Zambia

[Country map of Zambia]

Map ©1996 NGS Cartographic Division. Developed in association with GeoSystems Global Corp. World Map

Geography

Location: Southern Africa, east of Angola

Map references: Africa

Area:
total area: 752,610 sq km
land area: 740,720 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Texas

Land boundaries: total 5,664 km, Angola 1,110 km, Malawi 837 km, Mozambique 419 km, Namibia 233 km, Tanzania 338 km, Zaire 1,930 km, Zimbabwe 797 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

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: 0%
meadows and pastures: 47%
forest and woodland: 27%
other: 19%

Irrigated land: 320 sq km (1989 est.)


People

Population: 9,445,723 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 50% (female 2,331,820; male 2,363,319)
15-64 years: 48% (female 2,332,798; male 2,193,363)
65 years and over: 2% (female 112,484; male 111,939) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.7% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 45.47 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 18.42 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 86 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 42.88 years
male: 42.74 years
female: 43.03 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.62 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Zambian(s)
adjective: Zambian

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

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

Languages: English (official)
note: about 70 indigenous languages

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

Labor force: 3.4 million
by occupation: agriculture85%, mining, manufacturing, and construction 6%, transport and services 9%


Government

Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Zambia
conventional short form: Zambia
former: Northern Rhodesia

Digraph: ZA

Type: republic

Capital: Lusaka

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

Independence: 24 October 1964 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 24 October (1964)

Constitution: 2 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: 18 years of age; universal


Economy

Overview: Prior to 1993 the economy had been in decline for more than a decade with falling imports and growing foreign debt. Economic difficulties stemmed largely from a chronically depressed level of copper production and weak copper prices, generally ineffective economic policies, and high inflation. An annual population growth of 3% brought a decline in per capita GDP of 50% over the decade. However, economic reforms enacted since 1992 have helped reduce inflation, have begun to strengthen the social safety net, and have been accompanied by GDP growth at an estimated 6.8% in 1993 and 4% in 1994. The huge external debt remains a key problem.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $7.9 billion (1994 est.)

National product real growth rate: 4% (1994 est.)

National product per capita: $860 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 89% (1994 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

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

Exports: $1.01 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities: copper, zinc, cobalt, lead, tobacco
partners: EC countries, Japan, South Africa, US, India

Imports: $1.13 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
commodities: machinery, transportation equipment, foodstuffs, fuels, manufactures
partners: EC countries, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, US

External debt: $7.3 billion (1993)

Industrial production: growth rate -1% (1992); accounts for 42% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 2,440,000 kW
production: 7.8 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 650 kWh (1993)

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

Agriculture: accounts for12% of GDP and 85% of labor force; crops - corn (food staple), sorghum, rice, peanuts, sunflower, tobacco, cotton, sugarcane, cassava; cattle, goats, beef, eggs

Currency: 1 Zambian kwacha (ZK) = 100 ngwee

Fiscal year: calendar year


Transportation

Railroads:
total: 1,273 km
narrow gauge: 1,273 km 1.067-m gauge (13 km double track)
note: not a part of Zambia Railways is the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), which operates 1,860 km of 1.067-m narrow gauge track between Dar es Salaam and New Kapiri M'poshi where it connects to the Zambia Railways system; 891 km of the TAZARA line transit Zambia

Highways:
total: 36,370 km
paved: 6,500 km
unpaved: crushed stone, gravel, stabilized earth 7,000 km; improved, unimproved earth 22,870 km

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

Pipelines: crude oil 1,724 km

Ports: Mpulungu

Airports:
total: 113
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 4
with paved runways under 914 m: 39
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 4
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 57


Flag by Dream Maker Software, Inc.
Information obtained from CIA, The World Factbook 1995