# STA Mbawela Traditional authority, Thyolo District – Villages

> Source: https://wherepedia.org/malawi/southern/thyolo/sta-mbawela/

Traditional authority · Thyolo District 

# STA Mbawela

STA Mbawela is a traditional authority area of Malawi in Thyolo District, Southern Region. It covers **131.3 km²**. 5 named villages and localities are recorded here.

- 131km²
- 738 mtypical elevation

## Where is STA Mbawela?

STA Mbawela lies in [Thyolo District](https://wherepedia.org/malawi/southern/thyolo/), [Southern Region](https://wherepedia.org/malawi/southern/), [Malawi](https://wherepedia.org/malawi/). It borders 4 other traditional authorities: [STA Tombondiya](https://wherepedia.org/malawi/southern/mulanje/sta-tombondiya/), [TA Changata](https://wherepedia.org/malawi/southern/thyolo/ta-changata/), [TA Kapichi](https://wherepedia.org/malawi/southern/thyolo/ta-kapichi/) and [TA Nsabwe](https://wherepedia.org/malawi/southern/thyolo/ta-nsabwe/). By area it is the 207th largest of 433 traditional authorities in Malawi. It covers 7.9% of [Thyolo District](https://wherepedia.org/malawi/southern/thyolo/). The centre of STA Mbawela is about 297 km in a straight line from Lilongwe, the capital. It is about 22 km from Thyolo, the main town of Thyolo District. The centre point is at -16.2448° N, 35.2285° E.

Source: [National Statistics Office of Malawi via OCHA HDX, administrative boundaries (COD-AB, CC BY-IGO)](https://data.humdata.org/dataset/cod-ab-mwi).

## Villages and localities in STA Mbawela

Open gazetteers list **5 villages, towns and localities** in STA Mbawela. Settlements here lie between about 413 m and 850 m above sea level (median 738 m).

- Chinzama
- Mbowera
- Ntchacha
- Sandama
- Zoa

Source: [GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) — settlements, natural and historic features](https://www.geonames.org/); [© OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract — named settlements](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright).

## Landscape and landmarks of STA Mbawela

Named natural and historic features inside STA Mbawela, from the GeoNames gazetteer.

### Water

17 rivers and streams; 1 waterfall.

- Chenachena Falls
- Chikokoto
- Chikomba
- Chinyenyedi
- Chinyenyedi River
- Gaze
- Manda
- Minembo
- Mlemba
- Mlondoto
- Nachambo
- Namaganzi
- Nswadzi River
- Nyagaru
- Phokera
- Phozwe
- Thuchila River
- Tsukamphete

### Hills and mountains

2 hills.

- Chinzama · 814 m
- Mabuwa · 756 m

Source: [GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) — settlements, natural and historic features](https://www.geonames.org/).

Places of worship are not listed. Elevations are from the GeoNames terrain model and are approximate.

## Weather in STA Mbawela and the best time to visit

Using the climate of Thyolo District, the warmest month is Nov (average 28 °C) and the coolest is Jul (19 °C). About 1,176 mm of rain falls in a year; the wettest month is Jan (309 mm) and the driest Aug (8 mm). The most comfortable months for a visit are **April to October**.

- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec

Month Average °C Rain mm 

Jan 25 309 

Feb 24 223 

Mar 24 171 

Apr 22 52 

May 21 20 

Jun 20 19 

Jul 19 33 

Aug 22 8 

Sep 25 10 

Oct 28 16 

Nov 28 84 

Dec 26 230 

Source: [NASA POWER climatology, retrieved 2026-10-29](https://power.larc.nasa.gov/).

## Nearest hospital, bank and fuel from STA Mbawela

Need Nearest mapped Distance 

Hospital Malamulo Hospital, Malawi · TA Kwethemule 15 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-16.17147&mlon=35.10985#map=17/-16.17147/35.10985) 

Bank Standard Bank · Luchenza Town 27 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-16.01616&mlon=35.29986#map=17/-16.01616/35.29986) 

Petrol pump TotalEnergies · Thyolo Boma 22 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-16.06580&mlon=35.14820#map=17/-16.06580/35.14820) 

Hotel Zelewe Forest Lodge · TA Mlolo 18 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-16.38529&mlon=35.14618#map=17/-16.38529/35.14618) 

School Msanjere Full Primary School · TA Mlolo 17 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-16.33795&mlon=35.09730#map=17/-16.33795/35.09730) 

College Malamulo College of Health Sciences · TA Kwethemule 15 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-16.17205&mlon=35.10847#map=17/-16.17205/35.10847) 

Police station Fatima Police · TA Mlolo 20 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-16.41912&mlon=35.17038#map=17/-16.41912/35.17038) 

Source: [Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0) and © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)](https://overturemaps.org/).

Straight-line distance from the centre of the division, within 40 km.

## Other traditional authorities in Thyolo District

- Luchenza Town
- STA Boyidi
- STA Thukuta
- TA Bvumbwe
- TA Changata
- TA Chimaliro
- TA Kapichi
- TA Kwethemule
- TA Mphuka
- TA Nanseta
- TA Nchilamwela
- TA Ngolongoliwa
- TA Nsabwe
- TA Thomas
- Thyolo Boma

## Quick answers

- Where is STA Mbawela?In Thyolo District, Southern Region, Malawi
- What borders STA Mbawela?STA Tombondiya, TA Changata, TA Kapichi and TA Nsabwe
- How many villages are in STA Mbawela?5 named settlements (GeoNames, OpenStreetMap)
- What is the elevation of STA Mbawela?Settlements lie between 413 m and 850 m
- What is the highest point in STA Mbawela?Chinzama (814 m, GeoNames elevation model)
- What is the best time to visit STA Mbawela?April to October
- Where is the nearest hospital to STA Mbawela?Malamulo Hospital, Malawi, about 15 km from the centre
- Where is the nearest bank to STA Mbawela?Standard Bank, about 27 km from the centre
- Where is the nearest petrol pump to STA Mbawela?TotalEnergies, about 22 km from the centre
- What is the P-code of STA Mbawela?MW30703 (OCHA common operational dataset)