BLANTYRE

largest city in Malawi. It lies in the Shire Highlands, in the southern part of the country. Blantyre is at an altitude (3,409 feet ) that moderates the tropical climate. It has a rainy season (December to March), a cool season (April to August), and a hot season (September to November). It was founded in 1876 as a Church of Scotland mission station and was named after David Livingstone's Scottish birthplace. It became a British consular post in 1883 and attained municipal status in 1895, making it Malawi's oldest municipality. Its colonial trade in ivory laid the foundation for its present importance as a major commercial and distribution centre. In 1956 Blantyre was united with Limbe, a town 7 miles (11 km) to the east that had been founded in 1909 and had grown around the headquarters of the Malawi (then Nyasaland) Railways, with branch lines to Beira, Mozambique, and Harare, Zimbabwe. The amalgamated city is sometimes called Blantyre/Limbe. It has two cathedrals and the Polytechnic campus of the University of Malawi. Blantyre is Malawi's chief commercial and industrial centre. Light industries at the Chichiri industrial estate include shoe manufacture, corn (maize) milling, brewing, soft drinks production, baking, printing, and tobacco manufacture. While Blantyre acts as the regional shopping and administrative centre, Limbe is the centre for wholesale commerce, conducted mainly by the Indian community, and the headquarters of Malawi's tobacco auctions. Pop. (1994 est.) city, 446,800.