<text><span class="style42"></span><span class="style12">MALAWI</span><span class="style14"></span><span class="style42">Official name: </span><span class="style13">The Republic of Malawi</span><span class="style42">Member of: </span><span class="style13">UN, Commonwealth, OAU</span><span class="style42">Area: </span><span class="style13">118484 km2 (45747 sq mi)</span><span class="style42">Population: </span><span class="style13">10580000 (1993 est)</span><span class="style42">Capital: </span><span class="style13">Lilongwe 234000 (1987 census)</span><span class="style42">Other major cities: </span><span class="style13">Blantyre 331000, Mzuzu 44000 (1987 census)</span><span class="style42">Languages: </span><span class="style13">English and Chichewa (over 50%) ΓÇô both official</span><span class="style42">Religions: </span><span class="style13">various Protestant Churches (34%; mainly Presbyterian and Anglican), Roman Catholic (28%), animist (20%), Sunni Islam (16%)</span><span class="style42">GOVERNMENT</span><span class="style13">An executive President ΓÇô who appoints a Cabinet ΓÇô and the 177-member National Assembly are elected for five years.</span><span class="style42">GEOGRAPHY</span><span class="style13">Plateau cover the north and center. The Rift Valley contains Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) and the Shire Valley. The Shire Highlands on the Mozambique border rise to Mount Sapitawa at 3002 m (9849 ft). </span><span class="style42">Climate: </span><span class="style13">Malawi has an equatorial climate with heavy rainfall from November to April.</span><span class="style42">ECONOMY</span><span class="style13">Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing most of MalawiΓÇÖs exports. Tobacco, tea and sugar cane are the main crops. Malawi is one of the worldΓÇÖs poorest nations. </span><span class="style42">Currency: </span><span class="style13">Kwacha.</span><span class="style42">HISTORY</span><span class="style13">David Livingstone and other British missionaries became active in the area from the 1860s. A British protectorate, later called Nyasaland, was declared in 1891. In 1915 the Rev. John Chilembwe led a violent rising in the fertile south, where Africans had lost much land to white settlers. Federation with the white-dominated Central African Federation (1953ΓÇô63) was resented. The nationalist leader ΓÇô later President ΓÇô Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda (c. 1902ΓÇô ) helped to break the Federation. From independence as Malawi in 1964 until 1994, Banda provided strong rule and ΓÇô despite criticism ΓÇô maintained close relations with South Africa. The one-party state, established in 1966, was abandoned after pressure for political reforms grew in 1992ΓÇô93. Banda was defeated in multi-party elections in 1994.</span></text>