Chikwawa is a town with a population of 6,114 according to the 2018 census
located in the
Southern Region of
Malawi on the west bank of the
Shire River.
It is the administrative capital of the
Chikwawa District. Chikwawa lies almost south of
Blantyre, the commercial capital of Malawi.
Chikwawa, then known as Chibisa's village, was the first town in Malawi to be seen by European explorers, when visited in March 1859 by
David Livingstone's
second Zambesi expedition. Their way upstream was blocked by the
Kapachira Falls
Kapachira Falls are waterfalls in Malawi. They lie on the lower Shire River near the town of Chikwawa and the Majete Wildlife Reserve. The Kapichira Hydroelectric Power Station was constructed above the falls to provide hydroelectricty.
During h ...
, and they returned in August for land exploration which reached Lake Malawi on 18 September.
The surrounding region was ravaged by Portuguese slave traders in the nineteenth century.
The
Majete Wildlife Reserve
Majete Wildlife Reserve is a nature reserve in southwestern Malawi, established as a protected area in 1955. The reserve's animal populations were decimated during the late 1970s and 1980s due to poaching and other human activities. Majete has been ...
, the
Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve
With an area of 135km² Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve is Malawi’s smallest national park, and its least accessible. Nevertheless, it has a wide variety of habitats, including Mopane, Combretum and brachystegia woodland, as well as open savanna, dambo, ...
and
Lengwe National Park
Lengwe National Park is a national park in Malawi located near the town of Chikwawa and about 40 miles southwest of Blantyre. Lengwe's topography is unusual for Malawi and consists of open deciduous forests and dense thickets. It is the home of th ...
lie in the vicinity of Chikwawa. Large numbers of hippopotamus and crocodiles inhabit the Shire River area.
References
Populated places in Southern Region, Malawi
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