River. With no access to the sea, Malawi is perhaps the most artificial creation of British colonialism in the connection zone between the English territories of East Africa and the dominions of southern Africa. The country, although animated by a lively Africanist spirit, found itself, once it acquired independence, to clash with the harsh reality of being a state of limited size and limited economic possibilities, clearly disadvantaged in terms of geographical position. According to COUNTRYAAH, Malawi is a nation in Eastern Africa, the capital city of which is Lilongwe. The latest population of Malawi is 19,129,963. REMZFAMILY: Lists and descriptions of main religions and beliefs in Malawi, including religion demographics and statistics on Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc.
GEOGRAPHY
The territory of Malawi – stretched in the NS direction parallel to Lake Malawi or Niassa – rests on an archaeozoic base of granites, gneisses and crystalline schists, which crops out in large areas but which is sometimes obliterated by sedimentary deposits of various periods, from the Mesozoic onwards. The most important geomorphological element of the country is given by the Great Rift Valley, whose extreme southern portion is occupied precisely by Lake Malawi. Eminently mountainous, the country occupies the eastern section of the wide ridge that separates the Malawi catchment basin from those of the Zambezi River and its tributary Luangwa; to the S, however, where it wedges deeply into Mozambique, Malawi hinges on the valley of the Shire river, an emissary of Malawi and a tributary of the Zambezi river: through this valley, which has its outlet towards the coast of Mozambique, Malawi tends geographically to southern Africa. The territory descends to the western shore of Lake Malawi with irregular slopes, steeper to the N, gentler in the center, where wide valleys follow one another, such as that of the river Bua; on the top of the ridge some Horst granite rocks reach considerable heights (Mount Vitumbi, 2527 m; Sierra Domue, 2259 m). The southern section, on the other hand, presents mainly tabular surfaces, among which the Mlanje mountain group (2750 m) emerges imposingly, consisting of powerful intrusive formations. § The most striking hydrographic element is undoubtedly the tectonic lake Malawi (30,800 km²); 550 km long, 25 to 35 km wide, it has generally high and steep coasts to the N, lower to the S and often bordered by Cenozoic sediments and recent floods. Its tributaries are numerous, such as the Lufira, the Rukuru, the South Rukuru, the Dwangwa, the Lilongwe and especially the Bua, all however with a rather short and steep course and an irregular regime. More important is the Shire (600 km), which connects Lake Malawi with the Zambezi; it is navigable however only in the lower part, Nsanje (formerly Port Herald), while in the upper one, where it forms the small lake Malombe, is interrupted by numerous waterfalls, including the well-known ones of Murchison. § The climate is tropical with two distinct seasons, a cool and rainy one from December to April, and a hot and dry one from September to November; the climatic excesses, however, are mitigated by the altitude and the presence of the great expanse of the lake. Precipitation is quite abundant with an average of 800-1000 mm per year but with significant variations due to the very contrasting morphology of the territory, more or less exposed to the humid winds that blow from the SE: so the average in Zomba is 1400 mm per year and on the slopes of Mlanje exceed 1600 mm; the Shire valley is particularly humid and rather unhealthy, while better conditions are found on the heights, especially in the south.