CIA - The World Factbook

The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the [British] South Africa Company from 1891 until it was taken over by the UK in 1923. 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 and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. Elections in 1991 brought an end to one-party rule, but the subsequent vote in 1996 saw blatant harassment of opposition parties. 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. The new president launched an anticorruption investigation in 2002 to probe high-level corruption during the previous administration. In 2006-07, this task force successfully prosecuted four cases, including a landmark civil case in the UK in which former President CHILUBA and numerous others were found liable for USD 41 million. MWANAWASA was reelected in 2006 in an election that was deemed free and fair. Upon his abrupt death in August 2008, he was succeeded by his Vice-president Rupiah BANDA, who subsequently won a special presidential election in October 2008.

Southern Africa, east of Angola

slightly larger than Texas

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

mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains

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

periodic drought; tropical storms (November to April)

air pollution and resulting acid rain in the mineral extraction and refining region; chemical runoff into watersheds; poaching seriously threatens rhinoceros, elephant, antelope, and large cat populations; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; lack of adequate water treatment presents human health risks

landlocked; the Zambezi forms a natural riverine boundary with Zimbabwe

40.24 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

21.34 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

-2.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

5.15 children born/woman (2009 est.)

1.1 million (2007 est.)

African 99.5% (includes Bemba, Tonga, Chewa, Lozi, Nsenga, Tumbuka, Ngoni, Lala, Kaonde, Lunda, and other African groups), other 0.5% (includes Europeans, Asians, and Americans) (2000 Census)

Christian 50%-75%, Muslim and Hindu 24%-49%, indigenous beliefs 1%

English (official), major vernaculars - Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages

9 provinces; Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Northern, North-Western, Southern, Western

24 October 1964 (from the UK)

Independence Day, 24 October (1964)

24 August 1991; amended in 1996 to establish presidential term limits

based on English common law and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in an ad hoc constitutional council; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

unicameral National Assembly (158 seats; 150 members are elected by popular vote, 8 members are appointed by the president, to serve five-year terms)

Supreme Court (the final court of appeal; justices are appointed by the president); High Court (has unlimited jurisdiction to hear civil and criminal cases)

Forum for Democracy and Development or FDD [Edith NAWAKWI]; Heritage Party or HP [Godfrey MIYANDA]; Movement for Multiparty Democracy or MMD [vacant]; Patriotic Front or PF [Michael SATA]; Party of Unity for Democracy and Development or PUDD [Dan PULE]; Reform Party [Nevers MUMBA]; United Democratic Alliance or UDA (a coalition of RP, ZADECO, PUDD, and ZRP); United Liberal Party or ULP [Sakwiba SIKOTA]; United National Independence Party or UNIP [Tilyenji KAUNDA]; United Party for National Development or UPND [Hakainde HICHILEMA]; Zambia Democratic Congress or ZADECO [Langton SICHONE]; Zambian Republican Party or ZRP [Benjamin MWILA]

ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, MONUC, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

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

Zambia's economy has experienced strong growth in recent years, with real GDP growth in 2005-08 about 6% per year. Privatization of government-owned copper mines in the 1990s relieved the government from covering mammoth losses generated by the industry and greatly improved the chances for copper mining to return to profitability and spur economic growth. Copper output has increased steadily since 2004, due to higher copper prices and foreign investment. In 2005, Zambia qualified for debt relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Country Initiative, consisting of approximately USD 6 billion in debt relief. Zambia experienced a bumper harvest in 2007, which helped to boost GDP and agricultural exports and contain inflation. Although poverty continues to be significant problem in Zambia, its economy has strengthened, featuring single-digit inflation, a relatively stable currency, decreasing interest rates, and increasing levels of trade. The decline in world commodity prices and demand will hurt GDP growth in 2009, and elections and campaign promises are likely to weaken Zambia's improved fiscal stance.

$17.39 billion (2008 est.)

$16.43 billion (2007)

$15.55 billion (2006)

$15.23 billion (2008 est.)

5.093 million (2008 est.)

26% of GDP (2008 est.)

25.7% of GDP (2008 est.)

14.49% (31 December 2008)

11.73% (31 December 2007)

NA% (31 December 2008)

18.89% (31 December 2007)

$1.034 billion (31 December 2008)

$995.8 million (31 December 2007)

$1.618 billion (31 December 2008)

$1.709 billion (31 December 2007)

$2.138 billion (31 December 2008)

$1.968 billion (31 December 2007)

$2.346 billion (31 December 2007)

corn, sorghum, rice, peanuts, sunflower seed, vegetables, flowers, tobacco, cotton, sugarcane, cassava (tapioca), coffee; cattle, goats, pigs, poultry, milk, eggs, hides

copper mining and processing, construction, foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals, textiles, fertilizer, horticulture

9.289 billion kWh (2006 est.)

8.625 billion kWh (2006 est.)

255 million kWh (2006)

68 million kWh (2007 est.)

150 bbl/day (2007 est.)

14,760 bbl/day (2006 est.)

190.6 bbl/day (2005)

13,810 bbl/day (2005)

0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

$-478 million (2008 est.)

$5.632 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

copper/cobalt 64%, cobalt, electricity; tobacco, flowers, cotton

Switzerland 41.8%, South Africa 12%, Thailand 5.9%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 5.3%, Egypt 5%, Saudi Arabia 4.7%, China 4.1% (2007)

$4.423 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

machinery, transportation equipment, petroleum products, electricity, fertilizer; foodstuffs, clothing

South Africa 47.4%, UAE 6.3%, China 6%, India 4.1%, UK 4% (2007)

$1.35 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$2.913 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Zambian kwacha (ZMK) per US dollar - 3,512.9 (2008 est.), 3,990.2 (2007), 3,601.5 (2006), 4,463.5 (2005), 4,778.9 (2004)

2.639 million (2007)

AM 19, FM 5, shortwave 4 (2001)

2,250 km (includes Lake Tanganyika and the Zambezi and Luapula rivers) (2008)

Zambian National Defense Force (ZNDF): Zambian Army, Zambian Air Force, National Service (2009)

18 years of age for voluntary military service (16 years of age with parental consent); mandatory HIV testing on enlistment; no conscription (2009)

1.8% of GDP (2005 est.)

in 2004, Zimbabwe dropped objections to plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly delimited, Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river; 42,250 Congolese refugees in Zambia are offered voluntary repatriation in November 2006, most of whom are expected to return in the next two years; Angolan refugees too have been repatriating but 26,450 still remain with 90,000 others from other neighboring states in 2006

transshipment point for moderate amounts of methaqualone, small amounts of heroin, and cocaine bound for southern Africa and possibly Europe; a poorly developed financial infrastructure coupled with a government commitment to combating money laundering make it an unattractive venue for money launderers; major consumer of cannabis