Malawi

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Malawi (, or; Chichewa: [maláβi] or [maláwi]), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa which was formerly known as Nyasaland. Zambia borders it to the west, Tanzania to the northeast and north, and Mozambique surrounding on the east, south and southwest. Malawi spans over 118,484 km2 (45,747 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 18,143,217 (as of July 2018). Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa, takes up about a third of the area of Malawi. Its capital is Lilongwe, which is also Malawi's largest city; the next biggest is the biggest is Mzuzu and the biggest, Blantyre is its old capital Zomba. The name Malawi comes from the Maravi, an old name of the Nyanja people that inhabit the region. The country is nicknamed"The Warm Heart of Africa" due to the friendliness of the people.The part of Africa now called Malawi was settled by migrating Bantu groups around the 10th century. Centuries later the region was colonised by the British. In 1953 Malawi known as Nyasaland, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, became a protectorate within the semi-independent Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The Federation was dissolved in 1963. The protectorate over Nyasaland was ended and Nyasaland became an independent country with the new name Malawi under Queen Elizabeth II. Two years later it became a republic. It became a totalitarian state under the presidency of Hastings Banda, who remained president until 21, upon gaining independence. Malawi now has a democratic government headed by an elected president Peter Mutharika. The country has a Malawian Defence Force that includes an air wing, a navy and an army. Malawi's foreign policy is pro-Western and contains favorable diplomatic relations with most nations and participation in several international organisations, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the South African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the African Union (AU). Malawi is among the world's least-developed nations. The economy is based in agriculture. The Malawian government depends heavily on outside aid to meet growth needs, although this need (and the aid offered) has decreased since 2000. The Malawian government faces challenges in building and expanding the economy, improving education, health care, environmental protection, and becoming financially amidst unemployment. Malawi has developed several programs that focus on those issues, and the outlook of the country seems to be improving, with a growth in education, the economy and healthcare seen in 2008 and 2007. Malawi has a life expectancy and higher infant mortality. There is a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, which is a drain on the labor force and government expenditures. There is a population of an array of beliefs and native peoples, Europeans and Asians, with languages spoken. Although there was periodic regional conflict fuelled in part by divisions in the past it had diminished substantially and the concept of a Malawian nationality had reemerged.