Malawi lies landlocked in southeast Africa, with Lake Malawi taking up about a fifth of the landscape. Independent from Britain since 1964, it endured the one-party rule of President for Life Hastings Kamuzu Banda for more than 25 years. Democratic elections in 1994 ushered in new leadership of this country, nearly self-sufficient in food. Transportation costs for exports skyrocketed as a result of civil war in next-door Mozambique, which disrupted rail links to the sea. Since the 1992 peace accord in Mozambique, rail links have been reestablished, and Malawi is slowly recovering.
ECONOMYIndustry: tobacco, tea, sugar, sawmill products.
Agriculture: tobacco, sugarcane, cotton, tea; groundnuts; cattle.
Exports: tobacco, tea, sugar, cotton, coffee.Text source:
National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition, 2004
