Mulanje
Mulanje, formerly called Mlanje, is a town in the Southern Region of Malawi, close to the border with Mozambique, to the east. It is near the Mulanje Massif.<ref name="2R">Template:Cite web</ref>
History
A mission was established here and it was at first on the banks of the mountain. It moved in 1928 to new buildings which included staff houses, a small maternity based hospital and a school. 1950 saw the construction of a place for trainee midwives to live and eight years later an operating theatre was built. 1972 saw a new block for maternity, 1980 a ward for children and in 1999 it could claim to be a full hospital as it opened a ward for men.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Location
The town of Mulanje lies along the M-2 highway from Thyolo to the west to the Mozambican border to the east. It is approximately Template:Convert, by road, south-east of Blantyre, the commercial and financial capital of Malawi.<ref name="3R">Template:Google maps</ref> This is approximately Template:Convert, by road, southeast of Lilongwe, the largest city in Malawi and the country's capital.<ref name="4R">Template:Google maps</ref> The geographical coordinates of the town of Mulanje are: 16°01'33.0"S, 35°30'29.0"E (Latitude:-16.025833; Longitude:35.508056).<ref name="5R">Template:Google maps</ref>
Notable people
The activist Maggie Banda was born here in 1975 although her family moved to Blantyre when she was a child.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Roseby Gadama was born here and in 2019 she was elected as a member of parliament to represent Zomba Thondwe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Rev. Lindesay Robertson was based here in 1959 at the mission. He was married to doctor Kate Robertson and she became the only doctor to 200,000 people.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1961 Kate stood for parliament. Lindesay organised hundreds of people to dig pipelines to bring water off Mulanje Massif.<ref name=scotguy>Template:Cite web</ref>
Overview
Mulanje is a tourist attraction and serves as a staging base for climbers who want to scale Mount Mulanje or those who want to explore the countryside at its base. Residential and camping accommodation is available.<ref name="6R">Template:Cite web</ref>
Mulanje is also the headquarters of a conservation group, the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust.<ref name="2R"/> The small town of Mulanje is the center of Malawi's tea growing industry.<ref name="7R">Template:Cite web</ref> The Lujeri Tea Estates, adjacent to the border with Mozambique, is the location of the Template:Convert Ruo–Ndiza Hydroelectric Power Station, that is owned and operated by Mulanje Renewable Energy Plc, a private enterprise.<ref name="8R">Template:Cite web</ref>
Demographics
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1987 | 7,113 |
| 1998 | 12,548 |
| 2008 | 14,497 |
| 2018 | 14,782<ref name="1R"/> |
Points of interest
The following points of interest in or near the town of Mulanje include the following: (a) the offices of Mulanje Town Council (b) the offices of Mulanje District Administration (c) Mulanje District Hospital<ref name="5R"/> (d) a branch of National Bank of Malawi<ref name="9R">Template:Cite web</ref> (e) a branch of NBS Bank<ref name="10R">Template:Cite web</ref> and (f) the headquarters of Malawi-Mulanje Mountain Biodiversity Conservation Project.<ref name="11R">Template:Cite web</ref>