Blantyre, Malawi

Place in Southern Region, Malawi

About Blantyre

Blantyre is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with a population of 800,264 as of 2018. It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is the capital of the country's Southern Region as well as the Blantyre District.

Mandala House, Blantyre's oldest building

History

Blantyre was founded in 1876 through the missionary work of the Church of Scotland. It was named after Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, birthplace of the explorer David Livingstone. The site was chosen by British missionary Henry Henderson, who was joined there on 23 October 1876 by Dr T. T. Macklin and others. Dr Macklin took over the leadership of the mission and began the work of building; but it was not until 1878 that the first ordained minister, Rev. Duff MacDonald, joined the mission. The original missionaries, for various reasons, faced local opposition and three of them were recalled. From 1881 to 1898, the mission was run by David Clement Scott, who built the St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, between 1888 and 1891, but also for his Encyclopaedic Dictionary of the Mang'anja Language, the foremost dictionary for Mang'anja and the closely related Chichewa language. …

Geography

Blantyre City, the largest commercial and industrial capital of Malawi, is in the Shire Highlands and geographical centre of the Southern Region of the country and lies 35° east of Greenwich Meridian and 15° 42' south of the Equator. It is a transport communications node with road, rail and air links to all parts of the country and neighbouring countries of Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania. It covers an area of 228 km2. The city is classified as a 'National Urban Centre' within the designated six hierarchical levels system of urban centres of the country and is the regional administrative headquarters of the Southern Region. The geology of the city consists of two principal types of rocks of an ancient Basement Complex, a result of a process that took place during the late Pre-Cambrian period about 500 million years ago. …

Culture

The Mandala House is a historic building in Blantyre that was built in 1882 as a place of relaxation for the managers of the Mandala Trading Company. Inside there is a cafe, as well as the Society of Malawi Library and Archive. The Chichiri Museum is located in the city. Carlsberg Brewery is a location where visitors can try the country's favourite drink, the "Green". This drink was created by a Danish foreign minister who visited Malawi during the independence celebration in 1966.

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Economy

Blantyre City is the commercial and industrial capital. It is by far the major employment generator in the country and has the greatest multiplier effect on the urban economy. The city is Malawi's industrial centre with many manufacturing plants, having eight designated industrial areas: Makata, Ginnery Corner, Maselema, Limbe, Chirimba, South Lunzu, Maone and Chitawira. Of these Makata, Ginnery Corner, Maselema, Limbe, Chirimba and Maone are actively hosting industries whilst South Lunzu is yet to be developed. The existing industrial sites are further categorised into heavy and light sites. Makata and Limbe, for example, are the sole heavy industrial sites hosting more than 30 companies. While Chirimba industrial area is designated a heavy industrial area, it is the least developed in terms of number of industries. …

Transport

The city has an important railway station on the Sena railway, which connects it by operating a connection between Blantyre to Nsanje, near the southern border with Mozambique, and connects Malawi with the Mozambican ports of Beira and Nacala; Mchinji, near the border with Zambia; Salima and Lilongwe; and between Nkaya and Nayuchi on the eastern border with Mozambique, covering a total of 797 kilometres (495 miles). Chileka International Airport, located approximately 14 km (9 mi) from Blantyre city centre, has two runways and serves Blantyre with flights to South Africa, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, and domestic points. The airport is the second base for the country's flagship airline, Malawian Airlines. Chileka airport also houses important weather stations. In 2007, the Government of Malawi proposed expansion plans that are yet to be realised. …

Demographics

According to the 2018 census, the Lomwe are the largest ethnic group in the city with 39.59% of the population. The largest ethnic minority are the Ngoni with 19.12% of the population. Other minor ethnic groups include the Yao with 14.32%, Chewa with 9.34%, Sena with 5.74%, Mang'anja with 4.26%, Tumbuka with 4.01%, Tonga with 1.24%, Nyanja with 0.87%, Nkhonde with 0.34%, Lambya with 0.2%, Sukwa with only 0.02%, and other ethnic groups with 0.93% of the city's population. The largest religious denomination in Blantyre City is Catholicism with 17.94% of the city. The largest religious minority is Church of Central Africa Presbyterian with 17.61%. Other minority religions include Seventh-day Adventist, Baptist, and Apostolic with 15.44% combined, Pentecostal with 9.75%, Anglican with 1.7%, other Christian with 24.33%, Islam with 10.11%, Traditional with only 0.08%, other religions with 2. …

Blantyre

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