Lilongwe
Capital of Malawi: population, location, elevation, climate and landmarks.
Lilongwe Area 2: Brian Dell, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
Overview
Lilongwe is the capital of Malawi, in Central Region. About 1.1 million people live in the city proper, making it the 1st largest city of Malawi in our atlas.
It lies at 13.97° S, 33.79° E, about 1,056 m (3,465 ft) above sea level, and keeps time on the Africa/Blantyre time zone. It sits inside the tropics.
Location
Red dot: Lilongwe. Green dots: other major cities of Malawi. Map data: Natural Earth.
Climate
Lilongwe has a Mediterranean (hot summer) climate (Köppen Csa). The warmest month is usually Oct, with average highs near 31°C (88°F); the coolest nights come in Jul at about 9°C (48°F). Around 1,047 mm (41 in) of rain and snow falls in a typical year, most of it in Jan.
Bars: average daily high and low (°C) for each month; blue columns and figures: average precipitation (mm). Gridded 2001-2025 averages from NASA POWER, so mountain and coastal spots can differ from local station records.
Landmarks and places to see
Popular sights within a few kilometres of the city centre, ranked by how widely they are documented on Wikipedia.
What to eat in MalawiNational dishes, street food, desserts and drinks on Intercontinental Chef.Nearby major cities
- Salima · 75 km
- Kasungu · 109 km
- Mangochi · 169 km
- Liwonde · 197 km
- Zomba · 228 km
- Blantyre · 241 km
- Mzuzu · 279 km
- Karonga · 448 km
- Population, coordinates, elevation, time zone: GeoNames 927967 (CC BY 4.0)
- Wikidata Q3876 (CC0)
- Climate: NASA POWER 2001-2025 climatology
Text written by Geographical Effect from these sources.
- Lilongwe Area 2: Brian Dell, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
- Entrance to Luanar: Derek J Moore, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
