Chitipa District
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Through Ethnicity
Government and administrative divisions
There are five National Assembly constituencies in Chitipa:
- Chitipa - Central
- Chitipa - East
- Chitipa - North
- Chitipa - South
- Chitipa - Wenya
Since the 2009 election all of these constituencies have been held by members of the Democratic Progressive Party.
The district council has two arms of government: the political arm and administrative arm. The political arm is headed by an elected council chairperson, a position which has been held by Isaac Mwepa since 2014. The administrative arm is headed by a District Commissioner. The District also has ten elected councillors:
- Isaac Mwepa (who is also the council chairperson)
- Newton Sibale
- James Ng'ambi
- Maxwell Kayira
- Christopher Munyenyembe
- Chitatata Chunda
- Ginilon Mulungu
- Davie Silwimba
- Osman Kanyika
- Ambokire Chiona
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Demographics
Ethnic groups
At the time of the 2018 Census of Malawi, the distribution of the population of Chitipa District by ethnic group was as follows:
- 30.4% Lambya
- 24.5% Tumbuka
- 15.4% Sukwa
- 1.1% Nkhonde
- 0.5% Chewa
- 0.3% Ngoni
- 0.1% Tonga
- 0.1% Lomwe
- 0.1% Yao
- 0.1% Nyanja
- 0.0% Mang'anja
- 0.0% Sena
- 27.5% Others
Languages
A number of different languages or dialects spoken in the district. According to a language survey carried out in 2006 by the University of Malawi, the principal languages spoken are as follows (the spelling Ci- is also found):
- Chindali / Chisukwa / Chilambya
- Chinamwanga / Chimambwe / Chiwandya
- Chinyiha / Chinyika
- Chibemba
- Chitumbuka
The first three groups are fairly close, and are all classified as belonging to zone M in the Guthrie classification of Bantu languages (specifically to the Rukwa language group). Chibemba is also classified in zone M, but in a different group, while Chitumbuka is a little more distant and is classified as belonging to zone N.
The Nyiha language (Chinyiha or Cinyiha) is spoken in the far north-west corner of the district but also, in a form called Chinyika (which is described as a dialect of Chinyiha heavily influenced by Chitumbuka) further south around the village of Chisenga. Between these two, around the town of Chitipa itself, Lambya is dominant, although there are also pockets of speakers of Chinamwanga, Mambwe and Bemba. To the east of Chitipa, south of the Tanzanian border, live speakers of Chisukwa and Chindali. In the south of the district, Tumbuka is the main language. There are also a few Kyangonde speakers along the border with Karonga District.