Lilongwe is located in the central region of Malawi, in the district of the same name, near the borders with Mozambique and Zambia It is named after the Lilongwe River.
In 1965, Malawi’s first president, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, selected Lilongwe as an economic growth point for northern and central Malawi. The first plan for Lilongwe was published in 1955, before the decision was made in 1965 to move the capital from Zomba to Lilongwe. The aims of the move were to improve Government efficiency by concentrating Central Government administration in one city and to stimulate development in the Central and Northern Regions by establishing a major growth point in the centre of the country. In 1975, the city replaced the previous capital, Zomba.
Development projects of the 1970s and 1980s included the construction of Lilongwe International Airport, which served the city; rail connections to Salima to the east and the Zambian border to the west; industrial areas in the northern part of the city; and an agricultural program for the fertile tobacco lands of the Central Region Plateau.
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1974 10th Anniversary of Independence
