Zomba District

Zomba District is one of twelve districts in the Southern Region of Malawi, surrounded by the Districts of Chiradzulu, Blantyre, Mulanje, Phalombe, Machinga, Balaka and the Republic of Mozambique to the east. The total land area is 2,580 km², representing three percent of the total land area of Malawi.

The District has a total population of 583,167 (2008) resulting in a population density of 230 persons per km², more than half (52.6%) of whom are 18 years or younger. The annual population growth rate over the last decade was two percent. The main ethnic groups are Mang'anja/Nyanja, Yao and Lomwe. Chinyanja is the native language spoken by most of the inhabitants, although other languages like Chiyao and Chilomwe are also spoken. The two dominant religions are Christianity (78%) and Islam (20%).

There are ten National Assembly constituencies in Zomba:

Since the 2009 election all of these constituencies have been held by members of the Democratic Progressive Party.

The economy of Zomba District is dominated by agriculture, where individual maize production accounts for the main activity, while tobacco is cultivated as the main cash crop. Other crops produced include rice, cassava, sweet potato, groundnuts, beans and pigeon peas. Husbandry is still underdeveloped; nevertheless cattle, poultry, goats, sheep, pigs and rabbits are raised for meat production in Zomba, with poultry being the most common. Zomba on the other hand is one of the few Districts with well-spread pond-fishing. There are around 2,600 farmers engaged in aquaculture, operating more than 5,000 ponds and producing as much as 757 tonnes of fish annually. In addition, Lake Chilwa continues to be the main source of fish in the District, with an annual catchment of more than 5,000 tonnes.

...
Wikipedia