Blantyre District – The mission town named after Livingstone's birthplace
Blantyre was named after the village in Scotland where David Livingstone was born, one of the first missionary explorers to come to Nyasaland, as Malawi was called before independence in 1964. The town grew from a Church of Scotland mission founded in the 1870s, and its historic St Michael and All Angels Church is a reminder of those early years.
Over time Blantyre became the commercial heart of the country, where most industrial and business offices are located. Today the district covers 2,012 km² and has around 809,000 inhabitants, alongside Lilongwe and Mzuzu as one of Malawi's main cities. Do you have stories or photos from Blantyre? Share them with our community!