Chitipa District is the northernmost

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 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 northeas ...

. The capital is

Chitipa Chitipa is the capital of 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 popula ...

(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 districts

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 ...

and

Rumphi Rumphi is the capital of the Rumphi District (Rumphi Boma) in the Northern Region of Malawi. It is a lively town with a market which serves the widespread farming community. Rumphi is noted for the kindness of the people (it is even rude to p ...

, as well as neighboring countries

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

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

. The district is divided into five main areas known as Misuku to the east, Kameme to the north, Bulambia right at the centre while Wenya and Nthalire areas are situated to the south.

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 rep ...

constituencies in Chitipa: * Chitipa - Central * Chitipa - East * Chitipa - North * Chitipa - South * Chitipa - Wenya Since the 2009 election all of these constituencies have been held by members of the Democratic Progressive Party. ARMS OF CHITIPA DISTRICT COUNCIL The district has two arms of government: (the political arm and administrative arm. Political arm headed by elected council chairperson,(Isaac Mwepa -2014 to date The administrative arm headed by District commissioner The District has ten elected councillors, 1, Isaac Mwepa who is also the council chairperson 2.Newton Sibale 3.James Ng"ambi 4.Maxwell Kayira 5.Christopher Munyenyembe 6.Chitatata Chunda 7.Ginilon Mulungu 8.Davie Silwimba 9.Osman Kanyika 10.Ambokire Chiona. Isaac Mwepa is the only youthful elected councillor in the chamber.

Demographics

Ethnic groups

At the time of the 2018 Census of Malawi, the distribution of the population of Chitipa District by ethnic group was as follows: * 30.4%

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 ...

* 24.5% Tumbuka * 15.4% Sukwa * 1.1%

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 ...

* 0.5% Nkhonde * 0.3% Ngoni * 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% Lomwe * 0.1% Yao * 0.1% Nyanja * 0.0%

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 ...

* 0.0% Sena * 27.5% Others

Languages

A number of different languages or dialects spoken in the district. According to a language survey carried out in 2006 by the University of Malawi, the principal languages spoken are as follows (the spelling Ci- is also found): *Chindali / Chisukwa / Chilambya *Chinamwanga / Chimambwe / Chiwandya *Chinyiha / Chinyika *Chibemba *Chitumbuka The first three groups are fairly close, and are all classified as belonging to zone M in the Guthrie classification of Bantu languages (specifically to the Rukwa language group). Chibemba is also classified in zone M, but in a different group, while Chitumbuka is a little more distant and is classified as belonging to zone N. The

Nyiha language Nyiha (Nyixa, Nyika) is a Bantu language The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest bra ...

(Chinyiha or Cinyiha) is spoken in the far north-west corner of the district but also, in a form called Chinyika (which is described as a dialect of Chinyiha heavily influenced by Chitumbuka)University of Malawi Language Mapping Survey (2006)
p. 16. further south around the village of Chisenga. Between these two, around the town of

itself,

is dominant, although there are also pockets of speakers of Chinamwanga, Mambwe and Bemba. To the east of Chitipa, south of the Tanzanian border, live speakers of Chisukwa and Chindali. In the south of the district, Tumbuka is the main language. There are also a few Kyangonde speakers along the border with Karonga District.

References

External links

Centre for Language Studies map of Northern Malawi LanguagesUniversity of Malawi Language Mapping Survey of Northern Malawi (2006)
{{Authority control Districts of Malawi Districts in Northern Region, Malawi