About Lilongwe

The city started life as a small village on the banks of the Lilongwe river, and became a British colonial administrative centre at the beginning of the 20th century. Due to its location on the main north-south route through the country and the road to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), Lilongwe became the 2nd largest city in Malawi. In 1974, the capital of the country was formally moved from Zomba (the fourth largest city today in Malawi) to Lilongwe. Although, Lilongwe is the official capital of Malawi and has grown immensely since 1974, most commercial activity takes place in Malawi's largest city, Blantyre. Recently, as part of political restructuring, the parliament has been shifted to Lilongwe and all parliament members are required to spend time in the new capital. Lilongwe is now the political centre of Malawi, but Blantyre remains the Economic capital.