AFRICA

Malawi

A slender country wrapped around one of Africa's Great Lakes - Lake Malawi is so full of colourful fish that biologists come here to study evolution in action.

WHAT THE FLAG MEANS ◢

Three horizontal bands of black, red and green, with a red rising sun on the black band. Section 2 of the constitution says only that Malawi shall have a National Flag, without describing it or assigning it a meaning. The black is conventionally read for the African people, the red for the blood shed for freedom and the green for the land, with the rising sun for the dawn of independence across Africa. The flag was briefly replaced in 2010 by one with a full white sun and restored by Parliament in 2012.

Malawi FACTS ◢

Capital	Lilongwe
Continent	Africa
Population	21,201,635 (2026)
Area	118,484 km²
Population density	179/km²
Currency	Malawian kwacha (MWK)
Official language	English
Calling code	+265
Internet TLD	.mw
Time zone	UTC+02:00
Drives on the	Left
ISO codes	MW / MWI

DID YOU KNOW? ◢

Lake Malawi holds more species of fish than any other lake on Earth, most of them found nowhere else.
The lake stretches about 580 kilometres, covering roughly a third of the country.
It's nicknamed 'the Warm Heart of Africa' for the friendliness of its people.
Explorer David Livingstone reached the lake in 1859 and called it the 'Lake of Stars'.