Map of Zambia | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: 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 economic mismanagement 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. 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 by-election in October 2008. Michael SATA was elected president in September 2011.


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Location: Southern Africa east of Angola south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Geographic coordinates: 15 00 S 30 00 E

Map reference

Area
Rank: 39
Land: 743,398 km²
Water: 9,220 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Texas

Land boundaries
Border countries: (8) Angola 1110 km; Botswana 0.1 km; Democratic Republic of the Congo 1930 km; Malawi 837 km; Mozambique 419 km; Namibia 233 km; Tanzania 338 km; Zimbabwe 797 km

Coastline: 0 km (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
Extremes highest point: unnamed elevation in Mafinga Hills 2,301 m

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

Land use
Permanent crops: 0.05%
Other: 95.44% (2011)

Irrigated land: 1559 km² (2003)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources: 105.2 km³ (2011)

Natural hazards: periodic drought; tropical storms (November to April)

Geography
Note: landlocked; the Zambezi forms a natural riverine boundary with Zimbabwe; Lake Kariba on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border forms the world's largest reservoir by volume (180 km³; 43 m³i)


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Population: 14,638,505
Rank: 71
Growth rate: 2.88% (2014 est.)
Growth rate rank: 16
Below poverty line: 60.5% (2010)

Nationality
Adjective: Zambian

Ethnic groups: Bemba 21% Tonga 13.6% Chewa 7.4% Lozi 5.7% Nsenga 5.3% Tumbuka 4.4% Ngoni 4% Lala 3.1% Kaonde 2.9% Namwanga 2.8% Lunda (north Western) 2.6% Mambwe 2.5% Luvale 2.2% Lamba 2.1% Ushi 1.9% Lenje 1.6% Bisa 1.6% Mbunda 1.2% other 13.8% unspecified 0.4% (2010 est.)

Languages: Bembe 33.4% Nyanja 14.7% Tonga 11.4% Chewa 4.5% Lozi 5.5% Nsenga 2.9% Tumbuka 2.5% Lunda (North Western) 1.9% Kaonde 1.8% Lala 1.8% Lamba 1.8% English (official) 1.7% Luvale 1.5% Mambwe 1.3% Namwanga 1.2% Lenje 1.1% Bisa 1% other 9.4% unspecified 0.4%

Religions: Protestant 75.3% Roman Catholic 20.2% other 2.7% (includes Muslim Buddhist Hindu and Baha'i) none 1.8% (2010 est.)

Demographic profile

Age structure
15-24 years: 20% (male 1,465,009/female 1,467,555)
25-54 years: 28.5% (male 2,105,768/female 2,072,314)
55-64 years: 2.9% (male 199,098/female 222,214)
65 years and over: 2.4% (male 151,471/female 198,838) (2014 est.)

Dependency ratios
Youth dependency ratio: 91.3 %
Elderly dependency ratio: 5.1 %
Potential support ratio: 19.6 (2014 est.)

Median age
Male: 16.6 years
Female: 16.8 years (2014 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.88% (2014 est.)
Rank: 16

Birth rate: 42.46 births/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 4

Death rate: 12.92 deaths/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 21

Net migration rate: -0.72 migrant(s)/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 142

Population distribution

Urbanization
Rate of urbanization: 4.15% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: LUSAKA (capital) 1.802 million (2011)

Environment
Current issues: 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
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
Total population: 1 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 19.2

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 17
Male: 72.15 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 60.94 deaths/1000 live births (2014 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 216
Male: 50.24 years
Female: 53.48 years (2014 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.76 children born/woman (2014 est.)
Rank: 7

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 40.8% (2007)

Drinking water source:

Current health expenditure

Physicians density: 0.07 physicians/1000 population (2010)

Hospital bed density: 2 beds/1000 population (2010)

Sanitation facility access:

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 12.7% (2012 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 7
People living with hivaids: 1,106,400 (2012 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 11
Deaths: 30,300 (2012 est.)
Deaths rank: 14

Major infectious diseases
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea hepatitis A and typhoid fever
Vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
Water contact disease: schistosomiasis
Animal contact disease: rabies (2013)

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 3.6% (2008)
Rank: 174

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 14.9% (2007)
Rank: 50

Education expenditures: 1.3% of GDP (2008)
Rank: 170

Literacy
Total population: 61.4%
Male: 71.9%
Female: 51.8% (2007 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Male: 14 years
Female: 13 years (2012)

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional short form: Zambia
Former: Northern Rhodesia

Government type: republic

Capital
Geographic coordinates: 15 25 S 28 17 E
Time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions: 10 provinces; Central Copperbelt Eastern Luapula Lusaka Muchinga Northern North-Western Southern Western

Dependent areas

Independence: 24 October 1964 (from the UK)

National holiday: Independence Day 24 October (1964)

Constitution: several previous; latest adopted 24 August 1991 promulgated 30 August 1991; amended 1996; note - in late 2013 a constitution committee submitted a draft constitution to the government but the government has not yet publicly released the final copy or presented a plan to adopt the document (2013)

Legal system: mixed legal system of English common law and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in an ad hoc constitutional council

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Head of government: President Michael Chilufya SATA (since 23 September 2011); Vice President Guy SCOTT (since 30 September 2011)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly along with eight unelected members
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 20 September 2011 (next to be held in 2016); vice president appointed by the president
Election results: Michael Chilufya SATA elected president; percent of vote - Michael SATA 43.3% Rupiah BANDA 36.2% Hakainde HICHILEMA 18.5% other 2.0%

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (158 seats; 150 members are elected by popular vote 8 members appointed by the president to serve five-year terms)
Elections: last held on 20 September 2011 (next to be held in 2016); note - over 25 by-elections prompted by resignation death change of party or legal nullification have taken place since September 2011
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PF 60 MMD 55 UPND 28 ADD 1 FDD 1 independents 3; seats not determined 2; note - seats as of 4 March 2014 - PF 69 MMD 41 UPND 31 ADD 1 FDD 1 independents 2 pending court decision 7 other 6

Judicial branch
Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by the president and ratified by the National Assembly; judge tenure NA
Subordinate courts: High Court; magistrate's courts and local courts

Political parties and leaders:

International organization participation: ACP AfDB AU C COMESA EITI (compliant country) FAO G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO (correspondent) ITSO ITU ITUC (NGOs) MIGA MONUSCO NAM OPCW PCA SADC UN UNAMID UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNISFA UNMIL UNMISS UNWTO UPU WCO WHO WIPO WMO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chancery: 2,419 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 265-9,717 through 9,719
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 332-0826
From the us embassy: Ibex Hill Lusaka
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 31,617 Lusaka
From the us telephone: [260] (211) 357-000
From the us FAX: [260] ) (211) 357-224

Flag description: 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; green stands for the country's natural resources and vegetation red symbolizes the struggle for freedom black the people of Zambia and orange the country's mineral wealth; the eagle represents the people's ability to rise above the nation's problems

National symbols: African fish eagle

National anthem
Lyrics and music: multiple/Enoch Mankayi SONTONGA

National heritage


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Economy overview: Zambia's economy has experienced strong growth in recent years with real GDP growth in 2005-13 more than 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 increased copper mining output and profitability to spur economic growth. Copper output has increased steadily since 2004 due to higher copper prices and foreign investment. Zambia's dependency on copper makes it vulnerable to depressed commodity prices but record high copper prices and a bumper maize crop in 2010 helped Zambia rebound quickly from the world economic slowdown that began in 2008. Zambia has made some strides to improve the ease of doing business. Regulatory changes by the current government in 2012-2013 included Statutory Instruments (SI) Number 33 (mandating use of the kwacha for domestic transactions) and SI Number 55 (monitoring foreign exchange transactions). Along with problems of fiscal management and weakening global copper prices these SI's were perceived as undermining confidence in Zambia's economy and currency leading to sharp depreciation of the kwacha in March 2014. In response the Minister of Finance revoked SI 33 and 55 in late March 2014. Despite a strong economy poverty remains a significant problem in Zambia made worse by a high birth rate relatively high HIV/AIDS burden and by market distorting agricultural policies.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 124

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 37

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 196

Gross national saving:
Rank: 111

Gdp composition by end use
Government consumption: 26.5%
Investment in fixed capital: 19.1%
Investment in inventories: 1%
Exports of goods and services: 36.2%
Imports of goods and services: -42.9%: (2013 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Industry: 33.8%
Services: 46.5% (2013 est.)

Agriculture products: corn sorghum rice peanuts sunflower seeds vegetables flowers tobacco cotton sugarcane cassava (manioc tapioca) coffee; cattle goats pigs poultry milk eggs hides

Industries: copper mining and processing emerald mining construction foodstuffs beverages chemicals textiles fertilizer horticulture

Industrial production growth rate: 8% (2013 est.)
Rank: 25

Labor force: 6.275 million (2013 est.)
Rank: 66
By occupation industry: 6%
By occupation services: 9% (2004)

Unemployment rate: 50% (2000 est.)
Rank: 140

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 60.5% (2010)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Highest 10: 47.4% (2010)

Distribution of family income gini index: 50.8 (2004)
Rank: 9

Budget
Expenditures: $6.687 billion (2013 est.)
Surplus or deficit: -8.4% of GDP (2013 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 199

Taxes and other revenues: 21.6% of GDP (2013 est.)
Rank: 150

Public debt: 29.5% of GDP (2012 est.)
Rank: 114

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 6.6% (2012 est.)
Rank: 189

Central bank discount rate: 14.49% (31 December 2008)
Rank: 12

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 12.15% (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 64

Stock of narrow money: $2.185 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 122

Stock of broad money: $4.86 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 128

Stock of domestic credit: $3.833 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 110

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 81

Current account balance: -$189.9 million (2012 est.)
Rank: 123

Exports: $9.414 billion (2012 est.)
Rank: 100
Commodities: copper/cobalt cobalt electricity; tobacco flowers cotton
Partners: China 43.4% South Africa 7.2% Democratic Republic of the Congo 6.7% South Korea 5.4% India 4.7% UAE 4.3% Egypt 4.1% (2012)

Imports: $7.961 billion (2012 est.)
Rank: 109
Commodities: machinery transportation equipment petroleum products electricity fertilizer foodstuffs clothing
Partners: South Africa 36.7% Democratic Republic of the Congo 19.8% China 10.4% Kuwait 6% (2012)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $3.042 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 110

Debt external: $5.618 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 115

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $N/A

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $N/A

Exchange rates:


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Electricity
Production: 11.19 billion kWh (2010 est.)
Production rank: 93
Consumption: 7.96 billion kWh (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 95
Exports: 578 million kWh (2010)
Exports rank: 65
Imports: 23 million kWh (2011 est.)
Imports rank: 103
Installed generating capacity: 1.679 million kW (2010 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 112
Generation sources fossil fuels: 0.4% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 206
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 209
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 99.6% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 5
Generation sources other renewable sources: 0% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 144

Coal

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 174.6 bbl/day (2012 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 119
Crude oil exports: 0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 209
Crude oil imports: 12,500 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 75
Crude oil proven reserves: 0 bbl (1 January 2013 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 210

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 12,900 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products production rank: 102
Products consumption: 19,260 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Products consumption rank: 130
Products exports: 254 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products exports rank: 116
Products imports: 1272 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products imports rank: 189

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2011 est.)
Production rank: 212
Consumption: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 212
Exports: 0 m³ (2011 est.)
Exports rank: 211
Imports: 0 m³ (2011 est.)
Imports rank: 83
Proven reserves: 0 m³ (1 January 2013 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 210

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 2.434 million Mt (2011 est.)

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 82,500 (2012)
Main lines in use rank: 150
Mobile cellular: 10.525 million (2012)
Mobile cellular rank: 76

Telephone system
Domestic: high-capacity microwave radio relay connects most larger towns and cities; several cellular telephone services in operation and network coverage is improving; domestic satellite system being installed to improve telephone service in rural areas; Internet service is widely available; very small aperture terminal (VSAT) networks are operated by private firms
International: country code - 260; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean) 3 owned by Zamtel (2010)

Broadcast media: state-owned Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) operates 1 TV station and is the principal local-content provider; several private TV stations; multi-channel subscription TV services are available; ZNBC operates 3 radio networks; about 2 dozen private radio stations; relays of at least 2 international broadcasters are accessible in Lusaka and Kitwe (2007)

Internet
Country code: .zm
Hosts: 16,571 (2012)
Hosts rank: 122
Users: 816,200 (2009)
Users rank: 105

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures:
Rank: 59

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation: national registration required at age 16; 18-25 years of age for male and female voluntary military service (16 years of age with parental consent); no conscription; Zambian citizenship required; grade 12 certification required; mandatory HIV testing on enlistment; mandatory retirement for officers at age 65 (Army Air Force) (2012)

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 88 (2013)
Rank: 63
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 3
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1 (2013)
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 5
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 53
With unpaved runways: 21 (2013)

Heliports

Pipelines: oil 771 km (2013)

Railways
Rank: 58
Narrow gauge: 2,157 km 1.067-m gauge

Roadways
Rank: 68
Paved: 9,403 km
Unpaved: 31,051 km

Waterways: 2,250 km (includes Lake Tanganyika and the Zambezi and Luapula rivers) (2010)
Rank: 39

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: 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

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: 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 laun