Malawi is a small land-locked country in Central Africa. It was formerly part of the Federation of Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland; Malawi being the new name for Nyasaland. This country was discovered for the western world in the 1850’s by David Livingstone on one of his journeys into the interior and he had a subsequent influence on that country and its inhabitants. Malawi is approximately the size of England with 20% of its area taken up with a freshwater lake (Lake Malawi). The lake is approximately 365miles long by 52miles wide.

The population of the country is approximately 11 million, 85% of which live in rural scattered villages. The main concentration of the population is to the south of the country around the city of Blantyre. Blantyre is the largest city in Malawi and is the leading industrial and commercial centre. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa and has a very high infant mortality rate; 1 in 4 babies not reaching their 5th birthday. The bulk of the population is badly nourished,

...having a daily intake of 1800 calories at most, whereas they need 2300 calories and they tend to be 4"-5" shorter than their counterparts across the border.

More than 50% of the country is nominally Christian with a substantial minority following of Muslims. The Islamic influence in the country is growing due to the influence of its current president who is a Muslim. There is a policy to build a Mosque every 5 kilometers. Whether Christian or Muslim, most of the inhabitants practise traditional animistic religions. Chichewa is the main language spoken in Malawi with English as the commercial language. The Chewa are the largest ethnic group and are decended from the Maravi-a Bantu who entered into the region some 600 years ago.

Of all the population 60% are under the age of 21 years. AIDS is a big killer in Malawi and seven young people die of AIDS every minute, and currently 300 people contract HIV/AIDS daily in Malawi. Like many parts of southern Africa, Malawi was greatly affected by the drought that lasted until 1995 and also the Mozambique conflict, this country being its neighbour to the east and the south. Zambia being its neighbour on the west and Tanzania being its northern neighbour. Malawi was granted independence from Britain in 1964 and until 1994 was ruled by the regime of Dr. Hastings Banda. The country came under democratic government in May 1994 and the present President is Dr. Bakali Muluzi