Dowa 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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

in the Central 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 northeas ...

. The capital is Dowa. Dowa-district-street-sunnyday-sep2019

Geography

The district covers an area of 3,041 km². and has a population of 556, 678. The capital city, Dowa is home to 5,565 people. Dowa the city is about 38 kilometers away from Malawi's capital city, Lilongwe. The population is projected to reach over 700,000 by 2018.

Main cities

* Dowa * Mponela (MVERA roadblock)

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 Dowa District by ethnic group was as follows: * 91.8%

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 ...

* 5.9% Ngoni * 0.6% Yao * 0.6% Tumbuka * 0.5% Lomwe * 0.1%

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%

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 ...

* 0.1% Sena * 0.0% 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%

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 ...

* 0.0% Sukwa * 0.3% Others

Culture

The

s are the main ethnic group, and second are the Ngonis.

Nyau Nyau (also: ''Nyao'' meaning ''mask'' or ''initiation'') is a secret society of the Chewa, an ethnic group of the Bantu peoples from Central and Southern Africa. The Nyau society consists of initiated members of the Chewa and Nyanja people, form ...

dancing is an integral part of the culture inherited from the Chewa ancestors. These two groups are mostly farming communities. People of the Yao ethnic group are also found, mostly in trading centers.

Economy

Dowa District is an agricultural district which focuses on

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

and groundnut farming, and the main food crops produced in the district are

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

, sweet potatoes and

pulses In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...

Education

Dowa TTC College opened in 2003. The district aims to drop the high school dropout rate from six percent to four percent by 2020, and also add more classrooms to lower the current 111 to 1 student/classroom ratio.

Government and administrative divisions

There are seven

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 rep ...

constituencies in Dowa: * Dowa - Central * Dowa - East * Dowa - Ngala * Dowa - North * Dowa - North West * Dowa - South East * Dowa - West Since the 2009 election all of the areas have been controlled by members of the

Malawi Congress Party The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is a political party in Malawi. It was formed as a successor party to the banned Nyasaland African Congress when the country, then known as Nyasaland, was under British rule. The MCP, under Hastings Banda, pres ...

Climate

Dowa District is in the humid subtropical climate zone, and the mean temperature is about 65 degrees Fahrenheit. There are as many as twenty rainy days a month in the wet season to as little as none in the dry season.

References

Districts of Malawi Districts in Central Region, Malawi {{Malawi-geo-stub