Blantyre is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

in the Southern Region of

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

. The capital is

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

, a commercial city where most Malawian industrial and business offices are. The district covers an area of 2,012 km² and has a population of 809,397. It was named after

, the birth village of

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

in Scotland, one of the first missionary explorers who came to

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...

, as Malawi was called before independence in 1964. It is also a main trading point besides the other large cities in Malawi. The other large cities are Lilongwe, which is located in the central region, and

Mzuzu Mzuzu is the capital of Malawi's Northern Region and is the third largest city by population in Malawi. The city has 221,272 residents and 20,000 commuters ( Mzuzu University students) with about 1.7 million people in its metropolitan area. It ...

, which is in the northern part of Malawi.

Demographics

At the time of the

2018 Census of Malawi The 2018 Malawi census was the sixth national census in Malawi, which took place on 3-23 September 2018. The population of Malawi was counted as 17,563,749 – an increase of 4,534,251 (34.8%) over the 2008 census. Preliminary results from the ...

, the distribution of the population of Blantyre District by

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

was as follows: * 25.5% Ngoni * 22.0% Lomwe * 18.0% Yao * 15.6%

Mang'anja The Mang'anja are a Bantu people of central and southern Africa, particularly around Chikwawa in the Shire River valley of southern Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked co ...

* 12.8%

Chewa Chewa may refer to: *the Chewa people *the Chewa language Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambiq ...

* 3.2% Sena * 1.1% Tumbuka * 0.6%

Nyanja Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambique and Zambia. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for l ...

* 0.4%

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

* 0.1% Nkhonde * 0.0%

Lambya The Lambya, also known as the Nkoya, are an ethnic and linguistic group based along the border of northwestern Malawi and in Mbeya Region, Tanzania. A minority also exists in Zambia. In 2001 the Lambya population was estimated to number 85,000, i ...

* 0.0% Sukwa * 0.8% Others Government and administrative divisions There are twelve

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

constituencies in Blantyre: * Blantyre - Bangwe * Blantyre - City East * Blantyre - City South * Blantyre - City South East * Blantyre - City West * Blantyre - Kabula * Blantyre - Malabada * Blantyre - North * Blantyre - North East * Blantyre - Rural East * Blantyre - West * Blantyre - South West Elections Since the 2009 election all of these constituencies have been held by members of the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...

. Another election was conducted on 20 May 2014, this was the first tripartite elections where voters chose Councillors, Members of Parliament and President. Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika won with 1,904,399 votes (36.4%).

Towns in Blantyre District

*Kabula/

(capital) *Kanjedza *Chirimba *Chichiri *Kameza *Chileka *Soche * Mpingwe *

Chiwembe Chiwembe is a township in southern Malawi. It is situated approximately south of the town of Limbe and from Blantyre, Malawi's biggest city. Chiwembe is mentioned in the song ''Police Hunt Matafale'' by the popular Malawian reggae band Black M ...

* Limbe * Bangwe * Machinjiri *Zingwangwa *Lunzu *Ndirande *Nancholi *Chigumula Main Markets Limbe market and Blantyre Market are main markets in Blantyre city. Most of the shops are owned by Malawians of Asian origin.

References

Districts of Malawi Districts in Southern Region, Malawi Blantyre {{Malawi-geo-stub