What's all this about Malawi?

Being that all of this information about Malawi is new to me, I thought I would post it so you all have a little bit of an idea of where I will be living for the next 27 months.  Enjoy!

Geography

• Land size of Malawi is about equal to that of Pennsylvania (seems appropriate our staging is there then!)
• Lake Malawi (aka. Lake Nyasa) is about the size of Vermont
• Climate is subtropical (rainy season November-May, dry season May-November)
• Terrain consists of plateaus, highlands, and valleys
• Current environmental issues: deforestation, land degradation, water pollution from agricultural runoff, siltation of spawning grounds (endangers fish population)

Population

• 15,028,757
• Life expectancy for males and females is right around 50 years old
• 11.9% adults living with HIV/AIDS
• Nationality: Malwians
• Religion: 79.9% Christian, 12.8% Muslim

Government

• Multiparty Democracy
• Capital is Lilongwe (centrally located in the country)
• Time difference is UTC+2, or 9 hours ahead of Mountain time
• Declared independence on July 6, 1964

Economy

• Agricultural products: tobacco, sugarcane, cotton, tea, corn, potatoes, cassava (tapioca), sorghum (a type of grain), pulses (a type of seed rich in protein), groundnuts, macadamia nuts, cattle, goats
• Industry: tobacco, tea, sugar, sawmill products, cement, consumer goods

Transportation

• 32 airports, 6 with paved runways (ha!  No excuses to not come and visit!)
• Railways: 797km
• Roadways: 15,451km (lots of hitch hiking to be done)
• Ports: Chipoka, Monkey Bay (this sounds fun), Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Chilumba

So there ya go!  Some quick info for you all about Malawi and where yours truly will be spending quite a bit of time these next few years. You can also go here to learn even more than you ever wanted to know about Malawi ;)