East African Rift
The East African Rift is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of 22 -- 25 million years ago. In the past it was considered to be part of a larger Great Rift Valley that extended north to Asia Minor; the rift, a narrow zone, is a developing divergent tectonic plate boundary where the African Plate is in the process of splitting into two tectonic plates, called the Somali Plate and the Nubian Plate, at a rate of 6–7 mm annually. As extension continues, lithospheric rupture will occur within 10 million years. A series of distinct rift basins, the East African Rift System extends over thousands of kilometers; the EAR consists of two main branches. The Eastern Rift Valley includes the Main Ethiopian Rift, running eastward from the Afar Triple Junction, which continues south as the Kenyan Rift Valley; the Western Rift Valley includes the Albertine Rift, farther south, the valley of Lake Malawi. To the north of the Afar Triple Junction, the rift follows one of two paths: west to the Red Sea Rift or east to the Aden Ridge in the Gulf of Aden.
The EAR runs from the Afar Triple Junction in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia through eastern Africa, terminating in Mozambique. The EAR transects through Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania and Mozambique, it runs offshore of the coast of Mozambique along the Kerimba and Lacerda grabens, which are joined by the Davie Ridge, a 2,200 km-long relic fracture zone that cuts across the West Somali basin, straddling the boundary between Tanzania and Mozambique. The Davie Ridge ranges between 30–120 km wide, with a west-facing scarp along the southern half of its length that rises to 2,300 m above the sea floor, its movement is concurrent with the EAR. Over time, many theories have tried to clarify the evolution of the East African Rift. In 1972 it was proposed that the EAR was not caused by tectonic activity, but rather by differences in crustal density. Since the 1990s, evidence has been found in favor of mantle plumes beneath the EAR. Others proposed an African superplume causing mantle deformation.
The question is still debated. The most recent and accepted view is the theory put forth in 2009: that magmatism and plate tectonics have a feedback with one another, controlled by oblique rifting conditions. At that time it was suggested that lithospheric thinning generated volcanic activity, further increasing the magmatic processes at play such as intrusions and numerous small plumes; these processes further thin the lithosphere in saturated areas, forcing the thinning lithosphere to behave like a mid-ocean ridge. Although reasonably considered, the exact conformation of deep-rooted mantle plumes is still a matter of active research. Studies that contribute to the broader understanding on the evolution of rifts can be grouped into the techniques of isotope geochemistry, seismic tomography and geodynamical modeling; the varying geochemical signatures of a suite of Ethiopian lavas suggest multiple plume sources: at least one of deep mantle origin, one from within the subcontinental lithosphere.
In accordance, a study of Halldórsson et al. in 2014 compare the geochemical signature of rare earth’s isotopes from Xenolith and lava samples collected in the EAR. The results corroborate the coexistence of a superplume “common to the entire rift” with another mantle material source being either of subcontinental type or of mid-ocean ridge type; the geophysical method of Seismic_tomography is a suitable tool to investigate Earth’s subsurface structures deeper than the crust. It is an inverse problem technique that models which are the velocities of the inner Earth that reproduce the seismographic data recorded all around the world. Recent improvements of tomographic Earth models of P-wave and S-wave velocities suggest that a superplume upwelling from the lower mantle at the northeastern EAR feeds plumes of smaller scale into the upper mantle. Parallel to geological and geophysical measures it is constructive to test hypotheses on computer based geodynamical models. A 3D numerical geodynamical model of the plume-crust coupling was capable of reproducing the lateral asymmetry of the EAR around the Tanzania craton.
Numerical modeling of plume-induced continental break-up shows two distinct stages, crustal rifting followed by lithospheric breakup, the upwelling between stages of an upper mantle plume. Prior to rifting, enormous continental flood basalts erupted on the surface and uplift of the Ethiopian and East African plateaus occurred; the first stage of rifting of the EAR is characterized by rift localization and magmatism along the entire rift zone. Periods of extension alternated with times of relative inactivity. There was the reactivation of a pre-Cambrian weakness in the crust, a suture zone of multiple cratons, displacement along large boundary faults, the development of deep asymmetric basins; the second stage of rifting is characterized by the deactivation of large boundary faults, the development of internal fault segments, the concentration of magmatic activity towards the rifts. Today, the narrow rift segments of the East African Rift system form zones of localized strain; these rifts are the result of the actions of numerous normal faults which are typical of all tectonic rift zones.
As aforementioned, voluminous magmatism and continental flood basalts characterize some of the rift segments, while other segments, such as the Western branch, have only small volumes of volcanic rock. The African continental crust is cool and strong. Many cratons are found throughout the EAR, such as the Tanzania and Kaapvaal cra
Baboon
Baboons are primates comprising the genus Papio, one of the 23 genuses of Old World monkeys. The common names of the five species of baboons are the hamadryas, the Guinea, the olive, the yellow, the chacma baboons, they are each native to one of five specific areas of Africa, the hamadryas baboon is native to part of the Arabian Peninsula. They are among the largest non-hominoid primates. Baboons have existed for at least two million years. Baboons vary in weight depending on the species; the smallest, the Guinea baboon, is 50 cm in length and weighs only 14 kg, while the largest, the chacma baboon, is up to 120 cm in length and weighs 40 kg. All baboons have long, dog-like muzzles, powerful jaws with sharp canine teeth, close-set eyes, thick fur except on their muzzles, short tails, nerveless, hairless pads of skin on their protruding buttocks called ischial callosities that provide for sitting comfort. Male hamadryas baboons have large white manes. Baboons exhibit sexual dimorphism in colour and/or canine teeth development.
Baboons have diurnality and are terrestrial. They are found in open woodlands across Africa, they are omnivorous: common sources of food are insects, shellfish, birds, vervet monkeys, small antelopes. Their principal predators are Nile crocodiles, large cats, hyenas. Most baboons live in hierarchical troops containing harems. Baboons can determine from vocal exchanges. In general, each male can mate with any female: the mating order among the males depends on their social ranking. Females give birth after a six-month gestation to a single infant; the females tend to be the primary caretaker of the young, although several females may share the duties for all of their offspring. Offspring are weaned after about a year, they reach sexual maturity in five to eight years. Males leave their birth group before they reach sexual maturity, whereas females stay in the same group their entire lives. Baboons in captivity live up to 45 years. Five species of Papio are recognized, although there is some disagreement about whether they are full species or subspecies.
They are P. papio, P. hamadryas, P. anubis and P. cynocephalus. The five species of baboons in the genus Papio are: Hamadryas baboon, Papio hamadryas Guinea baboon, Papio papio Olive baboon, Papio anubis Yellow baboon, Papio cynocephalus Central yellow baboon, Papio cynocephalus cynocephalus Ibean baboon, Papio cynocephalus ibeanus Kinda baboon, Papio cynocephalus kindae Chacma baboon, Papio ursinus Cape chacma, Papio ursinus ursinus Gray-footed chacma, Papio ursinus griseipes Ruacana chacma, Papio ursinus raucanaMany authors distinguish P. hamadryas as a full species, but regard all the others as subspecies of P. cynocephalus and refer to them collectively as "savanna baboons". This may not be helpful: it is based on the argument that the hamadryas baboon is behaviorally and physically distinct from other baboon species, that this reflects a separate evolutionary history. However, recent morphological and genetic studies of Papio show the hamadryas baboon to be more related to the northern baboon species than to the southern species.
The traditional five-form classification under-represents the variation within Papio. Some commentators argue that at least two more forms should be recognized, including the tiny Kinda baboon from Zambia, DR Congo, Angola, the gray-footed baboon found in Zambia, Zimbabwe and northern South Africa. However, current knowledge of the morphological and behavioral diversity within Papio is too poor to make any final, comprehensive judgment on this matter. In 2015 researchers found the oldest baboon fossil dating 2 million years ago. All baboons have long, dog-like muzzles, powerful jaws with sharp canine teeth, close-set eyes, thick fur except on their muzzles, short tails, rough spots on their protruding buttocks, called ischial callosities; these calluses are nerveless, hairless pads of skin that provide for the sitting comfort of the baboon. All baboon species exhibit pronounced sexual dimorphism in size, but sometimes in colour or canine development. Males of the hamadryas baboon species have large white manes.
Baboons are able to acquire orthographic processing skills. Baboons are found in open savannah, open woodland and hills across Africa, their diets are omnivorous: they eat insects, shellfish, birds, vervet monkeys, small antelopes. They are active at irregular times throughout the day and night, they can raid human dwellings, in South Africa, they have been known to prey on sheep and goats. Their principal predators are Nile crocodiles, lions and striped hyenas and cheetahs, they are considered a difficult prey for the leopard, a threat to young baboons. Large males will confront them by flashing their eyelids, showing their teeth by yawning, making gestures, chasing after the intruder/predator. Although they are not a prey species, baboons have been killed by the black mamba snake. T
Montane ecosystems
Montane ecosystems refers to any ecosystem found in mountains. These ecosystems are affected by climate, which gets colder as elevation increases, they are stratified according to elevation. Dense forests are common at moderate elevations. However, as the elevation increases, the climate becomes harsher, the plant community transitions to grasslands or tundra; as elevation increases, the climate becomes cooler, due to a decrease in atmospheric pressure and the adiabatic cooling of airmasses. The change in climate by moving up 100 meters on a mountain is equivalent to moving 80 kilometers towards the nearest pole; the characteristic flora and fauna in the mountains tend to depend on elevation, because of the change in climate. This dependency causes life zones to form: bands of similar ecosystems at similar altitude. One of the typical life zones on mountains is the montane forest: at moderate elevations, the rainfall and temperate climate encourages dense forests to grow. Holdridge defines the climate of montane forest as having a biotemperature of between 6 and 12 °C, where biotemperature is the mean temperature considering temperatures below 0 °C to be 0 °C.
Above the elevation of the montane forest, the trees thin out in the subalpine zone, become twisted krummholz, fail to grow. Therefore, montane forests contain trees with twisted trunks; this phenomenon is observed due to the increase in the wind strength with the elevation. The elevation where trees fail to grow is called the tree line; the biotemperature of the subalpine zone is between 3 and 6 °C. Above the tree line the ecosystem is called the alpine zone or alpine tundra, dominated by grasses and low-growing shrubs; the biotemperature of the alpine zone is between 1.5 and 3 °C. Many different plant species live in the alpine environment, including perennial grasses, forbs, cushion plants and lichens. Alpine plants must adapt to the harsh conditions of the alpine environment, which include low temperatures, ultraviolet radiation, a short growing season. Alpine plants display adaptations such as rosette structures, waxy surfaces, hairy leaves; because of the common characteristics of these zones, the World Wildlife Fund groups a set of related ecoregions into the "montane grassland and shrubland" biome.
Climates with biotemperatures below 1.5 °C tend to consist purely of ice. Montane forests occur between the subalpine zone; the elevation at which one habitat changes to another varies across the globe by latitude. The upper limit of montane forests, the forest line or timberline, is marked by a change to hardier species that occur in less dense stands. For example, in the Sierra Nevada of California, the montane forest has dense stands of lodgepole pine and red fir, while the Sierra Nevada subalpine zone contains sparse stands of whitebark pine; the lower bound of the montane zone may be a "lower timberline" that separates the montane forest from drier steppe or desert region. Montane forests differ from lowland forests in the same area; the climate of montane forests is colder than lowland climate at the same latitude, so the montane forests have species typical of higher-latitude lowland forests. Humans can disturb montane forests through agriculture. On isolated mountains, montane forests surrounded by treeless dry regions are typical "sky island" ecosystems.
Montane forests in temperate climate are one of temperate coniferous forest or temperate broadleaf and mixed forest, forest types that are well known from northern Europe, northern United States, southern Canada. The trees are, however not identical to those found further north: geology and climate causes different related species to occur in montane forests. Montane forests around the world tend to be more species-rich than those in Europe, because major mountain chains in Europe are oriented east-west. Montane forests in temperate climate occur in Europe, in North America, south-western South America, New Zealand and Himalaya. Montane forests in Mediterranean climate are warm and dry except in winter, when they are wet and mild; these forests are mixed conifer and broadleaf forests, with only a few conifer species. Pine and Juniper are typical trees found in Mediterranean montane forests; the broadleaf trees show more variety and are evergreen, e.g. evergreen Oak. This type of forest is found in the Mediterranean Basin, North Africa and the southwestern US, Iran and Afghanistan.
In the tropics, montane forests can consist of broadleaf forest in addition to coniferous forest. One example of a tropical montane forest is a cloud forest, which gains its moisture from clouds and fog. Cloud forests exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and vegetation, in which case they are referred to as mossy forests. Mossy forests develop on the saddles of mountains, where moisture introduced by settling clouds is more retained. Depending on latitude, the lower limit of montane rainforests on large mountains is between 1,500 and 2,500 metres while the upper limit is from 2,400 to 3,300 metres; the subalpine zone is the biotic zone below the tree line around the world. In tropical regions of Southeast Asia the tree line may be above 4,000 m, whereas in Scotland it may be as low as 450 m. Species that occur in this zone depend on the location of the zone on the Earth, for example, snow gum in Australia, or subalpine larch, mountain h
Mbeya Region
Mbeya Region is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. It is located in the country's southwest; the regional capital is the city of Mbeya. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population of 2,707,410, lower than the pre-census projection of 2,822,396. For 2002-2012, the region's 2.7 percent average annual population growth rate was tied for the tenth highest in the country. It was tied for the eighteenth most densely populated region with 45 people per square kilometre. In 2016, the town of Tunduma and the districts of Ileje, Mbozi and Songwe were split from Mbeya Region to create Songwe Region. Mbeya Region is now bordered to the northwest by Tabora Region, to the northeast by Singida Region, to the east by Iringa Region, to the south by Songwe Region and Malawi, to the west by Songwe Region. Prior to the creation of Songwe Region, Mbeya Region covered an area of 62,420 square kilometres, it now covers an area of 35,954 square kilometres. The commissioner for Mbeya Region is Amos Gabriel Makalla.
In 2012, the region was administratively divided into eight districts: After the 2016 reorganization, Mbeya now comprises seven districts: Busokelo, Kyela, Mbeya City, Mbeya Rural, Rungwe. It was announced in February 2012 that the collapsed volcano 200 km north of Mbeya, Mount Ngualla, contained one of the largest rare earth oxide deposits in the world. Godfrey Mwakikagile Christopher Mwashinga Fadhy Mtanga Christopher Zacharia Lameck
Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi and Tanzania. It is the fourth largest fresh water lake in the world by volume, the ninth largest lake in the world by area—and the third largest and second deepest lake in Africa. Lake Malawi is home to more species of fish than any other lake, including at least 700 species of cichlids; the Mozambique portion of the lake was declared a reserve by the Government of Mozambique on June 10, 2011, while in Malawi a portion of the lake is included in Lake Malawi National Park. Lake Malawi is a meromictic lake; the permanent stratification of Lake Malawi's water and the oxic-anoxic boundary are maintained by moderately small chemical and thermal gradients. Lake Malawi is between 560 kilometres and 580 kilometres long, about 75 kilometres wide at its widest point; the lake has a total surface area of about 29,600 square kilometres.
The lake is 706 m at its deepest point, located in a major depression in the north-central part. Another smaller depression in the far north reaches a depth of 528 m; the southern half of the lake is shallower. The lake has shorelines on western Mozambique, eastern Malawi, southern Tanzania; the largest river flowing into it is the Ruhuhu River, there is an outlet at its southern end, the Shire River, a tributary that flows into the large Zambezi River in Mozambique. Evaporation accounts for more than 80% of the water loss from the lake more than the outflowing Shire River; the lake is about 350 kilometres southeast of Lake Tanganyika, another of the great lakes of the East African Rift. The Lake Malawi National Park is located at the southern end of the lake. Malawi is one of an ancient lake; the lake lies in a valley formed by the opening of the East African Rift, where the African tectonic plate is being split into two pieces. This is called a divergent plate tectonics boundary. Malawi has been estimated to be 1—2 million years old, but more recent evidence points to a older lake with a basin that started to form about 8.6 mya and deep-water condition first appeared 4.5 mya.
The water levels have varied over time, ranging from 600 m below current level to 10–20 m above. During periods the lake dried out completely, leaving only one or two small alkaline and saline lakes in what are Malawi's deepest parts. A water chemistry resembling the current conditions only appeared about 60,000 years ago. Major low-water periods are estimated to have occurred about 1.6 to 1.0—0.57 million years ago, 420,000 to 250,000—110,000 years ago, about 25,000 years ago and 18,000–10,700 years ago. During the peak of the low-water period between 1390 and 1860 AD, it may have been 120–150 m below current water levels; the lake's water is alkaline and warm with a typical surface temperature between 24 and 29 °C, while deep sections are about 22 °C. The thermocline is located at a depth of 40–100 m; the oxygen limit is at a depth of 250 m restricting fish and other aerobic organisms to the upper part. The water is clear for a lake and the visibility can be up to 20 m, but less than half this figure is more common and it is below 3 m in muddy bays.
However during the rainy season months of January to March, the waters are more muddy due to muddy river inflows. The Portuguese trader Candido José da Costa Cardoso was the first European to visit the lake in 1846. David Livingstone reached the lake in 1859, named it Lake Nyasa, he referred to it by a pair of nicknames: Lake of Stars and Lake of Storms. The Lake of Stars nickname came after Livingstone observed lights from the lanterns of the fishermen in Malawi on their boats, that resemble, from a distance, stars in the sky. After experiencing the unpredictable and violent gales that sweep through the area he referred to it as the Lake of Storms. On 16 August 1914, Lake Malawi was the scene of a brief naval battle when the British gunboat SS Gwendolen, commanded by a Captain Rhoades, heard that World War I had broken out, he received orders from the British Empire's high command to "sink, burn, or destroy" the German Empire's only gunboat on the lake, the Hermann von Wissmann, commanded by a Captain Berndt.
Rhoades's crew found the Hermann von Wissmann in a bay near Sphinxhaven, in German East African territorial waters. Gwendolen disabled the German boat with a single cannon shot from a range of about 1,800 metres; this brief gunboat conflict was hailed by The Times in England as the British Empire's first naval victory of World War I. The partition of the lake's surface area between Malawi and Tanzania is under dispute. Tanzania claims. On the other hand, Malawi claims the whole of the surface of this lake, not in Mozambique, including the waters that are next to the shoreline of Tanzania. Both sides cite the Heligoland Treaty of 1890 between Great Britain and Germany concerning the border; the wrangle in this dispute occurred when the British colonial government, just after they had captured Tanganyika from Germany, placed all of the waters of the lake under a single jurisdiction, that of the territory of Nyasaland, without a sepa
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 2008 estimates, Karonga has a population of 42,555. Pre-historic tools and remains of hominids discovered in Malawi's remote northern district of Karonga provides further proof that the area could be the cradle of humankind. Professor Friedemann Schrenk of the Goethe University in Frankfurt told Reuters News that two students working on the excavation site in September 2009 had discovered prehistoric tools and a tooth of a hominid. "This latest discovery of prehistoric tools and remains of hominids provides additional proof to the theory that the Great Rift Valley of Africa and the excavation site near Karonga can be considered the cradle of humankind." Schrenk said. The site contains some of the earliest dinosaurs which lived between 100 million and 140 million years ago and early hominids believed to have lived between a million and 6 million years ago.
The discovery was at Malema excavation site 10 km from Karonga. In terms of more recent prehistory, Karonga has an abundance of Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological materials dating to the Middle and Later Stone Ages, as well as the Iron Age; some time before 1877 Karonga existed as the stronghold of a famous Arab slaver. In 1883 a British trading post, which formed the basis of the modern town, was opened there. British explorer Sir Harry Johnston bought the post in 1895 and ended the slave trade on Lake Nyasa's western shore. At this point Karonga became agricultural centre. According to Lonely Planet, the town "still bears a strong Swahili-Arab influence today."On 11 July 2008 the Kayelekera mine in Karonga celebrated 1.5 million hours of accident-free uranium mining. "Analysts" claim. The mine met with controversy due to exposing people to radiation. In December 2009 the area suffered a series of earthquakes. Karonga is at an elevation of 1,568 feet on the western shore of Lake Nyasa, it is situated 17.3 miles away from Kenan Ngomba, 11 miles away from Kaporo, 26.6 miles away from Kilondo and 7.6 miles away from Lupembe.
Tumbuka is used in Karonga for both home and school. Karonga is known as "an island of Tumbuka language and culture in a sea of Ngonde people." The economy of the area is based on cotton and maize production along the lake and on coffee and livestock in the west. Karongans are dependent on subsistence fishing. Karonga's climate is classified as tropical; the summers are much rainier than the winters in Karonga. The climate here is classified as Aw by the Köppen-Geiger system. In Karonga, the average annual temperature is 25.6 °C. The Cultural & Museum Centre Karonga is Karonga's most popular attraction, it is home to the Malawisaurus, a 150-million-year-old fossil discovered 45 kilometres south of Karonga. It displays an exhibit entitled "From Dinosaurs to Democracy". Karonga is home to the Karonga Airport. Buses travel from Nkhata Bay to Karonga. Baldauf, Richard B.. "Language Planning and Policy in Africa: Botswana, Malawi and South Africa". 1. Multilingual Matters. ISBN 1-85359-725-2. OCLC 56751169. Murphy, Alan.
"Southern Africa: Join the Safari". Lonely Planet. ISBN 1-74059-745-1. OCLC 76936284. Wright, David. "Renewed geoarchaeological investigations of Mwanganda's Village, Malawi". Geoarchaeology. 29: 98–120. Doi:10.1002/gea.21469
Malawi
Malawi the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in southeast Africa, known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, Mozambique on the east and west. Malawi is over 118,000 km2 with an estimated population of 18,091,575. Lake Malawi takes up about a third of Malawi's area, its capital is Lilongwe, Malawi's largest city. The name Malawi comes from an old name of the Nyanja people that inhabit the area; the country is nicknamed "The Warm Heart of Africa" because of the friendliness of the people. The part of Africa now known as Malawi was settled by migrating Bantu groups around the 10th century. Centuries in 1891 the area was colonised by the British. In 1953 Malawi known as Nyasaland, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, became a protectorate within the semi-independent Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland; the Federation was dissolved in 1963. In 1964 the protectorate over Nyasaland was ended and Nyasaland became an independent country under Queen Elizabeth II with the new name Malawi.
Two years it became a republic. Upon gaining independence it became a totalitarian one-party state under the presidency of Hastings Banda, who remained president until 1994. Malawi has a democratic, multi-party government headed by an elected president Arthur Peter Mutharika; the country has a Malawian Defence Force that includes a navy and an air wing. Malawi's foreign policy is pro-Western and includes positive diplomatic relations with most countries and participation in several international organisations, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Southern African Development Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the African Union. Malawi is among the world's least-developed countries; the economy is based in agriculture, with a rural population. The Malawian government depends on outside aid to meet development needs, although this need has decreased since 2000; the Malawian government faces challenges in building and expanding the economy, improving education, environmental protection, becoming financially independent amidst widespread unemployment.
Since 2005, Malawi has developed several programs that focus on these issues, the country's outlook appears to be improving, with a rise in the economy and healthcare seen in 2007 and 2008. Malawi has a low life expectancy and high infant mortality. There is a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, a drain on the labour force and government expenditures. There is a diverse population of native peoples and Europeans, with several languages spoken and an array of religious beliefs. Although there was periodic regional conflict fuelled in part by ethnic divisions in the past, by 2008 it had diminished and the concept of a Malawian nationality had reemerged; the area of Africa now known as Malawi had a small population of hunter-gatherers before waves of Bantu peoples began emigrating from the north around the 10th century. Although most of the Bantu peoples continued south, some remained permanently and founded ethnic groups based on common ancestry. By 1500 AD, the tribes had established the Kingdom of Maravi that reached from north of what is now Nkhotakota to the Zambezi River and from Lake Malawi to the Luangwa River in what is now Zambia.
Soon after 1600, with the area united under one native ruler, native tribesmen began encountering, trading with and making alliances with Portuguese traders and members of the military. By 1700, the empire had broken up into areas controlled by many individual ethnic groups; the Arab slave trade reached its height in the mid- 1800s, when 20,000 people were enslaved and considered to be carried yearly from Nkhotakota to Kilwa where they were sold. Missionary and explorer David Livingstone reached Lake Malawi in 1859 and identified the Shire Highlands south of the lake as an area suitable for European settlement; as the result of Livingstone's visit, several Anglican and Presbyterian missions were established in the area in the 1860s and 1870s, the African Lakes Company Limited was established in 1878 to set up a trade and transport concern working with the missions, a small mission and trading settlement was established at Blantyre in 1876 and a British Consul took up residence there in 1883.
The Portuguese government was interested in the area so, to prevent Portuguese occupation, the British government sent Harry Johnston as British consul with instructions to make treaties with local rulers beyond Portuguese jurisdiction. In 1889, a British protectorate was proclaimed over the Shire Highlands, extended in 1891 to include the whole of present-day Malawi as the British Central Africa Protectorate. In 1907, the protectorate was renamed Nyasaland, a name it retained for the remainder of its time under British rule. In a prime example of what is sometimes called the "Thin White Line" of colonial authority in Africa, the colonial government of Nyasaland was formed in 1891; the administrators were given a budget of £10,000 per year, enough to employ ten European civilians, two military officers, seventy Punjab Sikhs and eighty-five Zanzibar porters. These few employees were expected to administer and police a territory of around 94,000 square kilometres with between one and two million people.
In 1944, the Nyasaland African Congress was formed by the Africans of Nyasaland to promote local interests to the British g
