Rumphi is the capital of the Rumphi District (Rumphi Boma) 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 northe ...

. 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 pass by someone without greeting them). It is directly on the way to

Nyika National Park Nyika National Park is Malawi’s largest national park, with an area of 3200 km2 (1250 mile2). Location and road access The park covers practically the whole of the Nyika Plateau in northern Malawi, about 480 km north of Lilongwe and 60 km no ...

Nyika Plateau The Nyika Plateau lies in northern Malawi, with a small portion in north eastern Zambia. Most of it lies at elevations of between , the highest point being at Nganda Peak. It is roughly a diamond in shape, with a long north–south axis of about ...

and

Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve is a national game reserve in Malawi. In contrast to the Nyika National Park on the Nyika Plateau, much of Vwaza is located on low-lying flat ground although the eastern side of the park is hilly. It is located to the so ...

. Unlike its larger neighbour,

Mzuzu Mzuzu is the capital of Malawi's Northern Region and is the third largest city by population in Malawi. The city has 221,272 residents and 20,000 commuters ( Mzuzu University students) with about 1.7 million people in its metropolitan area. It ...

, which has mild sunny weather almost all year, Rumphi has a differing climate. The town, being surrounded by hills, always has a nice wind. The town is bounded by the Rumphi river in the east and the

South Rukuru River The South Rukuru River is a river of northern Malawi. The South Rukuru rises in southern Mzimba District, and flows roughly north-northeast to empty into Lake Malawi. Its watershed mostly lies in the Mzimba Plain. Its tributaries drain the we ...

in the south. Rumphi is famous for the cattle market. On every Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m. farmers and dealers are coming from far to sell and buy cattle. It is the biggest cattle market between

Lilongwe Lilongwe (, , ) is the capital and most populated city of the African country of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020 that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in t ...

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. His ...

, and

Mzimba Mzimba is a town in the Mzimba District of Malawi. The district is inhabited by descendants of Tumbuka and few Ngoni people. The district of Mzimba has a number of Traditional Authorities from the Ngoni people. The head of these Traditional ...

. Along the road to Bolero, opposite the FDH Bank i
Roscher Youth Development Centre
and on its plot to the South Rukuru River the Support Malawi e.V. foundation initiated the first Earthbag House Lodge in Rumphi built by the youth with walls of stacked sand bags. In addition an Earthbag Restaurant got attractive for visitors of the park-like area at the river as well as residents of the nice lodges. Around Rumphi you find many tobacco fields as well as fields of

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn ( North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. ...

, groundnuts,

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated a ...

potatoes The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern United ...

and much more.

Demographics

Gallery

File:P1120150b.jpg, alt=Weekly cattle market in Rumphi, Weekly cattle market in Rumphi File:EarthbagHouseRumphi.jpg, First earthbag house in Rumphi district at Roscher Youth Development Centre

References

Populated places in Northern Region, Malawi {{malawi-geo-stub