Although Malawi has not yielded much in the way of hominid remains (to date, only one jaw bone dated around 2.5 million years) it is in the region that the earliest ancestors of humans lived. The roots of language, story and communication were formed here.
Before recorded history, movements of people swept through Central Africa and national boundaries were not recognised. Only with the colonial influx were borders and nations established - often with little reference to the people who lived there.
Africa was involved from earliest times in trade with places as far away as Arabia, India and China. Slave taking and the exchange of gold, ivory and other tropical products took place long before travellers arrived from Europe. There is a strong Islamic influence, especially around the lake, from these early contacts, which predated a powerful Christian initiative into the region through missionaries like David Livingstone and many others.
During the colonial period, the country was incorporated into the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, achieving independence in 1964 with Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda as Prime Minister, Later (life) President. In 1994 Malawi held democratic elections for the first time since independence, and the current President, re-elected in 1999, is Dr Bakili Muluzi.