In general

The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the 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 a far-reaching anti-corruption campaign in 2002, which resulted in the prosecution of former President Frederick CHILUBA and many of his supporters in late 2003. Opposition parties currently hold a majority of seats in the National Assembly

The capital city of Zambia is Lusaka

Administrative division

Zambia is divided into 9 provinces; Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Northern, North-Western, Southern, Western

Location

Zambia is located in the Southern Africa, east of Angola 15 00 S, 30 00 E

Area and Distance along the border.

The total area is: 752,614 sq km

- land   : 740,724 sq km

- water : 11,890 sq km

The total distance along the border is: 5,664 km. Bordering countries are: Angola 1,110 km border line, Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,930 km border line, Malawi 837 km border line, Mozambique 419 km border line, Namibia 233 km border line, Tanzania 338 km border line, Zimbabwe 797 km border line and Botswana and with a few meters of border line at Kazungula, Livingstone.

Climate

Tropical climate; modified by altitude. The rainy season is normally between the months of October to April.

Terrain

It is mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains. The lowest point are the Zambezi river 329 m and highest point the unnamed location in Mafinga Hills 2,301 m above sea level.

Natural resources

These are copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium, and hydropower

Land use

Arable land           : 7.08%

permanent crops   : 0.03%

other                  : 92.9% (2001)

460 sq km (1998 est.) irrigated land. Currently this is improving as more commercial farming is beginning mostly in the central province of Zambia.

Natural hazards

Periodic drought and tropical storms between November and April.

Environmental current issues

These are 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.

Environmental international agreements

Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

The Population

The Zambian population is now at 11,261,795.  Estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.)

Population Distribution

Zambia is more urbanized than most Sub-Saharan countries.

Age structure

The estimates made in the year 2005 say:

- 0-14 years             : 46.5% (male 2,626,911/female 2,609,857)

- 15-64 years           : 51.1% (male 2,848,402/female 2,904,376)

- 65 years and over   : 2.4% (male 118,043/female 154,206)

Medium age

According to the year 2005 estimates, the total is: 16 - 46 years

- male      : 16-26 years

- female   : 16-67 years

The Population growth rate is 2.12%. The birth rate is 41.38-births/1,000 population and death rate is 20.23-deaths/1,000 population

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio

- At birth                 : 1.03 male(s)/female

- Under 15 years       : 1.01 male(s)/female

- 15-64 years           : 0.98 male(s)/female

- 65 years and over   : 0.76 male(s)/female

- Total population      : 0.99 male(s)/female.

The infant mortality rate. (Year 2005 estimate.)

Total       : 88.29 deaths/1,000 live births

male        : 95.63 deaths/1,000 live births

female     : 80.72 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectance

The total population is: 39.7 years
          male     : 39.43 years

female   : 39.98 years

Total fertility rate

5.47 children born/woman

HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS spread very quickly throughout Zambia during 1980s and 1990s due to:

-        High level of sexually transmitted infections

-        Low level of male circumcision

-        Low level of condom use

-        Concentration of population along line of rail

-        Sufficient level of sexual networking to spread the virus.

Sad enough, most infected Zambians do not know their status. The adult prevalence rate is 16.5%. In the urban areas it is 23 % and in the rural areas it is 11%. The overall rate is exceedingly high, meaning that Zambia is undergoing one of the worst HIV/AIDS epidemics in the entire world.  One out six (1/6) is infected among those 15 – 49 aged. 84 % of the aged 15-49 remain uninfected, thus a strong response from all sectors of the world is important. The HIV prevalence by province is: North western Province 9%, Luapula Province 11%, Northern Province 8%, Eastern Province 14 %, Central Province 15%, Copperbelt Province 20%, Western Province 13%, Southern Province 18% and Lusaka Province, the smallest province, is 22%.

About 1 000 000 people are living with HIV AIDS.

By the year 2003, approximately 89,000 people had died of HIV/AIDS. This has created a big negative impact in the community. Today, there is about 71% of the 5.96 million children in the age range of 0 – 18 alive who are orphans and live in poverty, with the proportion of impoverished children being higher in rural than urban areas, at 78.1 and 56.0 % respectively.

Common diseases.

The degree of risk is very high
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
Vector borne diseases: malaria and plague are high risks in some locations
Water contact disease: schistosomiasis (Bilharzia)

Ethnic groups

African 98.7%, European 1.1%, other 0.2%

Religions

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

Languages

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

Literacy

Those aged 15 and over can read and write English

- Total population    : 80.6%

- male                   : 86.8%

- female                 : 74.8%

Current Executive Branch

Chief of state: President Levy MWANAWASA (since 2 January 2002); Vice President Lupando MWAPE (since 4 October 2004); The president is both the chief of state and head of government. Cabinet members are appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly.
Elections

The President is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. The elections were last held in 27 December 2001. There will be elections again in 2006. The Vice President is appointed by the president

Legislative branch

Unicameral National Assembly (150 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
The elections were last held 27 December 2001. The next elections will be held in December 2006.
Election results: percent of vote by party - MMD 45.9%, UPND 32.4%, UNIP 8.8%, FDD 8.1%, HP 2.7%, PF 0.7%, ZRP 0.7%, independents 0.7%; seats by party - MMD 68, UPND 48, UNIP 13, FDD 12, HP 4, PF 1, ZRP 1, independents 1; seats not determined 2

Judicial branch

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

Current Political parties are:

Agenda for Zambia or AZ, Forum for Democracy and Development or FDD, Heritage Party or HP, Liberal Progressive Front or LPF, Movement for Multiparty Democracy or MMD, National Leadership for Development or NLD, National Party or NP, Patriotic Front or PF, Zambian Republican Party or ZRP, Social Democratic Party or SDP, United National Independence Party or UNIP, United Party for National Development or UPND,  Party for Unity Democracy and Development PUDD, and others, totaling to about 35.

International Organization participation.

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

Economy overview

Despite progress in privatization and budgetary reform, Zambia's economic growth remains somewhat below the 6% to 7% needed to reduce poverty significantly. Privatization of government-owned copper mines 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 the opening of new mines. The maize harvest was again good in 2005, helping boost GDP and agricultural exports. Cooperation continues with international bodies on programs to reduce poverty, including a new lending arrangement with the IMF in the second quarter, 2004. A tighter monetary policy will help cut inflation, but Zambia still has a serious problem with high public debt. However, Zambia is celebrating to have managed to reach the HIPC (highly Indebted Poor Countries) completion point, whereby it has created donor confidence. Good infects are already being felt and seen, like the appreciation of the Zambian Kwacha for about 40% to the US Dollar and the EURO by the beginning of the year 2006.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate is currently at 5.8%.

The GDP per sector is:

- agriculture  : 21.7%

- industry     : 29.5%

- services     : 48.8%

GDP per capita - purchasing power parity - $900 (2005 est.)

Labor force

4.8 million (by the end of year 2005.

Labor force by occupation

Agriculture 85%, industry 6%, services 9%

Unemployment rate

The unemployment rate at the end of  the year 2000 was 50%.

Population below poverty line

85%

Household income or consumption by percentage share (1998)

- lowest 10%: 1.1%

- highest 10%: 41%

Inflation rate (end of 2005)

- 19%

Budget for 2006

Revenues       : $1.688 billion
Expenditures   : $1.866 billion, including capital expenditures of NA

Investment (gross fixed)

25.9% of GDP (2005 est.)

Public debt

104.2% of GDP (2005 est.)

Agricultural products are:

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

Industries

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

Industrial production growth rate

9.8% (2005 est.)

Communication

The general assessment is that the facilities are aging but still among the best in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Domestic: high-capacity microwave radio relay connects most larger towns and cities; several cellular telephone services in operation; Internet service is widely available; very small aperture terminal (VSAT) networks are operated by private firms
The international country code is 260

Transnational issues

- During the year 2004, Zimbabwe dropped objections and joined Namibia in supporting 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

- 90,000 Angolan refugees were repatriated from Zambia by 2004,

The remaining 160,000 were expected to return in 2005.  The refugees countries of origin are Angola (158,894), Democratic Republic of the Congo (58,405), Rwanda (5,767).

Tourism

In Zambia, there is one of the earth's biggest waterfall, the wild Zambezi River, breath-taking lakes and wetlands, a profusion of birds, abundant wildlife, and raw, pulsating wilderness, .......all in one friendly country. Acknowledged as one of the safest countries in the world to visit, Zambia's people live in peace and harmony.

Art and Crafts

Zambia’s diverse cultures bring with them a wide variety of traditional skills. Crafts can be found in great variety if not in abundance and among them is some of the finest basketry in Africa.
The economy of most of the crafts people is based on fishing, cattle or the cultivation of crops. Craftwork is often done seasonally to supplement the incomes of many families. It was originally intended for barter and made according to the needs of other villagers. To many, especially the subsistence farmers, craftwork is their only means of earning cash.

Music and Dance

Quiet beauty, bustle, bounding life or brimming joy characterize many aspects of music and dance in Zambia. Emphasis varies from breathless acrobatic spectacle amid propulsive drumming to fine subtleties of sound and movement.

Many traditional instruments are still played throughout the country, although the desire for western instruments increases. The more common ones are the hand piano, a small instrument with iron keys mounted on a rectangular box and plucked by both thumbs. Or the silimba, a xylophone type instrument with a range of flat wooden keys mounted over gourds. The most common of course is the drum and drumming plays an important part of rituals, ceremonies, celebrations and community communication.
 

Dance is an important part of musical expression among Africans and along with the ideas they express, serve as reflectors of life and thought over the centuries - of times of turmoil and peace, tension and confidence, retreat and advance, conquest and defeat.
The influence of the west and the rest of Africa is well entrenched in music tastes of the current generation in Zambia. In the big towns, night clubs and shebeens belt the sounds of Kwela and rumba and many local bands play to the increasingly westernized youth.

Culture

Zambia’s contemporary culture is a blend of values, norms, material and spiritual traditions of more than 70 ethnically diverse people. Most of the tribes of Zambia moved into the area in a series of migratory waves a few centuries ago. They grew in numbers and many traveled in search of establishing new kingdoms, farming land and pastures.
Before the colonial period, the region now known as Zambia was the home of a number of free states. Each having comprehensive economic links with each other and the outside world along trade routes to the east and west coast of Africa. The main exports were copper, ivory and slaves in exchange for textiles, jewellery, salt and hardwareIndependence Day, 24 Octoberay, 24 Octoberay, 24 October

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