The nation of Malawi is divided into three regions, and 27 districts. Each region has a capital with the national capital located in Lilongwe. Each district has a district capital. Malawi is governed by a western type of federal government, and also has a functioning tribal authority, which holds strong authority throughout the nation.

 

The northern region contains 6 of the districts. They include Chitipa, Karonga, Likoma, Mzimba, Nkhata Bay and Rumphi. The capital of the northern district is Mzuzu listing a population of 119,592 in the 2003 census. The total population for the northern district was 1,389,475.

 

The central region contains 9 of the districts. They are: Dedza, Dowa, Kasungu, Lilongwe, Mchinji, Nkhotakota, Ntcheu, Ntchisi, and Salima. The capital for the region is Lilongwe which is also the national capital for the nation. Its population in 2003 was listed as 597,619. The population for the entire region was listed as 4,814,321.

 

The southern region is the most populas region of the country and contains 11 districts. They are: Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Machinga, Mangochi, Mulanje, Mwanza, Nsanje, Thyolo, Phalombe and Zomba.
Blantyre, the commercial center of the nation hosts a population of 646,235 and its neighboring community of Zomba, the capital during the colonial period, has a population of 90,325. The total population for the southern district is 5,345,045.

 

    Nineteen communities listed a population of more than 10,000 people. Four were in the northern region (Karonga, Mzimba, Mzuzu, and Rumphi), seven were in the central (Dedza, Kasungu, Lilongwe, Mchinji, Mponela, Nkhotakota, and Salima), and the remaining eight were in the south (Balaka, Blantyre, Liwonde, Mangochi, Monkey Bay, Mulanje, Nsanje, and Zomba). A number of these communities are also recognized in the nation as trading centers. Beyond the cities and the trading centers are the tiny mud-hut villages that dot the landscape of the rural areas.

 

    The total population for all the tribes and peoples of the nation in 2003 was listed as 11,548,841.