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A trip to Malawi is a fantastic encounter with Africa and the continent’s magnificent scenery, wildlife, culture and population. The country’s largest and most significant cities are the capital Lilongwe and the country’s oldest city, Blantyre.
Lilongwe is the capital that, through most of Malawi’s colonial period, was a smaller village. Since the country’s independence in 1966 a lot has happened, so today you can see fine monuments, Malawi’s parliament and other major institutions in the city’s northern city center. A few kilometers to the south is the old town along the meandering course of the Lilongwe River, where there are markets, shopping and a nice atmosphere. The Lilongwe Wildlife Reserve within the city limits is home to some of the country’s animals.
During a visit to Malawi, beautiful Malawi Lake is also a natural stop on the journey with its many panoramas and activities. The lake is great like a sea in the country, and the natural beauty of the lake has another dimension in the water; it is the lake in the world with the greatest variety of species. Wildlife in abundance can be seen as well in national parks around country.
Lilongwe’s earlier start
The name Lilongwe comes from the river that cuts through the capital and the word comes from the language of the Nyanja people. Already in the 9th century, Bantu tribes settled in present-day Malawi, and centuries before the European colonization of the country, a smaller fishing village had emerged on the winding lakes of the Lilongwe River, and relatively few people lived here compared to today’s growing capital. Elsewhere in the lush country, there were settlements; as there had been through thousands of years.
The arrival of Europeans
Today is Lilongwe Malawi’s capital, but it was southern Malawi that was the focus of most of the development in the country’s early colonial history.
In 1876, the town of Blantyre was founded and named after a town in Scotland from which the missionaries who established themselves in today’s Malawi came. In addition, Blantyre in Scotland was the city in which David Livingstone was born. The new Blantyre gained higher British status in 1883, and in 1895 the city gained the status of an actual market town, making it the oldest modern city in Malawi.
By 1891, the British had also come to the area of Lake Malawi and colonized it under the name British Central Africa Protectorate. It was still not the center of Lilongwe, as the British expanded its governance and economic center in Blantyre to the south. One of the major commodities through Blantyre at that time was ivory.
Twentieth century expansion
In the first decades of the 20th century, only a few thousand inhabitants lived in Lilongwe, while Blantyre, on the other hand, grew rapidly. However, that would soon change for Lilongwe due to various factors.
Most important of all was Lilongwe’s location. It was located on the intersection of Lusaka and Lake Nyasa (now Lake Malawi) in an east-west direction and between the country’s then two most important cities, Mzuzu and Blantyre to the north and south respectively. It was also possible to navigate the waterway to Lake Nyasa, and the area was also good for the important tobacco cultivation.
It was thus a small but strategically well-chosen city, which the British, after a few decades, chose to put in their colony administration when they chose Lilongwe. It had until the 1930s became a few thousand inhabitants.
The country’s independence
The decades of the mid-20th century stood for signs of independence in the British colony called Nyasaland. One of the key people on the path to freedom was Dr. Hastings Banda, who after a few years abroad returned to Nyasaland and became politically active with the goal of making the country independent of British rule.
Banda was appointed prime minister on February 1, 1963, and three years later he was able to take office as president of the Republic of Malawi; a position he contested for 1994, whereby his policy came to define the foundations of the new country.
From independence to present-day
Malawi became an independent country in 1966, and since then the development has gone strong with Lilongwe’s population. In 1977, there were still less than 100,000 people living here, and that is a figure that has doubled in three decades thereafter.
Population growth is not least due to the urbanization seen all over the world. In Malawi too, the younger generations are affected by fewer economic, job and educational opportunities in rural areas, and this increases the migration to the capital, which has also benefited from, for example, South African investments and the development of the tobacco industry.
Among the newer investments in the cityscape is the large new parliament, whose buildings were inaugurated in 2010 after just one year of construction.
Lilongwe is Malawi’s capital, political center, while one of the country’s major economic engines is the city of Blantyre to the south of the country. Blantyre is historically the most significant in Malawi, and thus there are some institutions located here rather than in the capital. This applies, for example, to the Supreme Court, polytechnic and the country’s home ground at international football matches, which are also located in Blantyre.
There are thus two centers in the country today. Both Blantyre and Lilongwe, both experiencing population growth and economic development. As a political capital, Lilongwe’s development is steady, while Blantyre, with the country’s largest white population among others, remains the locomotive of much trade, production and education.
Overview of Lilongwe
A trip to Malawi is a fantastic encounter with Africa and the continent’s magnificent scenery, wildlife, culture and population. The country’s largest and most significant cities are the capital Lilongwe and the country’s oldest city, Blantyre.
Lilongwe is the capital that, through most of Malawi’s colonial period, was a smaller village. Since the country’s independence in 1966 a lot has happened, so today you can see fine monuments, Malawi’s parliament and other major institutions in the city’s northern city center. A few kilometers to the south is the old town along the meandering course of the Lilongwe River, where there are markets, shopping and a nice atmosphere. The Lilongwe Wildlife Reserve within the city limits is home to some of the country’s animals.
About the upcoming Lilongwe travel guide
About the travel guide
The Lilongwe travel guide gives you an overview of the sights and activities of the Malawian city. Read about top sights and other sights, and get a tour guide with tour suggestions and detailed descriptions of all the city’s most important churches, monuments, mansions, museums, etc.
Lilongwe is waiting for you, and at vamados.com you can also find cheap flights and great deals on hotels for your trip. You just select your travel dates and then you get flight and accommodation suggestions in and around the city.
Read more about Lilongwe and Malawi
Buy the travel guide
Click the “Add to Cart” button to purchase the travel guide. After that you will come to the payment, where you enter the purchase and payment information. Upon payment of the travel guide, you will immediately receive a receipt with a link to download your purchase. You can download the travel guide immediately or use the download link in the email later.
Use the travel guide
When you buy the travel guide to Lilongwe you get the book online so you can have it on your phone, tablet or computer – and of course you can choose to print it. Use the maps and tour suggestions and you will have a good and content-rich journey.
Hastings Banda • Lake Malawi • Fine Monuments • Fascinating Fauna
Overview of Lilongwe
A trip to Malawi is a fantastic encounter with Africa and the continent’s magnificent scenery, wildlife, culture and population. The country’s largest and most significant cities are the capital Lilongwe and the country’s oldest city, Blantyre.
Lilongwe is the capital that, through most of Malawi’s colonial period, was a smaller village. Since the country’s independence in 1966 a lot has happened, so today you can see fine monuments, Malawi’s parliament and other major institutions in the city’s northern city center. A few kilometers to the south is the old town along the meandering course of the Lilongwe River, where there are markets, shopping and a nice atmosphere. The Lilongwe Wildlife Reserve within the city limits is home to some of the country’s animals.
About the upcoming Lilongwe travel guide
About the travel guide
The Lilongwe travel guide gives you an overview of the sights and activities of the Malawian city. Read about top sights and other sights, and get a tour guide with tour suggestions and detailed descriptions of all the city’s most important churches, monuments, mansions, museums, etc.
Lilongwe is waiting for you, and at vamados.com you can also find cheap flights and great deals on hotels for your trip. You just select your travel dates and then you get flight and accommodation suggestions in and around the city.
Read more about Lilongwe and Malawi
Buy the travel guide
Click the “Add to Cart” button to purchase the travel guide. After that you will come to the payment, where you enter the purchase and payment information. Upon payment of the travel guide, you will immediately receive a receipt with a link to download your purchase. You can download the travel guide immediately or use the download link in the email later.
Use the travel guide
When you buy the travel guide to Lilongwe you get the book online so you can have it on your phone, tablet or computer – and of course you can choose to print it. Use the maps and tour suggestions and you will have a good and content-rich journey.
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