Karonga 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 Northern 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 district covers an area of 3,355 km.² and has a population of 365,028. It is a border district between Malawi and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

, mainly occupied by the Tumbuka and Nkhonde tribes. Other tribes include Henga tribe (mainly occupying the southern part). Karonga District is the main border from Tanzania into Malawi, and the chief town is

Karonga Karonga is a township in the Karonga District in Northern Region of Malawi. Located on the western shore of Lake Nyasa, it was established as a slaving centre sometime before 1877. As of 2018 estimates, Karonga has a population of 61,609. Hi ...

Boma.

Economics

Over the last few years, there has been much development in the region due to the discovery of

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

at the

Kayelekera mine Kayelekera uranium mine is an open cast uranium mine 52 kilometers west of the regional administrative and commercial centre Karonga in Malawi, Africa and was the country's largest mine. Production at the mine has been paused since February 2014, ...

, which officially opened in 2009, and many of the previously gravelled roads have been laid with tarmac.

Tourism

There are many hotels and guesthouses in Karonga, along the shore of

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fifth largest fre ...

Government and administrative divisions

There are five

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 Karonga: * Karonga - Central * Karonga - North * Karonga - North West * Karonga - Nyungwe * Karonga - South Since the 2009 election Karonga Nyungwe has been represented by an AFORD politician, and the other seats are 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 ...

. The traditional authorities are Wasambo, Kyungu, Mwakaboko, Kilipula, Mwirang'ombe and the central township of Karonga Boma.

Demographics

Ethnic groups

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 Karonga 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: * 41.7% Tumbuka * 38.0% Nkhonde * 3.3% Sukwa * 2.5%

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 ...

* 2.5%

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 ...

* 0.9% Ngoni * 0.5%

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 ...

* 0.5% Yao * 0.4% Lomwe * 0.1% Sena * 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. They speak a dialect of the Nyanja language, and are a branch of the Amaravi people. As of 1996 their popul ...

* 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 ...

* 9.5% Others

Languages

The main languages of the northern part of Karonga District are Nyakyusa the like of Lusako names are of Nyakyusa and Kyangonde (closely related to Nyakyusa). In the south, Tumbuka is spoken, and in the centre, including Karonga town itself, Chinkhonde (a dialect of Kyangonde heavily influenced by Tumbuka). There are some pockets of Swahili speakers along the border with Tanzania, and a few speakers of Chindali, Chimambwe, and Cisukwa along the border with

Chitipa District Chitipa District is the northernmost district in the Northern Region of Malawi. The capital is Chitipa (formerly known as Fort Hill). The district covers an area of 4,288 km.², and has a population of 234,927. Chitipa borders fellow distri ...

.University of Malawi Language Mapping Survey (2006)
p. 16.

Cities and towns

(capital) *

Chilumba Chilumba is a town in Malawi. It is an urban centre in Karonga District. Location Chilumba is located along the western shores of Lake Malawi, at the southern end of Karonga District, in the Northern Region, Malawi, Northern Region of Malawi. T ...

Notable Malawians from Karonga

* Geoffrey Du Mhango * Bazuka Mhango *

Temwa Nyirenda Temwa is a registered UK charity. Operating in Malawi, central Africa, Temwa works mainly in one region known as Usisya on a number of different community driven projects including Education, Health, Skills Development and Agriculture. Short hist ...

*Roselyn Msowoya

References

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