Zambia: Country at the crossroads of Central and Southern Africa

Republic of Zambia
Republic of Zambia
	Flag Coat of arms
	Motto: ; "One Zambia, One Nation"
	Anthem: "Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free";
Capital and largest city	Lusaka; 15°25′S 28°17′E / 15.417°S 28.283°E
Official languages	English
Recognised regional languages	List 33.5% Bemba ; 14.8% Nyanja ; 11.4% Tonga ; 5.5% Lozi ; 4.5% Chewa ; 3.0% Nsenga ; 2.6% Tumbuka ; 1.9% Lunda ; 1.9% Kaonde ; 1.8% Lala ; 1.8% Lamba ; 1.7% English ; 1.5% Luvale ; 1.3% Mambwe ; 1.2% Lenje ; 1.2% Namwanga ; 1.0% Bisa ; 0.9% Ushi ; 0.7% Ila ; 0.7% Mbunda ; 0.7% Ngoni ; 0.7% Senga ; 0.6% Lungu ; 0.5% Toka-Leya ; 4.7% Others ;
Ethnic groups (2010)	List 21.0% Bemba ; 13.6% Tonga ; 7.4% Chewa ; 5.7% Lozi ; 5.3% Nsenga ; 4.4% Tumbuka ; 4.0% Ngoni ; 3.1% Lala ; 2.9% Kaonde ; 2.8% Namwanga ; 2.6% Lunda (Northern) ; 2.5% Mambwe ; 2.2% Luvale ; 2.1% Lamba ; 1.9% Ushi ; 1.6% Bisa ; 1.6% Lenje ; 1.2% Mbunda ; 0.9% Lunda (Luapula) ; 0.9% Senga ; 0.8% Ila ; 0.8% Lungu ; 0.7% Tabwa ; 0.7% Soli ; 0.7% Kunda ; 0.6% Ngumbo ; 0.5% Chishinga ; 0.5% Chokwe ; 0.5% Nkoya ; 5.4% Other ethnics ; 0.8% Major racial ; 0.4% Unclassified ;
Religion (2010)	95.5% Christianity; –75.3% Protestantism; –20.2% Other Christian; 2.7% Others; 1.8% No religion;
Demonym(s)	Zambian
Government	Unitary presidential constitutional republic
• President	Hakainde Hichilema
• Vice President	Mutale Nalumango
Legislature	National Assembly
Independence from the United Kingdom
History
• North-Western Rhodesia	27 June 1890
• Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia	28 November 1899
• North-Eastern Rhodesia	29 January 1900
• Amalgamation of Northern Rhodesia	17 August 1911
• Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland	1 August 1953
• Republic of Zambia	24 October 1964
• Current constitution	5 January 2016
• Established	1964
Area
• Total	752,618 km2 (290,587 sq mi) (38th)
• Water (%)	1
Population
• 2021 estimate	19,473,125 (65th)
• 2010 census	13,092,666
• Density	17.2/km2 (44.5/sq mi) (191st)
GDP (PPP)	2019 estimate
• Total	$75.857 billion
• Per capita	$4,148
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
• Total	$23.946 billion
• Per capita	$1,307
Gini (2015)	57.1; high
HDI (2019)	0.584; medium · 146th
Currency	Zambian kwacha (ZMW)
Time zone	UTC+2 (CAT)
Driving side	left
Calling code	+260
ISO 3166 code	ZM
Internet TLD	.zm

It shares its borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west. It used to be called Northern Rhodesia and it is currently named after the Zambezi River. Zambia is home to one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Victoria falls. Zambia has at least 72 spoken languages.

The capital of Zambia is Lusaka, which is also the largest city in the country. Edgar Lungu is the current president. Its motto is One Zambia, One Nation and its national anthem is Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free. Its official language is English.

History

Zambia originated from Northern Rhodesia. In 1964 Zambia became an independent country. The first president was Kenneth Kaunda, who ruled Zambia for 27 years. Zambia was a one party state. His United National Independence Party was the only legal party and all other parties were banned.

After protests, democratic elections were held in 1991. Kenneth Kaunda lost the elections and gave away his power in an orderly manner to his successor Frederick Chiluba, a former union leader.

Zambia is now a multi-party democracy. It has had four democratic elections since 1991. The latest presidential election was in 2021, which was won by Hakainde Hichilema against Edgar Lungu.

Economy

In 1969, Zambia was making a lot of money because of the copper deposits that were mined in Copperbelt province. When copper became cheaper in the 1970s, the economy got worse because people in Zambia were not making as much money from selling copper. Today, Zambia is a poor country. It does not have many industries. Copper is still its main export. Commercial farming in Zambia is starting to make more money.

Provinces

Zambia is divided into ten provinces. Each province is divided into several districts. There are 117 districts all together. The provinces are:

Cities

The important places in Zambia are:

Cities in Zambia
Rank	City	Population^[source?]				Province	Image
Rank	City	Census 1980	Census 1990	Census 2000	Est. 2007	Province	Image
1.	Lusaka	735,830	1,069,353	1,684,703	2,146,522	Lusaka
2.	Ndola	297,490	367,228	397,757	467,529	Copperbelt
3.	Kitwe	283,962	288,602	363,734	409,865	Copperbelt
4.	Kabwe	127,422	154,318	176,758	193,100	Central
5.	Chingola	130,872	142,383	147,448	148,469	Copperbelt
6.	Mufulira	138,824	123,936	122,336	119,291	Copperbelt
7.	Livingstone	61,296	76,875	97,488	113,849	Southern
8.	Luanshya	113,422	118,143	115,579	112,029	Copperbelt
9.	Kasama	36,269	47,653	74,243	98,613	Northern
10.	Chipata	33,627	52,213	73,110	91,416	Eastern

Related pages

References

Notes

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