Malawi
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]],Coordinates: 13°30′S 34°00′E / 13.500°S 34.000°E / -13.500; 34.000
Malawi (/məˈlɔːwi/, /məˈlɑːwi/ or /ˈmæləwi/; Chichewa: [maláβi] or [maláwi]), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Malawi is over 118,000 km2 (45,560 sq mi) with an estimated population of 16,777,547 (July 2013 est.). Its capital is Lilongwe, which is also Malawi's largest city; the second largest is Blantyre and the third is Mzuzu. The name Malawi comes from the Maravi, an old name of the Nyanja people that inhabit the area. The country is also nicknamed "The Warm Heart of Africa".
Malawi is among the smallest countries in Africa. Lake Malawi takes about a third of Malawi's area.
Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the ninth largest lake in the world and the third largest and second deepest lake in Africa. It is home to more species of fish than any other lake, including about 1000 species of cichlids. The Mozambique portion of the lake was officially declared a reserve by the Government of Mozambique on June 10, 2011, and in Malawi a portion of the lake is included in the Lake Malawi National Park. Lake Malawi is a meromictic lake; permanent stratification and the oxic-anoxic boundary are maintained by moderately small chemical and thermal gradients.
Geography
Lake Malawi is between 560 kilometres (350 mi) and 580 kilometres (360 mi) long, and about 75 kilometres (47 mi) wide at its widest point. The total surface area of the lake is about 29,600 square kilometres (11,400 sq mi). The lake has shorelines on western Mozambique, eastern Malawi, and southern Tanzania. The largest river flowing into it is the Ruhuhu River, and there is an outlet at its southern end, the Shire River, a tributary that flows into the very large Zambezi River in Mozambique.
Malawi (Commonwealth realm)
Malawi was a predecessor to the modern-day Republic of Malawi. It existed between 1964 and 1966. When British rule ended in 1964, by the Malawi Independence Act 1964, the Nyasaland Protectorate, formerly a constituent of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, was given independence as a Commonwealth realm with the British monarch as head of state. Malawi shared the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II, with the other Commonwealth realms. The monarch's constitutional roles were mostly delegated to the Governor-General of Malawi:
The royal succession was governed by the same rules as the succession to the British throne. Elizabeth II did not reside in or visit Malawi in the 1960s but she did visit in 1979 (22–25 July) as Head of the Commonwealth.
Hastings Banda held office as prime minister (and head of government) of Malawi during this period. Following the abolition of the monarchy, the Republic of Malawi came into existence on 6 July 1966 and Banda became the first President of Malawi.
