236 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
236 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
MALAWI
|
||
GEOGRAPHY
|
||
Total area: 118,480 km2; land area: 94,080 km2
|
||
|
||
Comparative area: slightly larger than Pennsylvania
|
||
|
||
Land boundaries: 2,881 km total; Mozambique 1,569 km, Tanzania
|
||
475 km, Zambia 837 km
|
||
|
||
Coastline: none--landlocked
|
||
|
||
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
|
||
|
||
Disputes: dispute with Tanzania over the boundary in Lake Nyasa
|
||
(Lake Malawi)
|
||
|
||
Climate: tropical; rainy season (November to May); dry season
|
||
(May to November)
|
||
|
||
Terrain: narrow elongated plateau with rolling plains, rounded
|
||
hills, some mountains
|
||
|
||
Natural resources: limestone; unexploited deposits of uranium,
|
||
coal, and bauxite
|
||
|
||
Land use: arable land 25%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
|
||
pastures 20%; forest and woodland 50%; other 5%; includes irrigated
|
||
NEGL%
|
||
|
||
Environment: deforestation
|
||
|
||
Note: landlocked
|
||
|
||
PEOPLE
|
||
Population: 9,438,462 (July 1991), growth rate 1.8% (1991);
|
||
note--900,000 Mozambican refugees in Malawi (1990 est.)
|
||
|
||
Birth rate: 52 births/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Death rate: 18 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Net migration rate: - 17 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Infant mortality rate: 136 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
|
||
|
||
Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 51 years female (1991)
|
||
|
||
Total fertility rate: 7.6 children born/woman (1991)
|
||
Nationality: noun--Malawian(s); adjective--Malawian
|
||
|
||
Ethnic divisions: Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuko, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga,
|
||
Ngoni, Ngonde, Asian, European
|
||
|
||
Religion: Protestant 55%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 20%;
|
||
traditional indigenous beliefs are also practiced
|
||
|
||
Language: English and Chichewa (official); other languages
|
||
important regionally
|
||
|
||
Literacy: 22% (male 34%, female 12%) age 15 and over can
|
||
read and write (1966)
|
||
|
||
Labor force: 428,000 wage earners; agriculture 43%, manufacturing
|
||
16%, personal services 15%, commerce 9%, construction 7%, miscellaneous
|
||
services 4%, other permanently employed 6% (1986)
|
||
|
||
Organized labor: small minority of wage earners are unionized
|
||
|
||
GOVERNMENT
|
||
Long-form name: Republic of Malawi
|
||
|
||
Type: one-party state
|
||
|
||
Capital: Lilongwe
|
||
|
||
Administrative divisions: 24 districts; Blantyre, Chikwawa,
|
||
Chiradzulu, Chitipa, Dedza, Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Lilongwe,
|
||
Machinga (Kasupe), Mangochi, Mchinji, Mulanje, Mwanza, Mzimba, Ncheu,
|
||
Nkhata Bay, Nkhota Kota, Nsanje, Ntchisi, Rumphi, Salima, Thyolo, Zomba
|
||
|
||
Independence: 6 July 1964 (from UK; formerly Nyasaland)
|
||
|
||
Constitution: 6 July 1964; republished as amended January 1974
|
||
|
||
Legal system: based on English common law and customary law;
|
||
judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court of Appeal; has
|
||
not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
|
||
|
||
National holiday: Independence Day, 6 July (1964)
|
||
|
||
Executive branch: president, Cabinet
|
||
|
||
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly
|
||
|
||
Judicial branch: High Court, Supreme Court of Appeal
|
||
|
||
Leaders:
|
||
|
||
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Dr. Hastings
|
||
Kamuzu BANDA (since 6 July 1966; sworn in as President for Life 6 July
|
||
1971)
|
||
|
||
Political parties and leaders: only party--Malawi Congress Party
|
||
(MCP), Maxwell PASHANE, administrative secretary; John TEMBO, treasurer
|
||
general; top party position of secretary general vacant since 1983
|
||
|
||
Suffrage: universal at age 21
|
||
Elections:
|
||
|
||
President--President BANDA sworn in as President for Life on
|
||
6 July 1971;
|
||
|
||
National Assembly--last held 27-28 May 1987 (next to be held
|
||
by May 1992);
|
||
results--MCP is the only party;
|
||
seats--(133 total, 112 elected) MCP 133
|
||
|
||
Communists: no Communist party
|
||
|
||
Member of: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO,
|
||
ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO
|
||
(correspondent), ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, SADCC, UN,
|
||
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
|
||
|
||
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Robert B. MBAYA; Chancery at
|
||
2408 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)
|
||
797-1007;
|
||
|
||
US--Ambassador George A. TRAIL, III; Embassy in new capital city
|
||
development area, address NA (mailing address is P. O. Box 30016,
|
||
Lilongwe); telephone 265 730-166
|
||
|
||
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green
|
||
with a radiant, rising, red sun centered in the black band; similar to
|
||
the flag of Afghanistan which is longer and has the national coat of arms
|
||
superimposed on the hoist side of the black and red bands
|
||
|
||
ECONOMY
|
||
Overview: A landlocked country, Malawi ranks among the world's
|
||
least developed with a per capita GDP of $175. The economy is
|
||
predominately agricultural and operates under a relatively free
|
||
enterprise environment, with about 90% of the population living in
|
||
rural areas. Agriculture accounts for 40% of GDP and 90% of export
|
||
revenues. After two years of weak performance, economic growth improved
|
||
significantly in 1988-90 as a result of good weather and a broadly based
|
||
economic adjustment effort by the government. The economy depends on
|
||
substantial inflows of economic assistance from the IMF, the World Bank,
|
||
and individual donor nations. The closure of traditional trade routes
|
||
through Mozambique continues to be a constraint on the economy.
|
||
|
||
GDP: $1.6 billion, per capita $175; growth rate 4.8% (1990 est.)
|
||
|
||
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11.7% (1990)
|
||
|
||
Unemployment rate: NA%
|
||
|
||
Budget: revenues $398 million; expenditures $510 million, including
|
||
capital expenditures of $154 million (FY91 est.)
|
||
|
||
Exports: $390 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
|
||
|
||
commodities--tobacco, tea, sugar, coffee, peanuts;
|
||
|
||
partners--US, UK, Zambia, South Africa, FRG
|
||
|
||
Imports: $560 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
|
||
commodities--food, petroleum, semimanufactures, consumer goods,
|
||
transportation equipment;
|
||
|
||
partners--South Africa, Japan, US, UK, Zimbabwe
|
||
|
||
External debt: $1.4 billion (December 1990 est.)
|
||
|
||
Industrial production: growth rate 4.9% (1989 est.); accounts
|
||
for about 18% of GDP (1988)
|
||
|
||
Electricity: 181,000 kW capacity; 535 million kWh produced,
|
||
60 kWh per capita (1989)
|
||
|
||
Industries: agricultural processing (tea, tobacco, sugar),
|
||
sawmilling, cement, consumer goods
|
||
|
||
Agriculture: accounts for 40% of GDP; cash crops--tobacco,
|
||
sugarcane, cotton, tea, and corn; subsistence crops--potatoes, cassava,
|
||
sorghum, pulses; livestock--cattle and goats
|
||
|
||
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $215
|
||
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
|
||
(1970-88), $2.0 billion
|
||
|
||
Currency: Malawian kwacha (plural--kwacha);
|
||
1 Malawian kwacha (MK) = 100 tambala
|
||
|
||
Exchange rates: Malawian kwacha (MK) per US$1--2.6300 (January
|
||
1991), 2.7289 (1990), 2.7595 (1989), 2.5613 (1988), 2.2087 (1987), 1.8611
|
||
(1986), 1.7191 (1985)
|
||
|
||
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
|
||
|
||
COMMUNICATIONS
|
||
Railroads: 789 km 1.067-meter gauge
|
||
|
||
Highways: 13,135 km total; 2,364 km paved; 251 km crushed stone,
|
||
gravel, or stabilized soil; 10,520 km earth and improved earth
|
||
|
||
Inland waterways: Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi); Shire River, 144 km
|
||
|
||
Ports: Chipoka, Monkey Bay, Nkhata Bay, and Nkotakota--all on Lake
|
||
Nyasa (Lake Malawi)
|
||
|
||
Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft
|
||
|
||
Airports: 48 total, 46 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways;
|
||
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 9 with
|
||
runways 1,220-2,439 m
|
||
|
||
Telecommunications: fair system of open-wire lines, radio relay
|
||
links, and radio communication stations; 36,800 telephones; stations--8
|
||
AM, 4 FM, no TV; satellite earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1
|
||
Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT
|
||
|
||
Note: a majority of exports would normally go through Mozambique
|
||
on the Beira or Nacala railroads, but now most go through South Africa
|
||
because of insurgent activity and damage to rail lines
|
||
|
||
DEFENSE FORCES
|
||
Branches: Army (includes Air Wing and Naval Detachment),
|
||
Police (includes paramilitary Mobile Force Unit), paramilitary
|
||
Malawi Young Pioneers
|
||
|
||
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,960,082; 995,864 fit for
|
||
military service
|
||
|
||
Defense expenditures: $22 million, 1.6% of GDP (1989 est.)
|
||
|
||
|