KEY FACTS

Joined Commonwealth: 1964
Population: 14,075,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 0.8% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 163
Official language: English
Time: GMT plus 2hr
Currency: Kwacha (ZK)

Geography

Area: 752,614 sq km
Coastline: none
Capital: Lusaka

Zambia is a landlocked, fertile and mineral-rich country on the Southern African plateau. It is bordered by: (clockwise from the north) the United Republic of Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia (via the Caprivi Strip), Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country comprises ten provinces (from south to north): Southern, Western, Lusaka, Central, Eastern, North-Western, Copperbelt, Northern, Muchinga (whose creation was announced in October 2011) and Luapula.

Main towns:

Lusaka (capital, pop. 1.45m in 2010), Kitwe (Copperbelt Province, 527,800), Ndola (Copperbelt, 495,800), Kabwe (Central, 214,700), Chingola (Copperbelt, 178,400), Mufulira (Copperbelt, 141,300), Livingstone (Southern, 133,800), Luanshya (Copperbelt, 132,300), Kasama (Northern, 111,500), Chipata (Eastern, 109,500), Kalulushi (Copperbelt, 100,900), Mazabuka (Southern, 95,600), Chililabombwe (Copperbelt,72,000), Mongu (Western, 71,800), Choma (Southern, 58,500), Kapiri Mposhi (Central, 56,800), Kansanshi (North-Western, 51,900), Kafue (Lusaka, 46,500), Mansa (Luapula, 45,100), Monze (Southern, 40,800), Sesheke (Western, 33,400) and Mpika (Northern, 31,100).

Society

KEY FACTS 2012

Population per sq km: 19
Life expectancy: 57 years
Net primary enrolment: 94%

Population:

14,075,000 (2012); 40 per cent of people live in urban areas and 11 per cent in urban agglomerations of more than one million people; growth 2.7 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 43 per 1,000 people (49 in 1970); life expectancy 57 years; it fell from a peak of about 52 years in the latter 1980s, due to AIDS, but began to rise again from 2003, when it was 33 years. There are 73 indigenous ethnic groups of Bantu origin. The largest, representing about 18 per cent of the population, is the Bemba of the north-east and Copperbelt. Others include the Tonga of Southern Province, the Nyanja of Eastern Province and Lusaka, and the Lozi of the west. There are small minorities of Europeans and Asians.

Language: 

English is the official language and is widely spoken. There are seven main African languages: Bemba, Kaonde, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja and Tonga

Education:

Public spending on education was one per cent of GDP in 2008. There are seven years of compulsory education starting at the age of seven. Primary school comprises seven years and secondary five, with cycles of two and three years. Some 53 per cent of pupils complete primary school (2008). The school year starts in January. Public universities include the University of Zambia (established in Lusaka in 1965); Copperbelt University (Kitwe, 1986); and Mulungushi University (Kabwe, 2008). There are a number of private universities, including Zambia Open University (Lusaka, 2004); and Cavendish University (Lusaka, 2004). Literacy among people aged 15–24 is 74 per cent (2010).