Dedza is the main township of Dedza District

Dedza District

Dedza is a district in the Central Region of Malawi. It covers an area of 3,624 km.² to the south of the Malawi capital, Lilongwe, between Mozambique and Lake Malawi.-Geography:...

 in the Central Region

Central Region, Malawi

The Central Region of Malawi, population 5,491,034 , covers an area of 35,592 km². Its capital city is Lilongwe, which is also the national capital...

 of Malawi

Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...

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Dedza is located about 85 km south of Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, off the M1 road to Blantyre at a point where a trans-African highway from Johannesburg enters the country.

At an altitude of 1590m it is the highest town in Malawi. In June and July it can be chilly, especially in the mornings and evenings.

The town is based around a bypass loop of tarmac road connected to the M1. At the northern end of the town centre there is a bus station, Town Assembly offices, sports stadium, police station, banks and petrol station. At the southern end there is a hospital and large market. There are many shops and businesses along the road and a parallel dirt road. Two other petrol stations are located on the M1.

Accommodation is available at the Dedza Potteryhttp://nyasalodges.com, Panjira Lodge, Rainbow Resthouse and other local resthouses. There are anumber of bars and cafes in the town centre, such as the Boiz Club and Golden Dish and a cyber-cafe - AY Business Cafe. The famous Dedza Pottery Coffee Shop is 1km along a dirt road near the M1 northern junction.

The Dedza Pottery sells a wide range of ceramics and there are a number of craft shops along the dirt road to it. A walk up to the top of Dedza Mountain (2198m) is possible on a maintenance road for the communication aerials.

The main industries of the town are Paragon Ceramics, which makes floor and roof tiles, etc, located at the Dedza Pottery and the WICO Sawmill on the opposite side of the road.

The offices of the various departments of the Dedza District Assembly are located in the township. So also are offices for several NGOs operating in the district, such as Save the Children, Concern Universal and the Red Cross. The town has several primary schools, Mchisu day secondary school and Umbwi and Dedza Secondary boarding schools.

Dedza is linked with Norwich, UK by the Norwich-Dedza Partnershiphttp://www.norwich-dedza.org, a UK based charity. The partnership supports education, health, agriculture, tourism development and public sector organisations in Dedza District through volunteer workers, supply of computers and other materials and small scale funding.

Demographics

Year	Population
1987	16 899
1998	15 259
2008	15 753