Zambia
Multiple waves of Bantu-speaking groups moved into and through what is now Zambia over the past thousand years. In the 1880s, the British began securing mineral and other economic concessions from various local leaders and the territory that is now Zambia eventually came under the control of the former British South Africa Company and was incorporated as the protectorate of Northern Rhodesia in 1911. Administrative control was taken over by the UK in 1924. During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining spurred development and immigration. The name was changed to Zambia upon independence in 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining copper prices, economic mismanagement, and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. Elections in 1991 brought an end to one-party rule and propelled the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) to government. The subsequent vote in 1996, however, saw increasing harassment of opposition parties and abuse of state media and other resources. The election in 2001 was marked by administrative problems, with three parties filing a legal petition challenging the election of ruling party candidate Levy MWANAWASA. MWANAWASA was reelected in 2006 in an election that was deemed free and fair. Upon his death in August 2008, he was succeeded by his vice president, Rupiah BANDA, who won a special presidential byelection later that year. The MMD and BANDA lost to the Patriotic Front (PF) and Michael SATA in the 2011 general elections. SATA, however, presided over a period of haphazard economic management and attempted to silence opposition to PF policies. SATA died in October 2014 and was succeeded by his vice president, Guy SCOTT, who served as interim president until January 2015, when Edgar LUNGU won the presidential byelection and completed SATA's term. LUNGU then won a full term in August 2016 presidential elections.

geography

location

15.0° S, 30. 0° E
Southern Africa, east of Angola, south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

area

752,618 sq km
land
743,398 sq km
water
9,220 sq km

land boundaries

6,043.15 km

coastline

0 km

climate

tropical; modified by altitude; rainy season (October to April)

terrain

mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains

elevation

1,138 m
lowest point
Zambezi river
329 m
highest point
unnamed elevation in Mafinga Hills
2,301 m

natural resources

  • copper
  • cobalt
  • zinc
  • lead
  • coal
  • emeralds
  • gold
  • silver
  • uranium
  • hydropower

land use

arable land
4.8 %
permanent crops
0 %
permanent pasture
26.9 %
forest
66.3 %
other
2 %

population distribution

one of the highest levels of urbanization in Africa; high density in the central area, particularly around the cities of Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe, and Mufulira

people

population

  • 17,426,623
  • 66
    global rank

nationality

  • Zambian(s)
    noun
  • Zambian
    adjective

ethnic groups

Bemba
21 %
Tonga
13.6 %
Chewa
7.4 %
Lozi
5.7 %
Nsenga
5.3 %
Tumbuka
4.4 %
Ngoni
4 %
Lala
3.1 %
Kaonde
2.9 %
Namwanga
2.8 %
Lunda
2.6 %
Mambwe
2.5 %
Luvale
2.2 %
Lamba
2.1 %
Ushi
1.9 %
Lenje
1.6 %
Bisa
1.6 %
Mbunda
1.2 %
other
13.8 %
unspecified
0.4 %

languages

  • Bemba
  • Nyanja
  • Tonga
  • Lozi
  • Chewa
  • Nsenga
  • Tumbuka
  • Lunda
    North Western
  • Kaonde
  • Lala
  • Lamba
  • English
    official
  • Luvale
  • Mambwe
  • Namwanga
  • Lenje
  • Bisa
  • other
  • unspecified

religions

Protestant
75.3 %
Roman Catholic
20.2 %
other
2.7 %
none
1.8 %

birth rate

  • 40.4
    per 1,000 population
  • 8
    global rank

death rate

  • 11.6
    per 1,000 population
  • 19
    global rank

urban population

44.6 %

major urban areas

  • Lusaka
    pop. 2,774,000

life expectancy

  • 53.6
    total population
  • 226
    global rank
51.9
male
55.3
female

adult obesity rate

  • 8.1%
    percent of adults
  • 155
    global rank

government

government type

presidential republic

capital

Lusaka; note - a proposal to build a new capital city in Ngabwe was announced in May 2017
15.25 S, 28.17 E

independence

national holidays

  • Independence Day
    24 October

legal system

mixed legal system of English common law and customary law

age of suffrage

18

flag description

green field with a panel of three vertical bands of red (hoist side), black, and orange below a soaring orange eagle, on the outer edge of the flag; green stands for the country's natural resources and vegetation, red symbolizes the struggle for freedom, black the people of Zambia, and orange the country's mineral wealth; the eagle represents the people's ability to rise above the nation's problems

national colors

  • green
  • red
  • black
  • orange

national anthem

"Lumbanyeni Zambia" (Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free)

economy

overview

Zambia had one of the world’s fastest growing economies for the ten years up to 2014, with real GDP growth averaging roughly 6.7% per annum, though growth slowed during the period 2015 to 2017, due to falling copper prices, reduced power generation, and depreciation of the kwacha. Zambia’s lack of economic diversification and dependency on copper as its sole major export makes it vulnerable to fluctuations in the world commodities market and prices turned downward in 2015 due to declining demand from China; Zambia was overtaken by the Democratic Republic of Congo as Africa’s largest copper producer. GDP growth picked up in 2017 as mineral prices rose. Despite recent strong economic growth and its status as a lower middle-income country, widespread and extreme rural poverty and high unemployment levels remain significant problems, made worse by a high birth rate, a relatively high HIV/AIDS burden, by market-distorting agricultural and energy policies, and growing government debt. Zambia raised $7 billion from international investors by issuing separate sovereign bonds in 2012, 2014, and 2015. Concurrently, it issued over $4 billion in domestic debt and agreed to Chinese-financed infrastructure projects, significantly increasing the country’s public debt burden to more than 60% of GDP. The government has considered refinancing $3 billion worth of Eurobonds and significant Chinese loans to cut debt servicing costs.

GDP

68,930,000,000 USD
2017

agriculture products

  • corn
  • sorghum
  • rice
  • peanuts
  • sunflower seeds
  • vegetables
  • flowers
  • tobacco
  • cotton
  • sugarcane
  • cassava
  • manioc
  • tapioca
  • coffee
  • cattle
  • goats
  • pigs
  • poultry
  • milk
  • eggs
  • hides

poverty level

54.4%
2015

budget

  • 4,473,000,000
    revenue (USD)
  • 6,357,000,000
    expenditures (USD)

communications

telephones

    fixed lines

  • 100,444
    total subscriptions
  • 140
    global rank

    mobile cellular

  • 15,470,270
    total subscriptions
  • 66
    global rank

broadcast media

according to the Independent Broadcast Authority, there are 137 radio stations and 47 television stations in Zambia; out of the 137 radio stations, 133 are private (categorized as either commercial or community radio stations), while 4 are public-owned; state-owned Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) operates 2 television channels and 3 radio stations; ZNBC owns 75% shares in GoTV, 40% in MultiChoice, and 40% in TopStar Communications Company, all of which operate in-country (2019)

internet

.zm
country code

    users

  • 2,351,646
    total
  • 14.3
    % of population
  • 113
    global rank

energy

electricity access

33%
2017

transportation

air transport

    national system

  • 1
    registered air carriers
  • 11,796
    annual passenger traffic

    airports

  • 88
    total
  • 8
    paved

railways

3,126 km
total length

roadways

67,671 km
total length

waterways

2,250 km
total length

military

expenditures

expenditures here

service age

18