Map of Zambia | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the South Africa Company from 1891 until takeover 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 declining copper prices and a prolonged drought hurt the economy.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries: 5,664 km total; Angola 1,110 km, Malawi 837 km, Mozambique 419 km, Namibia 233 km, Tanzania 338 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,930 km, Zimbabwe 797 km

Coastline: none - landlocked

Maritime claims: none - landlocked

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

Terrain: mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains

Elevation

Natural resources: copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium, hydropower potential

Land use: 7% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 47% meadows and pastures; 27% forest and woodland; 19% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: landlocked


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Population: 7,875,448 (July 1989), growth rate 3.0% (1989)

Nationality: noun - Zambian(s; adjective - Zambian

Ethnic groups: 98.7% African, 1.1% European, 0.2% other

Languages: English (official; about 70 indigenous languages

Religions: 50-75% Christian, 1% Muslim and Hindu, remainder indigenous beliefs

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 50 births/1000 population (1989)

Death rate: 12 deaths/1000 population (1989)

Net migration rate: - 7 migrants/1000 population (1989)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; desertification

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 83 deaths/1000 live births (1989)

Life expectancy at birth: 54 years male, 57 years female (1989)

Total fertility rate: 7.0 children born/woman (1989)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 54%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Zambia

Government type: one-party state

Capital: Lusaka

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

Dependent areas

Independence: 24 October 1964 (from UK; formerly Northern Rhodesia)

National holiday: Independence Day, 24 October (1964)

Constitution: 25 August 1973

Legal system: 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

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Executive branch

Legislative branch: Army, Air Force, Police, Paramilitary

Judicial branch

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: AfDB, CCC, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, NAM, OAU, SADCC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Charge d'Affaires Lazarous KAPAMBWE; Chancery at 2,419 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20,008; telephone (202) 265-9,717 through 9,721; US - Ambassador Jeffrey DAVIDOW; Embassy at corner of Independence Avenue and United Nations Avenue, Lusaka (mailing address is P. O. Box 31,617, Lusaka; telephone Õ2,601å 214,911

Flag description: green 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

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: For more than a decade the economy has been in severe recession with rising unemployment, declining imports, and growing foreign debt. Economic difficulties stem from a sustained drop in copper prices, declining copper production, four years of drought, and ineffective economic policies. In 1987 real GDP stood only slightly higher than that of 10 years before, while an annual population growth of more than 3% has brought a decline in per capita GDP of 25% during the same period. A high inflation rate has also added to Zambia's economic woes in recent years.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: corn, tobacco, cotton; net importer of most major agricultural products

Industries: copper mining and processing, transport, construction, foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals, textiles, and fertilizer

Industrial production growth rate: - 0.7% (1986)

Labor force: 2,455,000; 85% agriculture; 6% mining, manufacturing, and construction; 9% transport and services

Unemployment rate: NA%

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $540 million; expenditures $787 million, including capital expenditures of $36 million (1987 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $866 million (f.o.b., 1987)
Commodities: copper, zinc, cobalt, lead, tobacco
Partners: EC, Japan, South Africa, US

Imports: $765 million (c.i.f., 1987)
Commodities: machinery, transportation equipment, foodstuffs, fuels, manufactures
Partners: EC, Japan, South Africa, US

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $5 billion (July 1988)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Zambian kwacha (ZK) per US$1 - 9.8814 (December 1988), 8.2237 (1988), 8.8889 (1987), 7.3046 (1986), 2.7137 (1985)


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Electricity
Capacity: 1,900,000 kW capacity; 8,244 million kWh produced, 1,090 kWh per capita (1988)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: NA

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 125 total, 108 usable; 13 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 19 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines: 1,724 km crude oil

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 2,250 km, including Zambezi and Luapula Rivers, Lake Tanganyika

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: short section of boundary with Democratic Republic of the Congo is indefinite; quadripoint with Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe is in disagreement; Tanzania-Democratic Republic of the Congo-Zambia tripoint in Lake Tanganyika is indefinite pending settlement of the Democratic Republic of the Congo-Zambia boundary

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs