Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and has a population of 22,224,282 (as of July 2025). Lilongwe is its capital and largest city.
The part of Africa now known as Malawi was settled around the 10th century by the Akafula, also known as the Abathwa. Later, the Bantu groups came and drove out the Akafula and formed various kingdoms such as the Maravi and Nkhamanga kingdoms, that flourished from the 16th century. The British Empire began to consolidate control of the area following the 1890 British Ultimatum against the Portuguese, who had claimed the area between Angola and Mozambique in the 1885 Pink Map. In 1891, the area was designated by the British as the British Central African Protectorate, renamed Nyasaland in 1907. In 1964, Nyasaland became independent under Prime Minister Hastings Banda and was renamed Malawi. Two years later, Banda became president by converting the country into a one-party presidential republic. Banda was declared president for life in 1971. Malawi's first few decades of independence was characterized by Banda's highly repressive dictatorship. After the introduction of a multi-party system in 1993, Banda lost the 1994 general election, and the country has continued to experience peaceful transitions of power. Malawi has a democratic, multi-party republic headed by an elected president. According to the 2024 V-Dem Democracy indices, Malawi is ranked 74th electoral democracy worldwide and 11th electoral democracy in Africa. The country maintains diplomatic relations with most countries and participates in several international organisations, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Southern African Development Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and the African Union.
Malawi is one of the world's least developed countries. Its economy is heavily based on agriculture, and it has a largely rural and growing population. The country has a low life expectancy and high infant mortality. HIV/AIDS is highly prevalent. The diverse population includes native peoples, Asians, and Europeans. The population is predominantly Christian, and the majority are Protestant.
Etymology The name Malawi means "flames" in Chichewa and Chitumbuka. Malawi was chosen by the first president of Malawi, Hastings Banda, after the country achieved its independence from Great Britain in 1964.
History
Pre-colonial history
Before the arrival of the Bantu peoples from the North around the 10th century CE, the part of Africa now known as Malawi had a small population of hunter-gatherers, known in contemporary Malawi oral tradition as Akafula, BaTwa, Akaombe, or Mwandionerakuti. The BaTwa were gradually overtaken by the agrarian Bantu peoples.
Although most of the Bantu peoples continued south, some remained and founded ethnic groups based on common ancestry.Cutter, Africa 2006, p. 142 By the 16th century, the tribes had established several kingdoms such as the Maravi Empire that reached from north of what became Nkhotakota to the Zambezi River and from Lake Malawi to the Luangwa River in what became Zambia and the Nkhamanga.
In the 17th century, with the area mostly united under one native ruler, native tribesmen began encountering, trading with and making alliances with Portuguese traders and members of the military. By the 18th century, however, the empire had broken up into areas controlled by many individual ethnic groups.Davidson, Africa in History, pp. 164–165 The Indian Ocean slave trade reached its height in the mid-19th century, when approximately 20,000 people per year were believed to have been enslaved and transported from Nkhotakota to Kilwa where they were sold.
Colonialisation (1859–1960)
Missionary and explorer David Livingstone reached Lake Malawi (then Lake Nyasa) in 1859 and identified the Shire Highlands south of the lake as an area suitable for European settlement. As the result of Livingstone's visit, several Anglican and Presbyterian missions were established in the area in the 1860s and 1870s. The African Lakes Company Limited was established in 1878 to set up a trade and transport, a small mission and trading settlement were established at Blantyre in 1876, and a British consul took up residence there in 1883. The Portuguese government was also interested in the area, so, to prevent Portuguese occupation, the British government sent Harry Johnston as consul with instructions to make treaties with local rulers beyond Portuguese jurisdiction.John G Pike, (1969). Malawi: A Political and Economic History, London, Pall Mall Press pp.77–9, 83–4.
In 1889, a British protectorate was proclaimed over the Shire Highlands, which was extended in 1891 to include the whole of present-day Malawi as the British Central Africa Protectorate.F Axelson, (1967). Portugal and the Scramble for Africa, pp. 182–3, 198–200. Johannesburg, Witwatersrand University Press. In 1907, the protectorate was renamed Nyasaland, a name it retained for the remainder of its time under British rule.Murphy, Central Africa, p. xxvii In an example of what is sometimes called the "Thin White Line" of colonial authority in Africa, the colonial government of Nyasaland was formed in 1891. The administrators were given a budget of £10,000 (1891 nominal value) per year, which was enough to employ ten European civilians, two military officers, 70 Punjabi Sikhs, and 85 Zanzibar porters. These few employees were then expected to administer and police a territory of around 94,000 square kilometres with between one and two million people.Reader, Africa, p. 579
In 1944, the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) was formed to promote local interests to the British government.Murphy, Central Africa, p. 28 In 1953, Britain linked Nyasaland with Northern and Southern Rhodesia in what was the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, often called the Central African Federation (CAF), for mainly political reasons.Murphy, Central Africa, p. li Even though the federation was semi-independent, the linking provoked opposition from African nationalists, and the NAC gained popular support. An influential opponent of the CAF was Hastings Banda, a European-trained doctor working in Ghana who was persuaded to return to Nyasaland in 1958 to assist the nationalist cause. Banda was elected president of the NAC and worked to mobilize nationalist sentiment before being jailed by colonial authorities in 1959. He was released in 1960 and was asked to help draft a new constitution for Nyasaland, with a clause granting Africans the majority in the colony's Legislative Council.
Banda era (1961–1993)
In 1961, Banda's Malawi Congress Party (MCP) gained a majority in the Legislative Council elections, and Banda became Prime Minister in 1963. The federation was dissolved in 1963, and on 6 July 1964, Nyasaland became independent from British rule and renamed itself Malawi, and that is commemorated as the nation's Independence Day, a public holiday. Under a new constitution, Malawi became a republic in 1966 with Banda as its first president. The new government formally made Malawi a one-party state with the MCP as the only legal party.
In 1971, Banda was declared president for life. For almost 30 years, Banda presided over a rigidly totalitarian regime, which ensured that Malawi did not suffer armed conflict.Cutter, Africa 2006, p. 143 Opposition parties, including the Malawi Freedom Movement of Orton Chirwa and the Socialist League of Malawi, were founded in exile.
Multi-party democracy (1993–present) Under pressure for increased political freedom, Banda agreed to a referendum in 1993, where the populace voted for a multi-party system. In late 1993, a presidential council was formed, the life presidency was abolished, and a new constitution was put into place, effectively ending the MCP's rule. In 1994 the first multi-party elections were held, and Banda was defeated by Bakili Muluzi (a former secretary general of the MCP and former Banda Cabinet minister). Re-elected in 1999, Muluzi remained president until Bingu wa Mutharika was elected in the 2004 Malawian general election. Although the political environment was described as "challenging", it was stated in 2009 that a multi-party system still existed in Malawi. Elections were held in 2009, and Mutharika was successfully re-elected, despite allegations of electoral fraud from the opposition and observers.
Mutharika was seen by some as increasingly autocratic and dismissive of human rights, and in July 2011 protests over high costs of living, devolving foreign relations, poor governance and a lack of foreign exchange reserves erupted. The protests left 18 people dead and at least 44 others suffering from gunshot wounds.
In April 2012, Mutharika died of a heart attack. Over a period of 48 hours, his death was kept secret, including an elaborate flight with the body to South Africa, where the ambulance drivers refused to move the body, saying they were not licensed to move a corpse. After the South African government threatened to reveal the information, the presidential title was taken over by Vice-President Joyce Banda (no relation to Hastings Banda).
In the 2014 Malawian general election, Banda lost the elections (coming in third) and was replaced by Peter Mutharika, the brother of ex-President Bingu wa Mutharika. In the 2019 Malawian general election Mutharika was narrowly re-elected. In February 2020 Malawi Constitutional Court overturned the result because of irregularities and widespread fraud. In May 2020 Malawi Supreme Court upheld the decision and announced a new election was to be held on 2 July of the same year. This was the first time an election in the country was legally challenged. Opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera won the 2020 Malawian presidential election. Mutharika returned to power in the 2025 Malawian general election.
Government and politics
Malawi is a unitary presidential republic under the leadership of President Peter Mutharika since 2025. The current constitution was put into place on 18 May 1995. The branches of the government consist of executive, legislative, and judicial. The executive includes a president who is both head of state and head of government, first and second vice presidents, and the Cabinet of Malawi. The president and vice president are elected together every five years. A second vice president may be appointed by the president if so chosen, although they must be from a different party. The president appoints the members of the Cabinet, and they can be from inside or outside of the legislature.
The legislative branch consists of a unicameral National Assembly of 193 members who are elected every five years, and although the Malawian constitution provides for a Senate of 80 seats, one does not exist in practice. If created, the Senate would provide representation for traditional leaders and a variety of geographic districts, as well as special interest groups, including the disabled, youth, and women. Since 2025, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is the ruling party led by Peter Mutharika, while the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is the main opposition party. Suffrage is universal at 18 years of age, and the central government budget for 2021/2022 is $2.4 billion from $2.8 billion for the 2020/2021 financial year.