 |
Travel to Zambia — Unbiased reviews and great
deals from TripAdvisorZambia
Republic of Zambia President: Rupiah Banda (2008) Current
government officials Land area:
285,994 sq mi (740,724 sq km); total area: 290,586 sq mi (sq
km) Population (2007 est.): 11,477,447
(growth rate: 1.7%); birth rate: 40.8/1000; infant mortality rate:
100.7/1000; life expectancy: 38.4 density per sq mi: 40 Capital and largest city (2003
est.): Lusaka, 1,773,300 (metro. area),
1,265,000 (city proper) Other large
cities: Ndola, 349,300; Kitwe, 306,200; Kabwe, 219,600, Chingola,
151,100 Monetary unit: Kwacha Languages: English (official); major vernaculars: Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda,
Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga; about 70 other indigenous languages Ethnicity/race: African 98.7%, European 1.1%, other 0.2% Religions: Christian 50%–75%, Islam and Hindu 24%–49%, indigenous
beliefs 1% Literacy rate: 81% (2003
est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP
(2007 est.): $11.16 billion; per capita $1,300. Real growth
rate: 5.3%. Inflation: 10.7%. Unemployment: 50%
(2000 est.). Arable land: 7%. Agriculture: corn,
sorghum, rice, peanuts, sunflower seed, vegetables, flowers, tobacco,
cotton, sugarcane, cassava (tapioca), coffee; cattle, goats, pigs,
poultry, milk, eggs, hides. Labor force: 4.989 million;
agriculture 85%, industry 6%, services 9%. Industries: copper
mining and processing, construction, foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals,
textiles, fertilizer, horticulture. Natural resources: copper,
cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium, hydropower.
Exports: $3.928 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): copper/cobalt 64%,
cobalt, electricity, tobacco, flowers, cotton. Imports: $3.092
billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): machinery, transportation equipment,
petroleum products, electricity, fertilizer; foodstuffs, clothing.
Major trading partners: South Africa, UK, Switzerland,
Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, UAE (2004).
Communications: Telephones: main lines
in use: 94,700 (2005); mobile cellular: 949,600 (2005). Radio
broadcast stations: AM 19, FM 5, shortwave 4 (2001).
Radios: 1.2 million (2001). Television broadcast stations:
9 (2002). Televisions: 277,000 (1997). Internet Service
Providers (ISPs): 5 (2001). Internet users: 231,000
(2005). Transportation: Railways:
total: 2,157 km km (2006). Highways: total: 91,440 km; paved:
20,117 km ; unpaved: 71,323 km (2001 est.). Waterways: 2,250
km, including Zambezi and Luapula rivers, Lake Tanganyika. Ports
and harbors: Mpulungu. Airports: 111 (2006). International conflicts: dormant dispute
remains where Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe boundaries
converge. Major sources and definitions |
 |
Geography Zambia, a
landlocked country in south-central Africa, is about one-tenth larger than
Texas. It is surrounded by Angola, Zaire, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique,
Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. The country is mostly a plateau that rises
to 8,000 ft (2,434 m) in the east. Government Republic. History Early humans inhabited present-day Zambia
between one and two million years ago. Today the country is made up almost
entirely of Bantu-speaking peoples. Empire builder Cecil Rhodes obtained
mining concessions in 1889 from King Lewanika of the Barotse and sent
settlers to the area soon thereafter. The region was ruled by the British
South Africa Company, which Rhodes established, until 1924, when the British
government took over the administration. From 1953 to 1964, Northern
Rhodesia was federated with Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland
(now Malawi) in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. On Oct. 24, 1964,
Northern Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zambia. Kenneth
Kaunda, the first president, kept Zambia within the Commonwealth of Nations.
The country's economy, dependent on copper exports, was threatened when
Rhodesia declared its independence from British rule in 1965 and defied UN
sanctions, which Zambia supported, an action that deprived Zambia of its
trade route through Rhodesia. The U.S., Britain, and Canada organized an
airlift in 1966 to ship gasoline into Zambia. In 1972 Kaunda
outlawed all opposition political parties. The world copper market collapsed
in 1975. The Zambian economy was devastated—it had been the
third-largest miner of copper in the world after the United States and
Soviet Union. With a soaring debt and inflation rate in 1991, riots took
place in Lusaka, resulting in a number of killings. Mounting domestic
pressure forced Kaunda to move Zambia toward multiparty democracy. National
elections on Oct. 31, 1991, brought a stunning defeat to Kaunda. The new
president, Frederick Chiluba, called for sweeping economic reforms,
including privatization and the establishment of a stock market. He was
reelected in Nov. 1996. Chiluba declared martial law in 1997 and arrested
Kaunda following a failed coup attempt. The 1999 slump in world copper
prices again depressed the economy because copper provides 80% of Zambia's
export earnings. In 2001 Chiluba contemplated changing the
constitution to allow him to run for another presidential term. After
protests he relented and selected Levy Mwanawasa, a former vice president
with whom he had fallen out, as his successor. Mwanawasa became president in
Jan. 2002; opposition parties protested over alleged fraud. In June 2002,
Mwanawasa, once seen as a pawn of Chiluba, accused the former president of
stealing millions from the government while in office. Chiluba was arrested
and charged in Feb. 2003. Although the country faced the threat of
famine in 2002, the president refused to accept any international donations
of food that had been genetically modified, which Mwanawasa considered
“poison.” In Aug. 2003, impeachment proceedings against the
president for corruption were rejected by parliament. In April 2005, the
World Bank approved a $3.8 billion debt relief package for the
country. In Sept. 2006 presidential elections, incumbent Levy
Mwanawasa was reelected. President Mwanawasa suffered a stroke in June 2008
and died in Paris in September. Vice President Rupiah Banda took over as
acting president and was elected president in October, defeating Michael
Sata, 40.6% to 38.6%. Sata said the vote was rigged. See also
Encyclopedia: Zambia.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Zambia
Information Please® Database,
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. More on Zambia from Infoplease:
- Zambia - Map of Zambia & articles on flags, geography, history, statistics, disasters current events, and international relations.
- Zambia - Zambia Zambia , officially Republic of Zambia, republic (2005 est. pop. 11,262,000), 290,584 sq mi ...
- Zambia - Zambia Profile: People, History, Government, Political Conditions, Economy, Defense, Foreign Relations, U.S.-Zambian Relations
- Zambia: meaning and definitions - Zambia: Definition and Pronunciation
- Zambia: Bibliography - Bibliography See B. M. Fagan, Iron Age Cultures in Zambia (2 vol., 1967–69) and A Short ...
|
|
