LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Malawi: Lake Malawi
built 647 days ago
Malawi is the "warm heart of Africa" with abundant wildlife and beautiful scenery in Liwonde national Park. Malawi has a thoroughly deserved reputation for the friendliness of its people. Wherever you go you will receive a welcome which is unsurpassed anywhere else in the world. This is a land of smiles, of genuine friendship. Malawi is a land-locked country with 20% of its territoty covered by Lake Malawi, and it has an incredible variety of stunning landscapes. The unique rolling hills of orchid clad Nyika; the cool forested plateau of Zomba; the 10,000 feet climbers’ paradise of Mulanje Massif; the broad and fertile Shire Valley.
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Often dubbed the "Warm Heart of Africa" due to the friendliness of its people, Malawi is a small country, located along the western shores of Lake Malawi in southeast Africa. The landscape is varied and presents four types of terrain: the Great Rift Valley, highlands, mountains and the central plateau. Malawi's climate is sub-tropical and features a rainy season from November to May and a dry season from June to October.
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Lake Malawi has over 500 species of tropical fish, some which not found anywhere else in the world. Scuba diving is very popular in certain areas providing excellent visibility and safe conditions.
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Malawi is primarily an agricultural country, with 54 percent of its working force engaged in farming, fishing, and forestry. The nation has traditionally been self-sufficient in food, but malnutrition among children was a serious problem as the 1990s began. The principal crops are corn, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables, and peanuts. Major exports include tobacco, tea, sugar, and peanuts. A growing fishing industry, producing for domestic needs, is centered at Nkhotakota on the western shore of Lake Malawi. In 2004 the catch was 57,196 metric tons.
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Malawi lies landlocked in southeast Africa, with Lake Malawi taking up about a fifth of the landscape. Independent from Britain since 1964, it endured the one-party rule of President for Life Hastings Kamuzu Banda for more than 25 years. Democratic elections in 1994 ushered in new leadership of this country, nearly self-sufficient in food. Transportation costs for exports skyrocketed as a result of civil war in next-door Mozambique, which disrupted rail links to the sea. Since the 1992 peace accord in Mozambique, rail links have been reestablished, and Malawi is slowly recovering.
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While Malawi's landscape is highly varied, four basic regions can be identified: the East African (or Great) Rift Valley, the central plateaus, the highlands, and the isolated mountains. The East African Rift Valley—by far the dominant feature of the country—is a gigantic troughlike depression running through the country from north to south and containing Lake Malawi (north and central) and the Shire River valley (south). The lake's littoral, situated along the western and southern shores and ranging from 5 to 15 miles in width, covers about 8 percent of the total land area and is dotted with swamps and lagoons. The Shire valley stretches some 250 miles from the southern end of Lake Malawi at Mangochi to Nsanje at the Mozambique border and contains Lake Malombe at its northern end. The plateaus of central Malawi rise to an altitude of 2,500 to 4,500 feet (760 to 1,370 metres) and lie just west of the Lake Malawi littoral; the plateaus cover about three-quarters of the total land area. The highland areas are mainly isolated tracts that rise as much as 8,000 feet above sea level.
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