The Zomba Plateau, also called the Zomba Massif, is a mountain of the

Shire Highlands The Shire Highlands are a plateau in southern Malawi, located east of the Shire River. It is a major agricultural area and the most densely populated part of the country. Geography The highlands cover an area of roughly 7250 square kilometers. t ...

in southern

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 ...

. Its total area is about , with a highest point of . The plateau is roughly pear-shaped. The southern portion is known as Zomba Mountain, and the northern portion as Malosa. The deeply incised Domasi Valley runs east and west between the two. The plateau largely made up of granitic

syenite Syenite is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock with a general composition similar to that of granite, but deficient in quartz, which, if present at all, occurs in relatively small concentrations (< 5%). Some syenites contain larger proport ...

, an

igneous rock Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main The three types of rocks, rock types, the others being Sedimentary rock, sedimentary and metamorphic rock, metamorphic. Igneous rock ...

that intruded into the older metamorphic rocks that make up the highlands during the late

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

and

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

periods 150-65 million years ago. The

Mulanje Massif The Mulanje Massif, also known as Mount Mulanje, is a large inselberg in southern Malawi. Sapitwa Peak, the highest point on the massif at 3,002 m, is the highest point in Malawi. It lies 65 km east of Blantyre, rising sharply from the su ...

to the southeast is of similar composition and origin. Precious and semi-precious stones such as quartz can be found. The Zomba and Malosa forest reserves were established in 1913. Most of the plateau is covered with plantations of Mexican pine trees ''(

Pinus patula ''Pinus patula'', commonly known as patula pine, spreading-leaved pine, or Mexican weeping pine, and in Spanish as ''pino patula'' or ''pino llorón'', (''patula'' Latin = “spreading”) is a tree native to the highlands of Mexico. It grows f ...

)''. Small patches of native montane forest and

miombo The Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located primarily in Central Africa. It includes four woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) characterized b ...

woodland remain."South Malawi montane forest-grassland mosaic". World Wildlife Fund. Accessed 11 August 2019

/ref> The pines were planted for timber production for the Zomba Sawmill, which is located at the southern slopes of the mountain. Where indigenous trees are left, severe deforestation due to the high demand for firewood in the region is a problem. Fruits like strawberries, yellow-berries and blackberries are grown on the mountain for the local market. The Zomba Plateau is the region's major tourist attraction. Activities offered include hiking, horse riding, rock-climbing, fishing and mountain-biking. A paved all-weather road leads from Zomba on the plateau. The massif hosts several accommodations for tourists, such as the Sunbird KuChawe Inn and several camping grounds. Additionally, several companies and institutions, such as the CCAP Church, as well as private persons have cottages on the plateau. On clear days,

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 ...

and the

, which are both about 60 km away, can be seen. From the western edge of the plateau,

Shire River The Shire is the largest river in Malawi. It is the only outlet of Lake Malawi and flows into the Zambezi River in Mozambique. Its length is . The upper Shire River issues from Lake Malawi and runs approximately before it enters shallow Lake Malo ...

and

Liwonde National Park Liwonde National Park, also known as Liwonde Wildlife Reserve, is a national park in southern Malawi, near the Mozambique border. The park was established in 1973, and has been managed by the nonprofit conservation organization African Parks since ...

can be seen. In 2000, the Mulunguzi Dam was opened, which serves as a water reservoir for the City of Zomba.

References

{{coord missing, Malawi Forest reserves of Malawi Mountains of Malawi South Malawi montane forest–grassland mosaic