:Madagascar Defense Forces
Branches:
Popular Armed Forces (including Intervention Forces, Development Forces,
Aeronaval Forces - including Navy and Air Force), Gendarmerie, Presidential
Security Regiment
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, 2,730,713; 1,625,335 fit for military service; 114,687 reach
military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $37 million, 2.2% of GDP (1989 est.)
:Malawi Geography
Total area:
118,480 km2
Land area:
94,080 km2
Comparative area:
slightly larger than Pennsylvania
Land boundaries:
2,881 km; 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
:Malawi People
Population:
9,605,342 (July 1992), growth rate 1.8% (1992); note - 900,000 Mozambican
refugees in Malawi (1990 est.)
Birth rate:
52 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
17 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
-17 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
134 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
48 years male, 51 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
7.6 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Malawian(s); adjective - Malawian
Ethnic divisions:
Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuko, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde, Asian,
European
Religions:
Protestant 55%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 20%; traditional indigenous
beliefs are also practiced
Languages:
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
:Malawi 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, Ntcheu, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, 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), Wadson DELEZA, 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
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 Michael T. F. PISTOR; Embassy in new capital city development
area, address NA (mailing address is P. O. Box 30016, Lilongwe); telephone
[265] 730-166; FAX [265] 732-282
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
:Malawi Economy
Overview:
Landlocked Malawi ranks among the world's least developed countries. The
economy is predominately agricultural, 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 1988-91 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.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $1.9 billion, per capita $200; growth rate 4.2%
(1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
9% (1991 est.)
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, Germany
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:
$1.8 billion (December 1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 4.0% (1990 est.); accounts for about 18% of GDP (1988)
Electricity:
185,000 kW capacity; 550 million kWh produced, 60 kWh per capita (1991)
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 (1970-89), $2,150 million
Currency:
Malawian kwacha (plural - kwacha); 1 Malawian kwacha (MK) = 100 tambala
Exchange rates:
Malawian kwacha (MK) per US$1 - 2.7200 (January 1992), 2.8033 (1991), 2.7289
(1990), 2.7595 (1989), 2.5613 (1988), 2.2087 (1987)
Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March