Map:

Overview:
Established in 1891, the British protectorate of Nyasaland became the independent nation of Malawi in 1964. After three decades of one-party rule under President Hastings Kamuzu BANDA the country held multiparty elections in 1994, under a provisional constitution, which came into full effect the following year. Current President Bingu wa MUTHARIKA, elected in May 2004 after the previous president failed to amend the constitution to permit another term, has struggled to assert his authority against his predecessor, who still leads their shared political party. MATHARIKA's anti-corruption efforts have led to several high-level arrests but no convictions. Increasing corruption, population growth, increasing pressure on agricultural lands, and HIV/AIDS pose major problems for the country.

The People:
Population: 12,158,924
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 46.9% (male 2,877,568/female 2,823,296)
15-64 years: 50.4% (male 3,041,352/female 3,081,762)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male 132,175/female 202,771) (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 36.97 years
male: 36.59 years
female: 37.36 years (2005 est.)

Religions:
Christian 79.9%, Muslim 12.8%, other 3%, none 4.3% (1998 census)

Government Type:
multiparty democracy

Leader(s) to pray for:
chief of state: President Bingu wa MUTHARIKA (since 24 May 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

Source: The World Factbook

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