Zambia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, neighboring the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west.
The capital city is Lusaka, in the south-central part of the country.
The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the northwest.
Originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region was colonised during the Bantu expansion of the thirteenth century.
After visits by European explorers in the eighteenth century,
Zambia became the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia towards the end of the nineteenth century.
For most of the colonial period, the country was governed by an administration appointed from London with the advice of the British South Africa Company.
On 24 October 1964, the country became independent of the United Kingdom and then-prime minister Kenneth Kaunda became the inaugural president.
Kaunda's socialist United National Independence Party (UNIP) maintained power from 1964 until 1991.
From 1972 to 1991 Zambia was a single-party state with the UNIP as the sole legal political party under the motto 'One Zambia, One Nation'.
Kaunda was succeeded by Frederick Chiluba of the social-democratic Movement for Multi-Party Democracy in 1991, beginning a period of social-economic growth and government decentralisation.
Levy Mwanawasa, Chiluba's chosen successor, presided over the country from January 2002 until his death in August 2008, and is credited with campaigns to reduce corruption and increase the standard of living.
After Mwanawasa's death, Rupiah Banda presided as Acting President before being elected President in 2008.
Holding office for only three years, Banda stepped down after his defeat in the 2011 elections by Patriotic Front party leader Michael Chilufya Sata.
In 2010, the World Bank named Zambia one of the world's fastest economically reformed countries.
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is headquartered in Lusaka.
Republic of Zambia
Motto: "One Zambia, One Nation"
Anthem: Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free
Capital and largest city: Lusaka(15°25′S 28°17′E)
Official languages: English
Recognised regional languages:
• Bemba
• Tonga
• Lozi
• Lunda
• Luvale
• Kaonde
• Nyanja
• Chewa
Ethnic groups (2003):
• 22% Bemba
• 11% Tonga
• 5.2% Lozi
• 5.1% Nsenga
• 4.3% Tumbuka
• 3.8% Ngoni
• 3% Chewa
• 1% White
• 45% others
Demonym: Zambian
Government: Presidential republic
• President:
• Vice-President:
Legislature: National Assembly
Independence from the United Kingdom: 24 October 1964
Current constitution: 24 August 1991
Area
• Total: 752,618 km2 (39th) - 290,587 sq mi
• Water (%): 1
Population:
2012 estimate 14,309,466 (70th) - 2010 census 13,092,666
Density: 17.2/km2 (191st) - 44.5/sq mi
GDP (PPP): 2012 estimate
• Total: $23.967 billion
• Per capita: $1,721
Currency: Zambian kwacha (ZMW)
Time zone: CAT (UTC+2) - Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+2)
Drives on the left
Calling code: +260
ISO 3166 code: ZM
Internet TLD: .zm