Chitipa

Chitipa
Coordinates	9 ° 42 ′  S , 33 ° 16 ′  E Coordinates: 9 ° 42 ′  S , 33 ° 16 ′  E
Basic data
Country	Malawi
region	Northern region
District	Chitipa
height	1200 m
surface	-
Metropolitan area	4288 km²
Residents	17,743 (2018)
Metropolitan area	126,799
density	-
Metropolitan area	29.6  Ew. / km²

Chitipa is a city with 17,743 inhabitants (2018 census) in the extreme northwest of Malawi at an altitude of 1200 meters and the capital of the district of the same name with an area of ​​4288 km² and 126,799 inhabitants. It is located on the gravel road from Karonga to the Great North Road ( Tanzam Highway ) in Zambia from Lusaka in Zambia to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania . The district stretches from the north of the Nyika plateau over the mountains to the north to the Tanzanian border and from the slope to Karonga in the east to the Zambian border. No road is paved here. Especially in the rainy season there are regular supply bottlenecks. The city of Chitipa has a runway, a 100-bed hospital, elementary and secondary schools with boarding schools, weekly markets, supermarkets, post offices and banks.

Chitipa belonged to the ancient kingdom of the Ngonde . These people still settle in this area as far as Karonga. During the British colonial times the place was called Fort Hill.

Chitipa's problems include clearing on the surrounding mountains, the Mafinga Hills in the south and Misuku Hills in the east. The forest has been cleared to such an extent that landslides are the result and the springs dry out in the dry season. The farming methods used by farmers here are considered antiquated, even for Malawi. There is a lack of artificial fertilizers , good seeds , transport and simple irrigation. Chitipa, along with Ntchisi and Nsanje, is one of the districts with the most clay houses. Their roofs are neither made of fired bricks nor sheet metal, as is the case in other regions of the country.

Web links

• Ngonde in Malawi ( Memento from June 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
• Photo report from Chitipa