 |
Sponsored LinksTravel reviews & great deals at TripAdvisor: Land, People, and GovernmentMalawi is long and narrow, and about 20% of its total area is made up of Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi). Several rivers flow into Lake Nyasa from the west, and the Shire River (a tributary of the Zambezi) drains the lake in the south. Both the lake and the Shire lie within the Great Rift Valley. Much of the rest of the country is made up of a plateau that averages 2,500 to 4,500 ft (762–1,372 m) in height, but reaches elevations of c.8,000 ft (2,440 m) in the north and almost 10,000 ft (3,050 m) in the south. Malawi is divided into 24 administrative districts. In addition to the capital and Blantyre, other cities include Mzuzu and Zomba. Almost all of the country's inhabitants are Bantu-speakers and about 90% are rural. The Tumbuka, Ngoni, and Tonga (in the north) and the Chewa, Yao, Nguru, and Nyanja (in the center and south) are the main subgroups. About 75% of Malawi is Christian (mostly Presbyterian and Roman Catholic), and roughly 20% is Muslim; the rest follow traditional beliefs. English and Chichewa are official languages; other languages have regional importance. Malawi is a multiparty democracy governed under the constitution of 1995. The president, who is both chief of state and head of government, is popularly elected for a five-year term. The legislature consists of a 177-seat national assembly whose members are also elected by popular vote for five-year terms. Sections in this article: The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
|
|
