MW is the abbreviation for Malawi, the 98th largest country in the world. Officially the Republic of Malawi, Malawi is a country located in East Africa, bordering 3 countries – Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. Lilongwe is the capital city of Malawi. Major cities include Lilongwe (population: 646,739), Blantyre (population: 584,866), Mzuzu (population: 175,334), Zomba (population: 80,921), Kasungu (population: 42,544), Mangochi (population: 40,225), Karonga (population: 34,196), Salima (population: 30,041), Nkhotakota (population: 24,854), and Liwonde (population: 22,458).
Country Profile
- Capital: Lilongwe
- Language: English, Chichewa
- Area: 118,484 km2
- Population: 18,091,564
- Currency: Kwacha (D) (MWK)
- Time zone: UTC+2
- Calling code: 265
- ISO 2-Letter Abbreviation: MW
- UN 3-Letter Abbreviation: MWI
- Internet TLD: .mw
- State Government Website: http://malawi.gov.mw
List of Malawi Acronyms
The most commonly used abbreviations about Malawi are MW which stands for Malawi and MWK which means Kwacha (Malawi currency). In the following table, you can see all acronyms related to Malawi, including abbreviations for airport, city, school, port, government, and etc.
Geography
Malawi is an inland state in the southeast of Africa. Most of the land area is 1000-1500 meters above sea level and consists of plateaus and mountains. The East African Rift Valley, which extends all the way from Ethiopia in the north, cuts through the country from north to south. Here is Lake Malawi, which makes up 20 percent of the land area and is the third largest lake in Africa. The country has a tropical, warm climate. Monsoons provide rainy season in summer, from November to April. Floods and droughts therefore often affect agriculture. At regular intervals, the country is also hit by tropical storms, coming in from the ocean to the east and causing enormous destruction and flooding.
The rich fish stocks in Lake Malawi are threatened by pollution, overfishing and declining water levels. It has also recently opened for oil and gas extraction in the lake. Another major environmental challenge is deforestation, which intensifies flooding during the rainy season.
History
In the 19th century, Arab traders conducted an extensive slave trade of Malawians. In 1859 came the Scottish explorer and missionary David Livingstone who wanted to end slavery. His arrival was followed by British missionaries, and in 1891 Malawi became a British colony. The British called the country Nyasaland, the sea country, but when the country became independent in 1964 it was given the name Malawi.
After independence, Malawi became a one-party state with Hastings Banda as president. The band’s conservative policies met with great resistance. In 1971, he was proclaimed president for life. With this, the protests increased in size, and in 1992, the Malaysians voted whether they wanted a multi-party system or continue with the one-party system. With a clear majority for democracy and a multi-party government in the referendum, free elections were held two years later.
Society and politics
Under the 1995 Constitution, the unitary state of Malawi is a republic, where the president is elected for a term of five years and can be re-elected once. The president is both head of government and head of state, and holds a powerful position. The members of the National Assembly are elected for five years. Political parties are strongly linked to different parts of the country and thus to different ethnic groups.
Free elections make Malawi a relatively democratic country. At the same time, the politics in Malawi have been characterized by serious and major corruption scandals that threaten democracy. The judiciary is to some extent politically governed, and human rights are weak. Among other things, discrimination and violence against women is very problematic, and the police have been widely criticized for torturing prisoners. Population growth is among the highest in the world.
Economics and Commerce
Malawi is underdeveloped financially, and aid accounts for over 40 percent of the country’s revenue. This makes Malawi extremely dependent on donors and must largely adapt to their requirements. Corruption and high prevalence of HIV/AIDS create major challenges for Malawi’s economy.
Malawi has a lot of arable land, and in recent years the country has focused on a comprehensive agricultural policy, but many people still lack safe access to food. Tobacco accounts for more than half of the country’s export revenue, and the country’s economy is therefore very vulnerable to price fluctuations. Other export goods are sugar, tea and coffee.
The fish stocks in Lake Malawi make fishing a very important sector. However, fishing is vulnerable to climate change, loss of labor and price fluctuations on export goods.
In the spring of 2018, Malawi was one of 44 African countries that signed a new and comprehensive Free Trade Area (CFTA) free trade agreement. The agreement allows most of Africa, from Egypt to South Africa, to trade with each other with less customs duties.
View this article in other languages:
Deutsch – Français – 繁體中文
