At One Place

Malawi

Malawi
Capital Lilongwe
118,484 km² · 22,216,120 people (2025) · Malawian kwacha

Lake Malawi covers about a fifth of the country and holds more fish species than any other lake on Earth — several hundred cichlids, most found nowhere else. The lake is around 700 km long and over 700 m deep.

The facts

Capital
Lilongwe
Area
118,484 km² — 45,747 sq mi
Population
22,216,120 (2025)
Density
187.5 people per km²
Currency
Malawian kwacha (MWK, MK)
Official languages
English, Chewa
Time zone
UTC+02:00
Calling code
+265
Drives on the
left
ISO codes
MW · MWI
Continent
Africa

How it compares

By area
99 of 200
By population
61 of 200

Population is the only figure on this page that dates — it is a 2025 estimate and will drift. Area, capital, currency, languages, calling code and driving side change rarely or never.

Countries of a similar size

Country Area (km²) Population
Nicaragua 130,370 7,007,502
North Korea 120,538 26,571,036
Malawi ← 118,484 22,216,120
Eritrea 117,600 3,607,003
Benin 112,622 14,814,460

Common questions

What is the capital of Malawi?
Lilongwe
What currency does Malawi use?
The Malawian kwacha (MWK).
How big is Malawi?
118,484 km², or 45,747 square miles — 99 of 200 by area.
Which side of the road does Malawi drive on?
The left.

Related pages

Sources

  1. The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (Public domain (US Government))
  2. World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (CC BY 4.0)

How these figures are compiled and checked