The Shire is a river in 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...

 and Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

. The river has been known as the Shiré or Chire River. It is the outlet of Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi , is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the Great Rift Valley system of East Africa. This lake, the third largest in Africa and the eighth largest lake in the world, is located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania...

 and flows into the Zambezi

Zambezi

The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. The area of its basin is , slightly less than half that of the Nile...

. Its length is 402 km; including Lake Malawi and the Ruhuhu, its headstream, it has a length of about 1200 km. The upper Shire River connects Lake Malawi with Lake Malombe

Lake Malombe

Lake Malombe is a lake in southern part of Malawi, on the Shire River, in the Southern Region. It is located at around . It has an area of about . In recent years the number of fishermen on the lake rose substantially, this led to local decline in some fish species, such as chambo.- References :*...

.

The river's valley is part of the Great Rift Valley

Great Rift Valley

The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...

system.