Malawi Education

Education
In the late 1980s about 1,066,600 pupils annually attended some 2660 primary schools staffed by about 16,900 teachers. About 26,400 students attended some 80 secondary schools, with about 1260 teachers, and approximately 3600 students attended public vocational and teacher-training schools. The University of Malawi at Zomba (1964) and its affiliated institutions had about 2300 students in the late 1980s.

Malawi, republic in southeastern Africa, formerly the British protectorate of Nyasaland, bounded on the north by Tanzania, on the east by Lake Malawi (also known as Lake Nyasa), on the southeast and south by Mozambique, and on the west by Zambia. Malawi extends about 835 km (about 520 mi) north to south and varies in width from about 80 to 160 km (about 50 to 100 mi). The total area of the country is 118,484 sq km (45,747 sq mi), nearly one-fourth of which is water surface, mainly Lake Malawi and three smaller lakes.

Land and Resources
Part of the Rift Valley runs through Malawi from north to south. In this deep trough lies Lake Malawi, the third largest lake in Africa. The Shire River flows from the southern end of the lake to the Zambezi River in Mozambique. To the east and west of the Rift Valley the land rises to form high plateaus, generally about 915 to 1220 m (about 3000 to 4000 ft) in elevation but reaching about 2440 m (about 8000 ft) in the Nyika uplands in the north. South of Lake Malawi lie the Shire Highlands, which rise to more than 2740 m (more than 9000 ft).

Climate
The climate in Malawi varies with the elevation. In the low-lying Shire Valley it is hot and humid, with temperatures averaging 23.3° to 25.6° C (74° to 78° F). In the highlands the climate is more equable. The rainy season lasts from November to April. Annual rainfall averages about 1780 mm (about 70 in) in the highlands and about 890 mm (about 35 in) in the lowlands.

Natural Resources
The resources of Malawi are almost entirely agricultural. Mineral wealth is slight, although some marble and limestone are produced. Tung oil, a waterproofing agent, is a major forestry product. A thin forest of small trees covers large parts of the country, and some timber trees grow in the damp ravines of the mountains and along the riverbanks. Baobab, acacia, and conifers grow in the highlands.
Most of the typical African varieties of animal life are found in Malawi. These include the elephant, rhinoceros, giraffe, zebra, monkey, and several varieties of antelope. The hippopotamus inhabits the lake shores. Snakes and other reptiles, birds, and insects are plentiful, and the rivers and lakes abound in fish.

Population
The people of Malawi are more than 99 percent black African; the principal ethnic groups include the Chewa, Lomwe, Nyanja, and Yao. The rest of the inhabitants, principally settlers of British and Indian origin, form less than one-half of 1 percent of the population. Approximately 89 percent of the people live in rural villages.

Population Characteristics
Malawi has one of the densest populations in Africa (83 persons per sq km/214 per sq mi). The population of Malawi (1993 estimate) was 9,831,935, not including nearly 800,000 refugees, mostly from Mozambique.

Political Divisions and Principal Cities
Malawi is divided into 3 regions and 24 districts. The largest city is Blantyre (population, 1985 estimate, 355,200). The capital, since 1975, is Lilongwe (186,800).

Religion and Language
About one-fifth of the inhabitants of Malawi practice traditional religions. Approximately 60 percent of the people are Christian, and some 15 percent are Muslim. English is Malawi's official language, and is the primary language of instruction in the schools. Chichewa is the national language, and a number of other Bantu languages are widely spoken.

Economy
Malawi is primarily an agricultural country. The nation has traditionally been self-sufficient in food, but malnutrition among children was a serious problem as the 1990s began. The principal crops are corn, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables, and peanuts. Major exports include tobacco, tea, peanuts, and sugar. The country is a major producer of tung oil, used in the paint and varnish industries. A growing fishing industry, producing for domestic needs, is centered at Nkhotakota on the western shore of Lake Malawi. In the late 1980s the average annual catch was about 88,600 metric tons. The annual national budget for the late 1980s included domestic revenue of about $246 million and current expenditure of about $390 million. Many Malawians work as migratory laborers in South Africa and other countries.

Manufacturing
Major manufactures, principally for domestic consumption, include processed food, alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, cement, textiles, metal goods, and footwear.

Energy
More than 95 percent of Malawi's electricity is produced by hydroelectric facilities. In the late 1980s Malawi had an installed electricity generating capacity of about 185,000 kilowatts, and annual production was some 578 million kilowatt-hours.

Currency and Foreign Trade
The monetary system of Malawi was decimalized in 1971. The unit of currency is the kwacha, consisting of 100 tambala (4.46 kwacha equal U.S.$1; 1993). Currency is issued by the Reserve Bank of Malawi, established in 1965.
In the late 1980s the annual value of exports was about $297 million. Imports, chiefly manufactured goods, fertilizers, machinery, motor vehicles, textiles, and petroleum, were valued at about $253 million. Malawi's principal trading partners are Great Britain, South Africa, the United States, Germany, Japan, Zimbabwe, and the Netherlands.

Transportation and Communications
With the completion of a line from Salima to Mchinji on the Zambian border in 1980, Malawi claimed 789 km (490 mi) of operated railroad track. Total road mileage in the mid-1980s was about 12,215 km (7590 mi), of which 21 percent was paved. Passenger and freight traffic on Lake Malawi is extensive. Air Malawi provides domestic as well as international service.
In the late 1980s Malawi had one daily newspaper, the Daily Times, published in Blantyre; it had a circulation of about 13,500. The government operates the postal and telegraph service. Radio transmitters are located in Blantyre and Lilongwe. It was estimated that the country had more than 46,000 telephones and about 1.9 million radios in the late 1980s.

Government
Under the constitution of 1966, as amended, Malawi is a republic with an elected president, who is both the head of government and the head of state. Cabinet ministers are responsible to the president.

Legislature
The parliament of Malawi is the unicameral National Assembly, made up of 141 members popularly elected to terms of up to five years, with additional members nominated by the president. Until May 1994, when Malawi held its first multiparty elections, all members belonged to the Malawi Congress party (MCP), the only recognized political party in the nation.

Judiciary and Local Government
The judicial system comprises a supreme court of appeal, a high court, magistrates' courts, and local courts. The high court has unlimited jurisdiction in all civil and criminal cases and hears appeals from lower courts. Popularly elected councils in Malawi's 24 districts and 8 municipalities are responsible for all government services within their areas.

Defense
In the late 1980s the total strength of Malawi's regular armed forces was about 7250. In addition, the country had a national police force of some 500 members.

History
Some evidence of Stone Age and later Iron Age settlements has been found around Lake Malawi. Bantu peoples moved into the territory in the 1st millennium AD. By the 16th century a Malawi kingdom, from which the present name of the country is derived, had a prospering trade with the coastal areas of Mozambique.
Jesuit missionaries from Portugal visited the territory near Lake Malawi as early as the 17th century, but the lake probably was not known to Europeans until the Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone reached its shores in 1859. European involvement began in 1875 and 1876, when Scottish church missions were established; a British consul was stationed in the country in 1883. Subsequent warfare with Arab slave traders and fear of Portuguese expansion from Mozambique led to a mission by the British explorer and colonial official Harry Johnston, who negotiated treaties with the indigenous rulers that in 1891 resulted in a formal declaration of a British protectorate. In 1907 the area was officially designated the Nyasaland Protectorate. During World War I (1914-1918), John Chilembwe, an African preacher incensed by the forced participation of his countrymen in the British war effort, staged a short, bloody uprising around Blantyre, a forerunner of later nationalist stirrings.
After World War II (1939-1945), nationalist movements gained strength. From 1953 the protectorate was joined for ten years in a federation with Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia (now Zambia and Zimbabwe), but it was one nobody wanted but the British. Following its dissolution in 1963, Nyasaland achieved internal self-government, with Hastings Kamuzu Banda, leader of the MCP, as the first prime minister. The protectorate gained independence on July 6, 1964, under its new name, Malawi. It was declared a republic on July 6, 1966, and Prime Minister Banda was elected president by the national assembly.
Under the Banda regime Malawi embarked on a vigorous program of economic development. In international affairs Banda held to a firm policy of neutrality in the dispute between Great Britain and the government of (Southern) Rhodesia. Placing the interests of Malawi first, he maintained extensive trade relations with the rebellious white minority government of Rhodesia. He also continued friendly relations with Mozambique (until 1975 governed by Portugal) and in 1967 signed a trade pact with South Africa.
In November 1970 the constitution of Malawi was amended to make Banda president for life, effective the following year. Maintaining good relations with white-dominated South Africa, he became the first black African head of state to visit that country. His policy of cordiality toward South Africa brought serious criticism by the leaders of other black African countries, and the influence Banda could exert on continental affairs was minimal.
The first parliamentary elections since independence were held in 1978. Although only the MCP participated, a majority of the incumbent members were defeated; participation in the 1983, 1987, and 1992 elections was also restricted to the MCP. Malawi's economy performed sluggishly in the early 1990s, burdened by foreign debt and by an influx of Mozambican refugees. Meanwhile, Banda faced rising domestic discontent and international criticism of his human rights record. In May 1994, he lost the presidency to Bakili Muluzi, a prominent businessperson and former cabinet member, in Malawi's first multiparty election.