Chikwawa is a town with a population of 6,114 according to the 2018 census located in the Southern Region of

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

on the west bank of the

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 ...

. It is the administrative capital of the Chikwawa District. Chikwawa lies almost south of

Blantyre Blantyre is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with a population of 800,264 . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is ...

, the commercial capital of Malawi. Chikwawa, then known as Chibisa's village, was the first town in Malawi to be seen by European explorers, when visited in March 1859 by

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, and an explorer in Africa. Livingstone was married to Mary Moffat Livings ...

's second Zambesi expedition. Their way upstream was blocked by the Kapachira Falls, and they returned in August for land exploration which reached Lake Malawi on 18 September. The surrounding region was ravaged by Portuguese slave traders in the nineteenth century. The Majete Wildlife Reserve, the Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve and Lengwe National Park lie in the vicinity of Chikwawa. Large numbers of hippopotamus and crocodiles inhabit the Shire River area.

References

Populated places in Southern Region, Malawi {{Malawi-geo-stub