World geography › Eastern Africa › Malawi
Malawi: map and facts
Malawi is in Eastern Africa. It has about 22.2 million people (2025), the 60th largest population. It covers 118,484 km², the 99th largest by area. That is about 188 people per km². Its highest point is Sapitwa Peak, at 3,002 m. The longest river on its map is the Shire, 402 km from source to mouth.
Facts
- Population: 22,216,120 (2025, World Bank)
- Area: 118,484 km² (2024, World Bank)
- Capital: Lilongwe
- Highest point: Sapitwa Peak, 3,002 m (Wikidata)
- Forest: 22% of the land (2024, World Bank)
Rivers
The longest rivers on the map of Malawi, with the length of each whole river (Wikidata):
- Shire: 402 km
Mountains and landscapes
Its highest peaks:
- Sapitwa Peak: 3,002 m (its highest point)
Plateaus, plains, deserts and other regions: Great Rift Valley.
Land
Land cover seen from satellites (NASA MODIS, 2024): grassland 34.2%, water 19.4%, farmland 19.2%, savanna 18.7%, wooded savanna 2.4%, mixed forest 2.3%.
Landforms, worked out from the height of the land (USGS GMTED2010): plateaus 42%, hills 36.4%, mountains 19.1%, plains 2.5%.
Forests covered 22% of its land in 2024, down from 37.1% in 1990 (World Bank).
Neighbours
Malawi shares land borders with Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia on this map.
In the game you can zoom into its rivers, mountains, minerals, terrain and forests. Free, with no sign-up.
Sources
India’s boundaries are drawn according to India’s official position, simplified for small-scale maps (data: Natural Earth, India view). Each figure shows its year and source; some are rounded. Data release 2026.2.
- Natural Earth (naturalearthdata.com), public domain. Boundaries follow India's official position (Natural Earth's India point of view). Terms
- GMTED2010 courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey (Danielson and Gesch 2011, USGS Open-File Report 2011-1073). Terms
- Friedl, M., Sulla-Menashe, D. (2022). MODIS/Terra+Aqua Land Cover Type Yearly L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V061. NASA EOSDIS Land Processes DAAC. doi:10.5067/MODIS/MCD12Q1.061. Terms
- The World Bank: World Development Indicators, Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL): UN Population Division, national statistical offices (2025 data, retrieved 2026-10-17). CC BY 4.0. Rounded by Make Me Smarter. Terms
- The World Bank: World Development Indicators, Surface area (AG.SRF.TOTL.K2): FAO (2024 data, retrieved 2026-10-17). CC BY 4.0. Terms
- The World Bank: World Development Indicators, Forest area (% of land area) (AG.LND.FRST.ZS): FAO, FAOSTAT (2024 data, retrieved 2026-10-17). CC BY 4.0. Rounded by Make Me Smarter. Terms
- Wikidata (CC0): names, capitals, peak heights and river lengths, checked by Make Me Smarter. Terms
- Landforms worked out by Make Me Smarter from GMTED2010.
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