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 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 an anticorruption investigation in 2002 to probe high-level corruption during the previous administration. In 2006-07, this task force successfully prosecuted four cases, including a landmark civil case in the UK in which former President CHILUBA and numerous others were found liable for USD 41 million. 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 election in October 2008.

Southern Africa, east of Angola

15 00 S, 30 00 E

Africa

slightly larger than Texas

0 km (landlocked)

none (landlocked)

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

mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains

copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium, hydropower

1,560 sq km (2003)

105.2 cu km (2001)

periodic drought; tropical storms (November to April)

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

landlocked; the Zambezi forms a natural riverine boundary with Zimbabwe

12,056,923

1.617% (2010 est.)

39.93 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

21.15 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

-2.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

5.07 children born/woman (2010 est.)

15.2% (2007 est.)

1.1 million (2007 est.)

56,000 (2007 est.)

African 99.5% (includes Bemba, Tonga, Chewa, Lozi, Nsenga, Tumbuka, Ngoni, Lala, Kaonde, Lunda, and other African groups), other 0.5% (includes Europeans, Asians, and Americans) (2000 Census)

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

Bemba 30.1% (official), Nyanja 10.7% (official), Tonga 10.6% (official), Lozi 5.7% (official), Chewa 4.9%, Nsenga 3.4%, Tumbuka 2.5%, Lunda 2.2% (official), Kaonde 2% (official), Lala 2%, Luvale 1.7% (official), English 1.7% (official), other 22.5% (2000 Census)

2% of GDP (2005)

republic

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

24 October 1964 (from the UK)

Independence Day, 24 October (1964)

24 August 1991; amended in 1996 to establish presidential term limits

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

18 years of age; universal

unicameral National Assembly (158 seats; 150 members are elected by popular vote, 8 members appointed by the president, to serve five-year terms)

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

Forum for Democracy and Development or FDD [Edith NAWAKWI]; Heritage Party or HP [Godfrey MIYANDA]; Movement for Multiparty Democracy or MMD [vacant]; Party of Unity for Democracy and Development or PUDD [Dan PULE]; Patriotic Front or PF [Michael SATA]; Reform Party [Nevers MUMBA]; United Democratic Alliance or UDA (a coalition of RP, ZADECO, PUDD, and ZRP); United Liberal Party or ULP [Sakwiba SIKOTA]; United National Independence Party or UNIP [Tilyenji KAUNDA]; United Party for National Development or UPND [Hakainde HICHILEMA]; Zambia Democratic Congress or ZADECO [Langton SICHONE]; Zambian Republican Party or ZRP [Benjamin MWILA]

NA

AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

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

Zambia's economy has experienced strong growth in recent years, with real GDP growth in 2005-08 about 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 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 foreign investment. In 2005, Zambia qualified for debt relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Country Initiative, consisting of approximately USD 6 billion in debt relief. Poverty remains a significant problem in Zambia, despite a stronger economy. The decline in world commodity prices and demand hurt GDP growth in 2009, but a sharp rebound in copper prices and a bumper maize crop have helped Zambia begin to recover. Lack of economic diversity subjects Zambia to fluctuations in copper prices and in the weather.

$18.5 billion (2009 est.)

$17.7 billion (2008 est.)

$16.74 billion (2007 est.)

$12.44 billion (2009 est.)

4.5% (2009 est.)

5.7% (2008 est.)

6.2% (2007 est.)

$1,500 (2009 est.)

$1,500 (2008 est.)

$1,500 (2007 est.)

5.398 million (2009 est.)

50% (2000 est.)

86% (1993)

50.8 (2004)

52.6 (1998)

19.5% of GDP (2009 est.)

31.5% of GDP (2009 est.)

29.5% of GDP (2008 est.)

13.5% (2009 est.)

12.4% (2008 est.)

14.49% (31 December 2008)

11.73% (31 December 2007)

19.06% (31 December 2008)

18.89% (31 December 2007)

$1.034 billion (31 December 2008)

$995.8 million (31 December 2007)

$1.618 billion (31 December 2008)

$1.709 billion (31 December 2007)

$2.138 billion (31 December 2008)

$1.968 billion (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$2.346 billion (31 December 2007)

$1.186 billion (31 December 2006)

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

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

2.7% (2009 est.)

9.752 billion kWh (2007 est.)

8.838 billion kWh (2007 est.)

268 million kWh (2007)

222 million kWh (2008 est.)

159 bbl/day (2008 est.)

16,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)

275 bbl/day (2007 est.)

14,730 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

-$364 million (2009 est.)

-$977 million (2008 est.)

$4.388 billion (2009 est.)

$4.818 billion (2008 est.)

copper/cobalt 64%, cobalt, electricity; tobacco, flowers, cotton

China 13.8%, South Africa 8.2%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 7.8%, Saudi Arabia 7.6%, South Korea 7.6%, Egypt 7.4%, Italy 6.7%, India 4.6% (2008)

$4.131 billion (2009 est.)

$4.694 billion (2008 est.)

machinery, transportation equipment, petroleum products, electricity, fertilizer; foodstuffs, clothing

South Africa 52.5%, UAE 8.2%, China 6.9% (2008)

$1.25 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$1.096 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$3.313 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$3.095 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$NA

$NA

Zambian kwacha (ZMK) per US dollar - 5,237.4 (2009), 3,512.9 (2008), 3,990.2 (2007), 3,601.5 (2006), 4,463.5 (2005)

90,600 (2008)

3.539 million (2008)

AM 19, FM 5, shortwave 4 (2001)

9 (2001)

.zm

14,951 (2009)

700,000 (2008)

97 (2009)

oil 771 km (2009)

2,250 km (includes Lake Tanganyika and the Zambezi and Luapula rivers) (2008)

Mpulungu

Zambian National Defense Force (ZNDF): Zambian Army, Zambian Air Force, National Service (2009)

18-27 years of age for voluntary military service (16 years of age with parental consent); no conscription; Zambian citizenship required; mandatory HIV testing upon enlistment (2009)

1.8% of GDP (2005 est.)

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

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