Malawi,[a][9] officially the Republic of Malawi,[b] is a landlocked country in Southeastern 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 118,484 km2 (45,747 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 21,240,689 (as of 2024).[10] Lilongwe is its capital and largest city, while the next three largest cities are Blantyre, Mzuzu, and Zomba, the former capital. The part of Africa 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, among others that flourished from the 16th century.[11][12] In 1891, the area was colonised by the British as the British Central African Protectorate, and it was renamed Nyasaland in 1907. In 1964, Nyasaland became an independent country as a Commonwealth realm 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. Independence was characterized by Banda's highly repressive dictatorship.[13][14][15] After the introduction of a multiparty system in 1993, Banda lost the 1994 general election. Today, 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.[16] The country maintains positive diplomatic relations with most countries, and participates in several international organisations, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the African Union (AU). Malawi is one of the world's least-developed countries. The economy is heavily based on agriculture, and it has a largely rural and growing population. Key indicators of progress in the economy, education, and healthcare were seen in 2007 and 2008. Malawi has a low life expectancy and high infant mortality. HIV/AIDS is highly prevalent, which both reduces the labour force and requires increased government expenditures. The country has a diverse population that includes native peoples, Asians, and Europeans. Several languages are spoken. The population is predominantly Christian and the majority are Protestant. Although in the past there was a periodic regional conflict fuelled in part by ethnic divisions, by 2008 this internal conflict had considerably diminished, and the idea of identifying with one's Malawian nationality had reemerged. Etymology[edit] The name Malawi means "flames" in Chichewa and Chitumbuka. Malawi was chosen by the first president of Malawi, Kamuzu Banda, after the country achieved its independence from Great Britain in 1964.[17] History[edit] Main article: History of Malawi Pre-colonial history[edit] Chongoni Rock Art Area The part of Africa known as Malawi had a very small population of hunter-gatherers before waves of Bantu peoples began emigrating from the north around the 10th century AD.[18] Although most of the Bantu peoples continued south, some remained and founded ethnic groups based on common ancestry.[19] By 1500, the tribes had established several kingdoms such as the Maravi 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.[20] Soon after 1600, 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 1700, however, the empire had broken up into areas controlled by many individual ethnic groups.[21] The Indian Ocean slave trade reached its height in the mid-1800s, when approximately 20,000 people per year were believed to have been enslaved and transported from Nkhotakota to Kilwa where they were sold.[22] Colonialisation (1859–1960)[edit] Main article: Political history of Malawi 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 concern, 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 British consul with instructions to make treaties with local rulers beyond Portuguese jurisdiction.[23] 1897 British Central Africa stamp issued by the United Kingdom 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.[24] In 1907, the protectorate was renamed Nyasaland, a name it retained for the remainder of its time under British rule.[25] 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, seventy Punjabi Sikhs and eighty-five 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.[26] The same year, slavery came to its complete cessation. In 1944, the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) was formed by the Africans of Nyasaland to promote local interests to the British government.[27] 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),[25] for mainly political reasons.[28] 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 asked to help draft a new constitution for Nyasaland, with a clause granting Africans the majority in the colony's Legislative Council.[19] Hastings Kamuzu Banda era (1961–1993)[edit] Malawi's first Prime Minister and later the first