Malawi: Introduction

Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The Great Rift Valley runs through the country, and to the east of the valley lies Lake Nyasa. The government system is a multiparty democracy; the chief of state and head of government is the president. Malawi has a traditional economic system in which the majority of the population engages in subsistence agriculture, and the allocation of available resources is made on the basis of primitive methods. Malawi is a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).