It has an area of 1,185,632 square kilometres (457,775 sq mi), covering portions of Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Angola.

[3] The woodlands have a summer rainy season from November to April, when the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) moves over the region and brings moisture-bearing northeasterly winds.

Other common tree species are Uapaca kirkiana, Brachystegia boehmii, Monotes glaber, Faurea saligna, and Combretum molle.

[3] The dry miombo woodlands are home to large mammals, including African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), plains zebra (Equus quagga), greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), common eland (Taurotragus oryx), and Sharpe's grysbok (Raphicerus sharpei), and the carnivores lion (Panthera leo), leopard (Panthera pardus), spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), and African wild dog (Lycaon pictus).

Stierling's woodpecker (Dendropicos stierlingi) is a near-endemic species, native to the eastern dry miombo woodlands of southern Tanzania, southwestern Malawi, and northern Mozambique.