Malawi
POPULATION 10,701,824
ROMAN CATHOLIC 29 percent
PRESBYTERIAN 25 percent
MUSLIM 13 percent
PENTECOSTAL/CHARISMATIC 8 percent
ANGLICAN 6 percent
AFRICAN INITIATED CHURCHES 5 percent
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST 4 percent
BAPTIST 3 percent
OTHER (AFRICAN INDIGENOUS BELIEFS, JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, BAHAI, RASTAFARIAN) 3 percent
NONRELIGIOUS 4 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
The Republic of Malawi, formerly known as Nyasaland (Land of the Lake), is a mountainous country in eastern Central Africa that includes Lake Malawi (Lake Nyassa). It shares borders with Zambia, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Agriculture is the backbone of Malawi's economy, with tobacco, tea, cotton, and sugarcane the main cash crops and maize, millet, cassava, and potatoes the main food crops. Malawi's varied ethnic groups include the Mang'anja (Nyanja), Yao, Sena, and Lomwe in the south; the Chewa and Ngoni in the central region; and the Ngoni, Tumbuka, Ngonde, Tonga, and Lambya in the north. The two official languages are Chinyanja (Chichewa) in southern and central Malawi and Chitumbuka in northern Malawi.
In 1859 David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary explorer, made Malawi known to Britain for evangelization. Protestant missionaries from Europe and South Africa began pouring into the country. Portuguese-sponsored Catholic missionaries arrived in 1889. To forestall a Portuguese attempt to annex Malawi to their possessions in Central and Southern Africa, Scottish missionaries prevailed on Britain to declare a protectorate over Malawi.
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