---
title: "Malawi — capital, area, population and currency"
description: "Malawi: capital Lilongwe, area 118,484 km², population 22,216,120 (2025), currency Malawian kwacha. Languages, time zones and calling code."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country/malawi/
site: "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

- [Nicaragua](https://atoneplace.net/country/nicaragua/)
- [North Korea](https://atoneplace.net/country/north-korea/)
- [Eritrea](https://atoneplace.net/country/eritrea/)
- [Benin](https://atoneplace.net/country/benin/)
- [Nigeria](https://atoneplace.net/country/nigeria/)
- [Ethiopia](https://atoneplace.net/country/ethiopia/)
- [Egypt](https://atoneplace.net/country/egypt/)
- [Democratic Republic of the Congo](https://atoneplace.net/country/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/)
- [Tanzania](https://atoneplace.net/country/tanzania/)
- [South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/country/south-africa/)
- [Kenya](https://atoneplace.net/country/kenya/)
- [Sudan](https://atoneplace.net/country/sudan/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]
- World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (https://data.worldbank.org/) [CC BY 4.0]