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Malawi a long and narrow country lies along the Rift Valley. The Rift Valley runs from the Horn of Africa to the southern tip of the African Continent. A landlocked country, Malawi borders Zambia on the north-west, Tanzania on the north-east and Mozambique on the south-east and south-west. Malawi occupies a total area of 118,480 sq. km and a fifth of this area constitutes the country's fresh water lake, Lake Malawi. The climate of Malawi has two seasons, the hot and rainy season (November to May) and the mostly cool and dry season (June to October). The terrain in Malawi is varied with plateaux, plains, hills and mountains.
Malawi has a population of close to 11 million. Persons under the age of 14 constitute about 44% while persons between the ages of 15-64 comprise about 53%. Persons above 64 constitute about 3%. HIV/AIDS is a major issue that the people of Malawi have to contend with. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is definitely having a huge impact on Malawi's population trends. However the agencies charged with dealing with HIV/AIDS work in an environment that is diffwhere there are difficulties in deterining what the real AIDS/HIV situation actually is. Estimates indicate that about 15% of the population are infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. The average life expectancy is put at 39 years. Malawi has a number of ethnic groups that include Chewa, Yao, Tumbuka, Tonga, Lomwe, Sena, Ngoni, Asian and European.
The origins of the modern state of Malawi are traced to 1891 when Britain formally established the Nyasaland Districts Protectorate which covered parts of the area of what is presently known as southern Malawi. The constitution of a formal state was a piecemeal process. In 1902 the Protectorate was renamed the British Central Africa Protectorate. British, and at this stage colonial, control extended to all the territory of present day Malawi. In 1907 the name of the Protectorate was changed to Nyasaland. Nyasaland remained a British Protectorate until 1964. The Protectorate Government was administered by British civil servants under the control of a Governor. The indigenous people of Malawi did not participate in the running of the affairs of the Government. A limited representation of the black people of Nyasaland in the Legislative Council was achieved in 1955 and participation in the Executive Council was only made possible in 1962.
Malawi got her independence on 6th July 1964 under the stewardship of the Malawi Congress Party, the dominant political party at the time. On 6 July 1966 Malawi became a Republic. Under the 1966 Republican Constitution Malawi became a one party state. The head of state and head of government, Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda, was made a life president in 1971. Under the Presidency of Dr Banda, Malawi became an autocratic state. The Legislature and the Judiciary lost their independence while human rights were circumscribed. In 1993 in a referendum the people of Malawi voted for a multiparty political system. In 1994, Banda lost the presidential election. A new Constitution adopted in 1995 provides for a tolerant political dispensation. Malawi has three major political parties. The United Democratic Front (UDF) is dominant in the southern region of Malawi. The Malawi Congress party (MCP) is the leading party of the central region of Malawi. The Alliance for Democracy is the main party of the northern region of Malawi. The present Government of Malawi constitutes the UDF (dominant) and the AFORD under Presidency of Bakili Muluzi. Under Dr Banda's rule the structures of civil society were dismantled, co-opted and made subservient to the Malawi Congress party machinery. Malawi's present political environment has allowed for the development of associational life.
Malawi is characterised as a least developed country (LDC). Malawi has participated in the structural adjustment programmes but the people of Malawi do not appear to have benefited in any tangible way. However Malawi has been earmarked for relief as a Heavily Indebted Poor Country. Since the colonial period Malawi is economically dependent on agriculture for employment, export revenues and development strategy. In recent times Malawi has become dependent on the international financial institutions and donor countries for the acquisition of revenues. Employment and livelihood prospects of the majority of the people of Malawi are very poor. Agriculture commodity exports continue to experience decreasing terms of trade. Therefore the capacity of the agriculture industry as an employer has deteriorated. Prior to 1993 development strategies emphasised the creation of service and production industries as well as structural investment. Social investment was always a distant third. Education, health and employment as areas of policy are in a very poor state. The challenge facing the Malawi Government is to strike a balance between social investment and investment aimed at creating an environment for private enterprise.