Salima 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 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 northeast ...

. The capital is Salima. The district covers an area of 2,196 km.² and has a population of 478,346. The beach at Senga Bay is the weekend retreat of many from the capital, Lilongwe, and has hosted the annual Lake of Stars festival since 2008, when it was moved from

Chintheche Chintheche is a settlement in the Nkhata Bay District of the Northern Region of Malawi. It is on the shore of Lake Malawi, and is approximately south of Nkhata Bay. The town is close to the main road between Nkhata Bay and Nkhotakota. Hist ...

in order to be less remote. There is a range of accommodation options in the area, though most are a few km off the main road.

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 Salima 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: * 72.9%

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 ...

* 19.0% Yao * 2.9% Ngoni * 2.0% Lomwe * 1.0% Tumbuka * 0.7%

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 ...

* 0.5%

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 ...

* 0.4% Sena * 0.3%

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 ...

* 0.1% 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 * 0.1% Others

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 Salima: * Salima - Central * Salima - North * Salima - South * Salima - South East * Salima - North West Since the 2009 election most of these constituencies (except Salima South, which has 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 ...

), have been held by members of the

Malawi Congress Party The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is a politics of Malawi, 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 H ...

.Parliament of Malawi - Members of Parliament - Salima District
/ref>

References

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