Malawi, originally known as Nyasaland, is a landlocked nation in Southeast Africa with the official name Republic of Malawi. Mozambique borders it on the east, south, and southwest, Tanzania on the north and northeast, and Zambia on the west. Over 118,484 km2 (45,747 sq mi), Malawi has a population of about 19,431,566 people (as of January 2021).

Lilongwe is the largest and capital city of Malawi. Blantyre is the second-largest city, Mzuzu is the third-largest, and Zomba, the former capital, is the fourth-largest. The Maravi, a former name for the local Chewa people, are the source of the name Malawi. The warmheartedness of the people in the nation has earned it the moniker “The Warm Heart of Africa.”

Ten significant ethnic groups—the Chewa, Nyanja, Lomwe, Yao, Tumbuka, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde, and the Lambya/Nyiha—are historically connected to modern-day Malawi. Bantu languages make up all of the spoken languages in Africa. Chewa was the sole national tongue from 1968 to 1994; today, it is one of the many languages used in print and broadcast media and is spoken by the majority of the population.

At independence in 1964, less than one-fifth of the population could speak English, but it is still widely used today in business, administrative and judicial matters, higher education, and other areas. As of 1996, government policy stated that education would be provided to students in grades 1-4 in their mother tongue or vernacular language. Lomwe, Yao, and Tumbuka are a few further significant languages.