Factbook
Histoire de Malawi — Chronologie
Dates clés de l'histoire de Malawi, d'après le Factbook Magna et l'Encyclopédie universelle.
1400The Maravi settled in what is now Malawi around 1400, during one of the later waves of Bantu migration across central and southern Africa.
1500A powerful Maravi kingdom established around 1500 reached its zenith around 1700, when it controlled what is now southern and central Malawi and portions of neighboring Mozambique and Zambia.
1891British missionary and trading activity increased in the area around Lake Nyasa in the mid-1800s, and in 1891, Britain declared a protectorate called British Central Africa over what is now Malawi.
1907The British renamed the territory Nyasaland in 1907, and it was part of the colonial Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland -- including present-day Zambia and Zimbabwe -- from 1953 to 1963 before gaining independence as Malawi in 1964.
1966Hastings Kamuzu BANDA served as prime minister at independence and then as president when the country became a republic in 1966.
1994After three decades of one-party rule, the country held multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections in 1994 under a provisional constitution that came into full effect the following year.
1994Bakili MULUZI of the United Democratic Front party became the first freely elected president of Malawi when he defeated BANDA at the polls in 1994; he won reelection in 1999.
2004President Bingu wa MUTHARIKA was elected in 2004 and reelected to a second term in 2009.
2012He died abruptly in 2012 and was succeeded by Vice President Joyce BANDA.
2014MUTHARIKA's brother, Peter MUTHARIKA, defeated BANDA in the election in 2014.
2018Languages: English (official), Chewa (dominant), Lambya, Lomwe, Ngoni, Nkhonde, Nyakyusa, Nyanja, Sena, Tonga, Tumbuka, Yao Religions: Protestant 33.5% (includes Church of Central Africa Presbyterian 14.2%, Seventh Day Adventist/Baptist 9.4%, Pentecostal 7.6%, Anglican 2.3%), Roman Catholic 17.2%, other Christian 26.6%, Muslim 13.8%, traditionalist 1.1%, other 5.6%, none 2.1% (2018 est.) Urban population: 18.3% of total population (2023).
2019Peter MUTHARIKA was reelected in a disputed election in 2019 that resulted in countrywide protests.
2020The courts ordered a new election, and in 2020, Lazarus CHAKWERA of the MCP was elected president.
2023Generation mix — fossil fuels: 4.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 0.7% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); hydroelectricity: 92.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) Energy use: 1.792 million Btu/person (2023 est.).
2023Industries: tobacco, tea, sugar, sawmill products, cement, consumer goods Agriculture: sweet potatoes, cassava, maize, sugarcane, mangoes/guavas, potatoes, tomatoes, pigeon peas, pumpkins/squash, plantains (2023) Electricity access: 14% (2022 est.).
2023Major urban areas: 1.276 million LILONGWE (capital), 1.031 million Blantyre-Limbe (2023) low-income East African economy; primarily agrarian; investing in human capital; urban poverty increasing due to COVID-19; high public debt; endemic corruption and poor property rights; poor hydroelectric grid; localized pharmaceutical industry Inflation: 32.2% (2024 est.).
2024Military spending: 0.8% of GDP (2024 est.).
2024Population: 21.8 million (2024 estimate).
