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. Elections in 1991 brought an end to one-party rule.

Area
Total: 752,610 km²
Land: 740,720 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Texas

Land boundaries:

Coastline: none - landlocked

Maritime claims: none - landlocked
Disputes:

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

Terrain: mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains

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

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

Population: 8,745,284 (July 1992), growth rate 3.5% (1992)

Nationality: noun - Zambian(s; adjective - Zambian

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

Languages: English (official; about 70 indigenous languages

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

Birth rate: 48 births/1000 population (1992)

Death rate: 11 deaths/1000 population (1992)

Net migration rate: -2 migrants/1000 population (1992)

Environment
Current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; desertification
Current issues note: landlocked

Infant mortality rate: 77 deaths/1000 live births (1992)

Life expectancy at birth: 55 years male, 59 years female (1992)

Total fertility rate: 6.9 children born/woman (1992)

Literacy: 73% (male 81%, female 65%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Zambia

Government type: multiparty system; on 17 December 1990, President Kenneth KAUNDA signed into law the constitutional amendment that officially reintroduced the multiparty system in Zambia ending 17 years of one-party rule

Capital: Lusaka

Administrative divisions:

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

National holiday: Independence Day, 24 October (1964)

Constitution: NA August 1991

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

Suffrage: universal at age 18
President: last held 31 October 1991 (next to be held mid-1995); results - Frederick CHILUBA 84%, Kenneth KAUNDA 16%
National Assembly: last held 31 October 1991 (next to be held mid-1995); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (150 total) MMD 125, UNIP 25

Executive branch: president, Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

International organization participation:
Diplomatic representation:
US:

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

Economy overview: The economy has been in decline for more than a decade with falling imports and growing foreign debt. Economic difficulties stem from a sustained drop in copper production and ineffective economic policies. In 1991 real GDP fell by 2%. An annual population growth of more than 3% has brought a decline in per capita GDP of 50% over the past decade. A high inflation rate has also added to Zambia's economic woes in recent years.
GDP: exchange rate conversion - $4.7 billion, per capita $600; real growth rate -2% (1991)

Agriculture products: accounts for 17% of GDP and 85% of labor force; crops - corn (food staple), sorghum, rice, peanuts, sunflower, tobacco, cotton, sugarcane, cassava; cattle, goats, beef, eggs

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

Industrial production growth rate: growth rate -2% (1991; accounts for 50% of GDP

Labor force: 2,455,000; agriculture 85%; mining, manufacturing, and construction 6%; transport and services 9%
Organized labor: about 238,000 wage earners are unionized

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $665 million; expenditures $767 million, including capital expenditures of $300 million (1991 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
Commodoties: copper, zinc, cobalt, lead, tobacco
Partners: EC, Japan, South Africa, US, India

Imports: $1.3 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
Commodoties: machinery, transportation equipment, foodstuffs, fuels, manufactures
Partners: EC, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, US

Exchange rates: Zambian kwacha (ZK) per US$1 - 128.2051 (March 1992), 61.7284 (1991), 28.9855 (1990), 12.9032 (1989), 8.2237 (1988), 8.8889 (1987)

Electricity
Production: 2,775,000 kW capacity; 12,000 million kWh produced, 1,400 kWh per capita (1991)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP

Airports:

Pipelines: crude oil 1,724 km

Waterways: