town in central Malawi (Malaŵi), near the southwestern shore of Lake Nyasa (Nyasa, Lake) (Lake Malawi), northwest of the railhead and lake port of Chipoka. Salima developed as a commercial centre after the completion of the Blantyre–Salima railway in the 1930s and served as the road and rail terminus for the agricultural produce of the entire northern region until the railway was extended north and west in the 1970s. The town also functions as a resort, with lakeshore hotels.

Except for the town's commercial activity, the local economy is agricultural, supplemented by pulpwood milling, subsistence fishing, and minor lake trade out of Leopard Bay. Cotton and rice are the chief products. Pop. (2008 prelim.) 27,083.