Part of Africa 's Great Rift Valley , Malawi is landlocked between Tanzania (to the north and east), Zambia (to the west) and Mozambique (to the south), covering nearly 118,500 square km (roughly the size of Pennsylvania ). The country is dominated by Lake Malawi , the third largest lake in Africa , which runs nearly the entire length of Malawi from North to South.In fact, nearly 20% of Malawi is its great lake. The Shire River flows out of Lake Malawi at the southern end, running in to Lakes Malombe and Chirwa and finally emptying in to the great Zambezi River in Mozambique .
