Zambia contains minerals, wildlife, forestry, freshwater and arable land.[11] In 2010, the World Bank named Zambia one of the world's fastest economically reformed countries.[12]
Etymology
A territory was known as Northern Rhodesia from 1911 to 1964. It was renamed Zambia in October 1964 on its independence from British rule. The name Zambia derives from the Zambezi River; Zambezi may mean "grand river".[13]
The fossil skull remains (Kabwe 1) of Broken Hill Man (also known as Kabwe Man), dated between 300,000 and 125,000 years BC, shows that the area was inhabited by early humans.[14]
Khoisan, Batwa and Bantu (Abantu)
Ancient (but graffitied) Rock Art in Nsalu Cave, Kasanka National Park in North-Central Zambia
It once was inhabited by the Khoisan and Batwa peoples until around AD 300, when migrating Bantu began to settle the areas.[15] It is believed the Khoisan people originated in East Africa and spread southwards around 150,000 years ago. The Twa people were split into two groups: the Kafwe Twa lived around the Kafue Flats and the Lukanga Twa who lived around the Lukanga Swamp.[16]
A history of the peoples is deduced from oral records, archaeology, and written records, mostly from non-Africans.[17]
The Bantu people originally lived in West and Central Africa around what later is Cameroon and Nigeria. Around 4000 to 3000 years ago they began a millennia-long expansion into most of the continent. The Bantu are believed to have been the first to have brought iron working technology into parts of Africa. The Bantu Expansion happened primarily through two routes: a western one via the Congo Basin and an eastern one via the African Great Lakes.[18]
These first Bantu people lived in villages. They lacked an organised unit under a chief or headman and worked as a community and helped each other in times of field preparation for their crops. Villages moved around as the soil became exhausted as a result of the slash-and-burn technique of planting crops. The people kept herds of cattle.[19]
European missionaries who settled in Wl southern Zambia noted the independence of Bantu societies. One of these missionaries noted: "[If] weapons for war, hunting, and domestic purposes are needed, the Tonga man goes to the hills and digs until he finds the iron ore. He smelts it and with the iron thus obtained makes axes, hoes, and other useful implements. He burns wood and makes charcoal for his forge. His bellows are made from the skins of animals and the pipes are clay tile, and the anvil and hammers are also pieces of the iron he has obtained. He moulds, welds, shapes, and performs all the work of the ordinary blacksmith."[20]
The goods traded at Ingombe Ilede included fabrics, beads, gold, and bangles. Some of these items came from what later is southern Democratic Republic of Congo and Kilwa Kisiwani while others came from as far away as India, China and the Arab world.[21] The African traders were later joined by the Portuguese in the 16th century.[22]
The second mass settlement of Bantu people into Zambia was of people groups that are believed to have taken the western route of the Bantu migration through the Congo Basin. These Bantu people spent the majority of their existence in what later is the Democratic Republic of Congo.[23]
Luba-Lunda states
Drawing of the ruler of Lunda, Mwata Kazembe, receiving Portuguese in the royal courtyard in the 1800s
The Bemba, along with other related groups like the Lamba, Bisa, Senga, Kaonde, Swaka, Nkoya and Soli, formed parts of the Luba Kingdom in Upemba part of the Democratic Republic of Congo and have a relation to the BaLuba people.
Over time these communities learned to use nets and harpoons, make dugout canoes, clear canals through swamps and make dams as high as 2.5 meters. As a result, they grew an economy trading fish, copper and iron items and salt for goods from other parts of Africa, like the Swahili coast and, later on, the Portuguese. From these communities arose the Luba Kingdom in the 14th century.[24]
The Luba Kingdom was a kingdom with a centralised government and smaller independent chiefdoms. It had trading networks that linked the forests in the Congo Basin and the plateaus of what later is Copperbelt Province and stretched from the Atlantic coast to the Indian Ocean coast. The arts and artisans were held in esteem in the kingdom.[24]
Literature was developed in the Luba Kingdom. One Luba genesis story that articulated the distinction between two types of Luba emperors goes as follows:
Nkongolo Mwamba, the red king, and Ilunga Mbidi Kiluwe, a prince of legendary black complexion. Nkongolo Mwamba is the drunken and cruel despot, Ilunga Mbidi Kiluwe the refined and gentle prince. Nkongolo the Red is a man without manners, a man who eats in public, gets drunk, and cannot control himself, whereas [Ilunga] Mbidi Kiluwe is a man of reservation, obsessed with good manners; he does not eat in public, controls his language and his behaviour, and keeps a distance from the vices and modus vivendi of ordinary people. Nkongolo Mwamba symbolizes the embodiment of tyranny, whereas Mbidi Kiluwe remains the admired caring and compassionate kin.[25]
A drawing of Lunda houses by a Portuguese visitor. The size of the doorways relative to the building emphasizes the scale of the buildings.
In the same region of Southern Congo the Lunda people were made into a satellite of the Luba empire and adopted forms of Luba culture and governance, thus becoming the Lunda Empire to the south. According to Lunda genesis myths, a Luba hunter named Chibinda Ilunga, son of Ilunga Mbidi Kiluwe, introduced the Luba model of statecraft to the Lunda sometime around 1600 when he married a local Lunda princess named Lueji and was granted control of her kingdom. Most rulers who claimed descent from Luba ancestors were integrated into the Luba empire. The Lunda kings remained separate and actively expanded their political and economic dominance over the region.[24]
The Lunda, like its parent state Luba, traded with both coasts, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. While ruler Mwaant Yaav Naweej had established trade routes to the Atlantic coast and initiated direct contact with European traders eager for slaves and forest products and controlling the regional Copper trade, and settlements around Lake Mweru regulated commerce with the East African coast.[24]
The Chokwe eventually were defeated by the other ethnic groups and the Portuguese.[26] This instability caused the collapse of the Luba-Lunda states and a dispersal of people into parts of Zambia from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The majority of Zambians trace their ancestry to the Luba-Lunda and surrounding Central African states.[27]
Maravi Confederacy
In the 1200s, before the founding of the Luba-Lunda states, a group of Bantu people started migrating from the Congo Basin to Lake Mweru then finally settled around Lake Malawi. These migrants are believed to have been one of the inhabitants around the Upemba area in the Democratic Republic of Congo. By the 1400s these groups of migrants collectively called the Maravi, and among them was the Chewa people (AChewa), who started assimilating other Bantu groups like the Tumbuka.[28]
The kalonga (ruler) of the AChewa descends from the kalonga of the Maravi Empire.
In 1480 the Maravi Empire was founded by the kalonga (paramount chief of the Maravi) from the Phiri clan, one of the clans, with the others being Banda, Mwale and Nkhoma. The Maravi Empire stretched from the Indian Ocean through what later is Mozambique to Zambia and parts of Malawi. The political organization of the Maravi resembled that of the Luba and is believed to have originated from there. The primary export of the Maravi was ivory, which was transported to Swahili brokers.[28]
Iron was manufactured and exported. In the 1590s the Portuguese endeavoured to monopolize Maravi export trade. This attempt was met with outrage by the Maravi of Lundu, who unleashed their WaZimba armed force. The WaZimba sacked the Portuguese trade towns of Tete, Sena and other towns.[29]
The Maravi are believed to have brought the traditions that would become Nyau secret society from Upemba. The Nyau form the cosmology or indigenous religion of the people of Maravi. The Nyau society consists of ritual dance performances and masks used for the dances; this belief system spread around the region.[30]
The Maravi declined as a result of succession disputes within the confederacy, attack by the Ngoni and slave raids from the Yao.[29]
Mutapa Empire and Mfecane
Three Ngoni chiefs. The Ngoni made their way into Eastern Zambia from KwaZulu in South Africa. They eventually assimilated into the local ethnic groups.
As Great Zimbabwe was in decline, one of its princes, Nyatsimba Mutota, broke away from the state forming a new empire called Mutapa. The title of Mwene Mutapa, meaning "Ravager of the Lands", was bestowed on him and subsequent rulers.[31]
The Mutapa Empire ruled territory between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, in what later is Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, from the 14th to the 17th century. By its peak Mutapa had conquered the Dande area of the Tonga and Tavara. The Mutapa Empire predominately engaged in the Indian Ocean transcontinental trade with and via the WaSwahili. They primarily exported gold and ivory in exchange for silk and ceramics from Asia.[32]
Like their contemporaries in Maravi, Mutapa had problems with the arriving Portuguese traders. The Portuguese attempted to influence the kingdom's internal affairs by establishing markets in the kingdom and converting the population to Christianity. This action caused outrage from the Muslim WaSwahili living in the capital, and this chaos gave the Portuguese the excuse they were searching for to warrant an attack on the kingdom and try to control its gold mines and ivory routes. This attack failed when the Portuguese succumbed to disease along the Zambezi river.[33]
In the 1600s internal disputes and civil war began the decline of Mutapa. The weakened kingdom was finally conquered by the Portuguese and was eventually taken over by rival Shona states.[33]
The Portuguese had estates, known as Prazos, and they used slaves and ex-slaves as security guards and hunters. They trained the men in military tactics and gave them guns. These men became expert elephant hunters and were known as the Chikunda. After the decline of the Portuguese the Chikunda made their way to Zambia.[34]
Inside the palace of the Litunga, ruler of the Lozi. Due to the flooding on the Zambezi, the Litunga has two palaces one of which is on higher ground. The movement of Litunga to higher land is celebrated at the Kuomboka Ceremony.
The Portuguese presence in the region was a reason for the founding of the Rozvi Empire, a breakaway state of Mutapa. Under the leadership of Changamire Dombo, the Rozvi defeated the Portuguese and expelled them from their trading posts along the Zambezi river.[35]
Another instance of this increased militarization was the rise of the Zulu under the leadership of Shaka. Pressures from the English colonialists in the Cape and increased militarization of the Zulu resulted in the Mfecane (the crushing). The Zulu expanded by assimilating the women and children of tribes they defeated; if the men of these Nguni tribes escaped slaughter, they used the military tactics of the Zulu to attack other groups.[36]
This caused mass displacements, wars and raids throughout Southern, Central and Eastern Africa as Nguni or Ngoni tribes made their way throughout the region and is referred to as the Mfecane. The arriving Nguni under the leadership of Zwagendaba crossed the Zambezi river moving northwards. The Ngoni were the final blow to the Maravi Empire. Nguni eventually settled around what later is Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, and assimilated into neighbouring tribes.[36]
In the western part of Zambia, another Southern African group of Sotho-Tswana heritage called the Kololo managed to conquer the local inhabitants who were migrants from the fallen Luba and Lunda states called the Luyana or Aluyi. The Luyana established the Barotse Kingdom on the floodplains of the Zambezi upon their arrival from Katanga. Under the Kololo, the Kololo language was imposed upon the Luyana until the Luyana revolted and overthrew the Kololo; by this time a hybrid language emerged, SiLozi, and the Luyana began to refer to themselves as Lozi.[37]
An 1864 photograph of the Scottish explorer and missionary David Livingstone
One of the recorded Europeans to visit the area was the Portuguese explorer Francisco de Lacerda in the 18th century. Lacerda led an expedition from Mozambique to the Kazembe region in Zambia (with the goal of exploring and to crossing Southern Africa from coast to coast for the first time),[40] and died during the expedition in 1798. The expedition was from then on led by his friend Francisco Pinto.[41]
Other European visitorfollowed in the 19th century, including David Livingstone who had a vision of ending the slave trade through the "3 Cs": Christianity, Commerce, and Civilisation. He was the first European to see the waterfalls on the Zambezi River in 1855, naming them the Victoria Falls after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. He described them thus: "Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight".[42] Locally the falls are known as "Mosi-o-Tunya" or "thundering smoke" in the Lozi or Kololo dialect. The town of Livingstone, near the Falls, is named after him. Publicised accounts of his journeys motivated a wave of European visitors, missionaries and traders after his death in 1873.[43]
To the east, in December 1897 a group of the Angoni or Ngoni (originally from Zululand) rebelled under Tsinco, son of King Mpezeni, and the rebellion was put down,[45] and Mpezeni accepted the Pax Britannica. That part of the country then came to be known as North-Eastern Rhodesia. In 1895, Rhodes asked his American scout Frederick Russell Burnham to look for minerals and ways to improve river navigation in the region, and it was during this trek that Burnham discovered copper deposits along the Kafue River.[46]
In 1953, the creation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland grouped together Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland as a single semi-autonomous region. This was undertaken with opposition from a minority of the population, who demonstrated against it in 1960–61.[47]
The federation was dissolved on 31 December 1963, and in January 1964, Kaunda won the only election for Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia. The Colonial Governor, Sir Evelyn Hone, urged Kaunda to stand for the post. There was an uprising in the north of the country known as the Lumpa Uprising led by Alice Lenshina– Kaunda's first internal conflict as leader of the nation.[48]
Northern Rhodesia became the Republic of Zambia on 24 October 1964, with Kenneth Kaunda as the first president. The economy was largely dependent on foreign expertise. This expertise was provided in part by John Willson.[49] There were over 70,000 Europeans resident in 1964.[50]
Kaunda's endorsement of Patriotic Front guerrillas conducting raids into neighbouring (Southern) Rhodesia resulted in political tension and a militarisation of the border, leading to its closure in 1973.[51]
The geopolitical situation during the Rhodesian Bush War in 1965 – countries friendly to the nationalists are coloured orange.
On 3 September 1978, a civilian airliner, Air Rhodesia Flight 825, was shot down near Kariba by the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA). 18 people, including children, survived the crash only for most of them to be shot by militants of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) led by Joshua Nkomo. Rhodesia responded with Operation Gatling, an attack on Nkomo's guerilla bases in Zambia, in particular, his military headquarters outside Lusaka; this raid became known as the Green Leader Raid. On the same day, two more bases in Zambia were attacked using air power and elite paratroops and helicopter-borne troops.[52]
Civil strife in both Portuguese colonies and a mounting Namibian War of Independence resulted in an influx of refugees[54] and compounded transportation issues. The Benguela railway, which extended west through Angola, was essentially closed to Zambian traffic by the 1970s. Zambia's support for anti-apartheid movements such as the African National Congress (ANC) also created security problems as the South African Defence Force struck at dissident targets during external raids.[55]
In the 1970s, the price of copper, Zambia's principal export, underwent a decline worldwide. In Zambia's situation, the cost of transporting the copper great distances to the market was an additional strain. Zambia turned to foreign and international lenders for relief, and, as copper prices remained depressed, it became increasingly difficult to service its growing debt. By the 1990s, with limited debt relief, Zambia's per capital foreign debt remained among the highest in the world.[56]
In June 1990 riots against Kaunda accelerated. Protesters were killed by the regime in June 1990 protests.[57][58]
Zambia became a republic upon attaining independence in October 1964. From 2011 to 2014, the president had been Michael Sata, until Sata died on 28 October 2014.[59] After Sata's death, Vice President Guy Scott, a Zambian of Scottish descent, became acting President of Zambia. Presidential elections were held on 22 January 2015. A total number of 11 presidential candidates contested in the election and On 24 January 2015, it was announced that Edgar Chagwa Lungu had won the election to become the 6th President. He won 48.33% of the vote, a lead of 1.66 percentage points (3.56%) over his closest rival, Hakainde Hichilema, with 46.67%.[60] Nine other candidates all got less than 1% each. In August 2016 Zambian general election president Edgar Lungu won re-election in the first round of the election. The opposition had allegations of fraud and the governing Patriotic Front (PF) rejected the allegations made by opposition UPND party.[61]
In the 2021 general elections, characterised by a 70% voter turnout, Hakainde Hichilema won 59% of the vote, with his closest rival, incumbent president Edgar Chagwa Lungu, receiving 39% of the vote.[62] On 16 August Edgar Lungu conceded in a TV statement, sending a letter and congratulating president-elect Hakainde Hichilema.[63][64] On 24 August 2021, Hakainde Hichilema was sworn in as the new President of Zambia[65] in a ceremony attended by heads of states including the head of commonwealth it was held at the Heroes Stadium in the capital city Lusaka.[66]
The government has prosecuted critics using the legal pretext that they had incited public disorder. Libel laws are used to suppress free speech and the press.[68]
Same-sex sexual activity is illegal for both males and females.[69][70] A 2010 survey revealed that 2% of Zambians find homosexuality to be morally acceptable.[71]
In December 2019, it was reported that United States Ambassador to Zambia Daniel Lewis Foote was "horrified" by Zambia's jailing of same-sex couple Japhet Chataba and Steven Samba. After an appeal failed and the couple was sentenced to 15 years in prison, Foote asked the Zambian government to review both the case and the country's anti-homosexuality laws. Foote faced a backlash and canceled public appearances after he was threatened on social media, and was subsequently recalled after President Lungu declared him persona non grata.[72]
In the Zambezi basin, there are a number of rivers flowing wholly or partially through Zambia: the Kabompo, Lungwebungu, Kafue, Luangwa, and the Zambezi itself, which flows through the country in the west and then forms its southern border with Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Its source is in Zambia but it diverts into Angola, and a number of its tributaries rise in Angola's central highlands. The edge of the Cuando River floodplain (not its main channel) forms Zambia's southwestern border, and via the Chobe River that river contributes less water to the Zambezi because most are lost by evaporation.[73]
In Eastern Zambia the plateau which extends between the Zambezi and Lake Tanganyika valleys is tilted upwards to the north, and so rises imperceptibly from about 900m (2,953ft) in the south to 1,200m (3,937ft) in the centre, reaching 1,800m (5,906ft) in the north near Mbala. These plateau areas of northern Zambia have been categorised by the World Wildlife Fund as a large section of the Central Zambezian miombo woodlandsecoregion.[74]
Eastern Zambia shows diversity. The Luangwa Valley splits the plateau in a curve north-east to south-west, extended west into the heart of the plateau by the valley of the Lunsemfwa River. Hills and mountains are found by the side of some sections of the valley, notably in its north-east the Nyika Plateau (2,200m or 7,218ft) on the Malawi border, which extend into Zambia as the Mafinga Hills, containing the country's highest point, Mafinga Central (2,339m or 7,674ft).[75]
There are two seasons, the rainy season (November to April) corresponding to summer, and the dry season (May/June to October/November), corresponding to winter. The dry season is subdivided into the cool dry season (May/June to August), and the hot dry season (September to October/November). The modifying influence of altitude gives the country subtropical weather rather than tropical conditions during the cool season of May to August.[76]
There are an estimated 3,543 species of wild flowering plants, consisting of sedges, herbaceous plants and woody plants.[77] The Northern and North-Western provinces have the highest diversity of flowering plants. Approximately 53% of flowering plants are "rare" and occur throughout the country.[78]
Note: In censuses carried out during the British colonial administration prior to 1963, the black African population was estimated rather than counted. Source: Central Statistical Office, Zambia
The population includes approximately 73 ethnic groups,[84] most of which are Bantu-speaking. Almost 90% of Zambians belong to nine ethnolinguistic groups: the Nyanja-Chewa, Bemba,[85]Tonga,[86]Tumbuka,[87]Lunda, Luvale,[88]Kaonde,[89]Nkoya and Lozi.[90] In the rural areas, ethnic groups are concentrated in particular geographic regions. In addition to the linguistic dimension, tribal identities are relevant.[91] These tribal identities are linked to family allegiance or to traditional authorities. The tribal identities are nested within the main language groups.[92]
Tribal and linguistic map
Immigrants, mostly British or South African, as well as some white Zambian citizens of British descent, live mainly in Lusaka and in the Copperbelt in northern Zambia, where they are either employed in mines, financial and related activities or retired. There were 70,000 Europeans in Zambia in 1964, but many have since left the country.[50]
Zambia has an Asian population, most of whom are Indians and Chinese. This minority group has an impact on the economy controlling the manufacturing sector. An estimated 80,000 Chinese reside.[93] Several hundred dispossessed white farmers have left Zimbabwe at the invitation of the Zambian government, to take up farming in the Southern province.[94][95]
According to the World Refugee Survey 2009 published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Zambia had a population of refugees and asylum seekers numbering approximately 88,900. The majority of refugees in the country came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (47,300 refugees from the DRC living in Zambia in 2007), Angola (27,100; see Angolans in Zambia), Zimbabwe (5,400) and Rwanda (4,900).[96]
Beginning in May 2008, the number of Zimbabweans in Zambia began to increase more; the influx consisted largely of Zimbabweans formerly living in South Africa who were fleeing xenophobic violence there.[97] Nearly 60,000 refugees live in camps, while 50,000 are mixed in with the local populations. Refugees who wish to work must apply for permits, which can cost up to $500 per year.[96]
It is officially a "Christian nation" under the 1996 constitution, and recognizes and protects freedom of religion.[98]
Christianity arrived to Zambia through missionary work in the second half of the 19th century, and its variety of sects and movements reflect changing patterns of missionary activity; for example, Catholicism came from Portuguese Mozambique in the east, while Anglicanism reflects British influences from the south. Following its independence in 1964, Zambia saw a greater influx of other church missions from across the world, particularly North America and Germany. In subsequent decades, Western missionary roles have been assumed by native believers (except for some technical positions, such as physicians). After Frederick Chiluba, a Pentecostal Christian, became president in 1991, Pentecostal congregations expanded around the country.[99]
Distribution of population by religious affiliation
A number of otherwise smaller Christian denominations are disproportionately represented. The country has a community of Seventh-day Adventists, accounting for about 1 in 18 Zambians.[101] The Lutheran Church of Central Africa has over 11,000 members.[102] Counting only active preachers, Jehovah's Witnesses, who have been present since 1911,[103] have over 190,000 adherents; nearly 800,000 attended the annual observance of Christ's death in 2021.[104] About 12 percent of Zambians are members of the New Apostolic Church;[105] with more than 1.2 million believers, the country has the third-largest community in Africa, out of a total worldwide membership of over 9 million.[106]
Not including indigenous beliefs, non-Christian faiths total less than three percent of the population. Followers of the Baháʼí Faith number over 160,000,[107] or 1.5 percent of the population, which is among the largest communities in the world; the William Mmutle Masetlha Foundation, run by the Baháʼí community, is particularly active in areas such as literacy and primary health care. Approximately 0.5 percent of Zambians are Muslim, and a similar proportion are Hindu, in each case concentrated in urban areas.[108] About 500 people belong to the Ahmadiyya community, which is variably considered an Islamic movement or a heretical sect.[109]
Languages
Texts claim that Zambia has 73 languages and/or dialects; this figure is probably due to a non-distinction between language and dialect, based on the criterion of mutual intelligibility. On this basis, the number languages would probably be about 20 or 30.[110]
The official language of Zambia is English, which is used for official business and public education. The main local language, especially in Lusaka, is Nyanja (Chewa), followed by Bemba. In the Copperbelt, Bemba is the main language and Nyanja second. Bemba and Nyanja are spoken in the urban areas, in addition to other indigenous languages that are spoken. These include Lozi, Tumbuka, Kaonde, Tonga, Lunda and Luvale, which featured on the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) local-languages section.[112][110][113]
English is used in official communications and is the language of choice at home among– now common– interethnic families. This evolution of languages has led to Zambian slang heard throughout Lusaka and other cities. The majority of Zambians speak more than one language: the official language, English, and the most spoken language in the town or area they live in. Portuguese has been introduced as a second language into the school curriculum due to the presence of a Portuguese-speaking Angolan community.[115] French is commonly studied in private schools, while some secondary schools have it as an optional subject. A German course has been introduced at the University of Zambia (UNZA).
It is experiencing a generalised HIV/AIDS epidemic, with a national HIV prevalence rate of 12.10 percent among adults.[116] The prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS for adults aged 15–49 decreased to 13 percent in 2013/14, compared to 16 percent roughly a decade earlier.[117]
The right to equal and adequate education for all is enshrined within the constitution.[118] The Education Act of 2011 regulates equal and quality education.[119]
It averages between $7.5billion and $8billion of exports annually.[120] It totaled $9.1billion worth of exports in 2018.[121] In 2015, about 54.4% of Zambians lived below the recognised national poverty line, improved from 60.5% in 2010.[122] Rural poverty rates were about 76.6% and urban rates at about 23.4%.[122] The national poverty line was ZMK 214 (US$12.85) per month.[123]
Zambia ranked 117th out of 128 countries on the 2007 Global Competitiveness Index, which looks at factors that affect economic growth.[125] In the same index in 2019 Zambia slipped in ranking to 19th place in Africa and 120th globally. As of 2020 Zambia ranks 7th in Ease of Doing Business[126] in Africa and 85th out of 190 countries globally. Social indicators continue to decline, particularly in measurements of life expectancy at birth (about 40.9 years) and maternal mortality (830 per 100,000 pregnancies).[127]
After international copper prices declined in the 1970s, the socialist regime made up for falling revenue with abortive attempts at International Monetary Fundstructural adjustment programs (SAPs). The policy of not trading through the main supply route and line of rail to the sea– the territory was known as Rhodesia (from 1965 to 1979), and now known as Zimbabwe– cost the economy. After the Kaunda regime, (from 1991) successive governments began limited reforms. The economy stagnated until the 1990s. In 2007 Zambia recorded its ninth consecutive year of economic growth. Inflation was 8.9%, down from 30% in 2000.[128]
Export Treemap (2014)
Zambia is dealing with economic reform issues such as the size of the public sector, and improving social sector delivery systems.[128] The bureaucratic procedures surrounding the process of obtaining licences encourages the use of facilitation payments.[129]
GDP per capita, compared to neighbouring countries (world average = 100)
In January 2003, the government informed the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that it wished to renegotiate some of the agreed performance criteria calling for privatisation of the Zambia National Commercial Bank and the national telephone and electricity utilities. While agreements were reached on these issues, subsequent overspending on civil service wages delayed Zambia's final HIPC debt forgiveness from 2003 to 2005, at the earliest. In an effort to reach HIPC completion in 2004, the government drafted an austerity budget for 2004, freezing civil service salaries and increasing the number of taxes. The tax hike and public sector wage freeze prohibited salary increases and new hires. This sparked a nationwide strike in February 2004.[130]
The government is pursuing an economic diversification program to reduce the economy's reliance on the copper industry. This initiative seeks to exploit other components of resource base by promoting agriculture, tourism, gemstone mining, and hydro-power. In July 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Zambia's President Edgar Lungu signed 12 agreements in capital Lusaka on areas ranging from trade and investment to tourism and diplomacy.[131][132]
In 2003, exports of nonmetals increased by 25% and accounted for 38% of all export earnings, previously 35%. The government has been granting licenses to international resource companies to prospect for minerals such as nickel, tin, copper, and uranium.[133] The government hopes that nickel will take over from copper as the country's top metallic export.[134] In 2009, Zambia was hit by the world economic crisis.[135]
A number of white Zimbabwean farmers were welcomed into Zambia after their expulsion by Robert Mugabe, whose numbers had reached roughly 150 to 300 people as of 2004[update].[136][137] They farm a variety of crops including tobacco, wheat, and chili peppers on an estimated 150 farms. The skills they brought, combined with general economic liberalisation under the late Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa, has been credited with stimulating an agricultural boom in Zambia. In 2004, for the first time in 26 years, Zambia exported more corn than it imported.[95] In December 2019, the government unanimously decided to legalize cannabis for medicinal and export purposes only.[138]
In 2009, Zambia generated 10.3 TWh of electricity.[139]early 2015[update], Zambia began experiencing an energy "shortage due to the poor 2014/2015 rain season", which resulted in lower water levels at the Kariba dam and other dams.[140] In September 2019, African Green Resources (AGR) announced that it would invest $150million in a 50 megawatt (MW) solar farm, along with an irrigation dam and expanding the existing grain silo capacity by 80,000 tonnes.[141]
Culture
Nshima (top right corner) with three types of relish
Inhabitants lived in tribes. One of the results of the colonial era was the growth of urbanisation. Different ethnic groups started living together in towns and cities, influencing each other's way of life. They started adopting aspects of global or universal culture, including in terms of dressing and mannerisms.[142] Original cultures have survived in rural areas, with some outside influences such as Christianity. Cultures that are specific to certain ethnic groups are known as 'Zambian cultures' while those lifestyles that are across ethnic groups are labelled "Zambian culture".[142]
Zambia practices ceremonies and rituals. Some of the ceremonies and rituals are performed on occasions celebrating or marking achievements, anniversaries, the passage of time, coronations and presidential occasions, atonement and purification, graduation, dedication, oaths of allegiance, initiation, marriage, funeral, birth ceremonies and others.[142]
It practices both disclosed and undisclosed ceremonies and rituals. Among the disclosed ceremonies and rituals include calendrical or seasonal, contingent, affliction, divination, initiation and regular or daily ceremonies.[142] Undisclosed ceremonies include those practiced in secret such by spiritual groups like Nyau and Nakisha dancers and marriage counsellors such as alangizi women.[142] As of December 2016, Zambia had 77 calendrical or seasonal traditional ceremonies recognized by government.[142] The ceremonies once a year include Nc’wala, Kulonga, Kuoboka, Malaila, Nsengele, Chibwela kumushi, Dantho, Ntongo, Makundu, Lwiindi, Chuungu, and Lyenya. These are known as Zambian traditional ceremonies. Some of the more prominent are: Kuomboka and Kathanga (Western Province), Mutomboko (Luapula Province), Kulamba and Ncwala (Eastern Province), Lwiindi and Shimunenga (Southern Province), Lunda Lubanza (North Western), Likumbi Lyamize (North Western),[143]Mbunda Lukwakwa (North Western Province), Chibwela Kumushi (Central Province), Vinkhakanimba (Muchinga Province), Ukusefya Pa Ng'wena (Northern Province).
Sports and games
Sports and games are social aspects that brings people together for learning, development of skills, fun and joyous moments.[142] Sports and games in Zambia include, and are not limited to, football, athletics, netball, volleyball and indigenous games such as nsolo, chiyenga, waida, hide and seek, walyako, and sojo.[142] These are some of the indigenous games that support socialisation. The fact that the games are played by more than one person makes them social and edutainment events.[142] Zambia started taking part in global sports and games in the 1964 Summer Olympics.[142]
Rugby Union, boxing and cricket are practiced. At one point in the 2000s, the Australia and South Africa national rugby teams were captained by players born in the same Lusaka hospital, those players being George Gregan and Corné Krige, respectively. Until 2014, the Roan Antelope Rugby Club in Luanshya held the Guinness World Record for the tallest rugby union goal posts in the world at 110ft, 6 inches high.[147] This world record is now held by the Wednesbury Rugby Club.[148]Rugby union in Zambia is a growing sport. They are ranked 73rd by the IRB and have 3,650 registered players and three formally organised clubs.[149] Zambia used to play cricket as part of Rhodesia. It has provided a shinty international, Zambian-born Eddie Tembo representing Scotland in the compromise rules Shinty/Hurling game against Ireland in 2008.[150]
In 2011, Zambia was due to host the tenth All-Africa Games, for which three stadiums were to be built in Lusaka, Ndola, and Livingstone.[151] The Lusaka stadium would have a capacity of 70,000 spectators while the other two stadiums would hold 50,000 people each. The government was encouraging the private sector to get involved in the construction of the sports facilities because of a shortage of public funds for the project. Zambia later withdrew its bid to host the 2011 All-Africa Games, citing a lack of funds. Hence, Mozambique took Zambia's place as host.
The music which introduced dance is part of a cultural expression and it embodies the life, from the intricacies of the talking drums to the Kamangu drum used to announce the beginning of Malaila ceremony. Dance as a practice serves as a unifying factor bringing the people together as one.[154]
Kenneth David Kaunda, also known as KK, was a Zambian politician who served as the first President of Zambia from 1964 to 1991. He was at the forefront of the struggle for independence from British rule. Dissatisfied with Harry Nkumbula's leadership of the Northern Rhodesian African National Congress, he broke away and founded the Zambian African National Congress, later becoming the head of the socialist United National Independence Party (UNIP).
The history of Zambia experienced many stages from colonization to independence from Britain on October 24, 1964. Northern Rhodesia became a British sphere of influence in the present-day region of Zambia in 1888, and was officially proclaimed a British protectorate in 1924. After many years of suggested mergers, Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland were merged into the British Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers 1,390,000 km2 (540,000 sq mi), slightly less than half of the Nile's. The 2,574-kilometre-long (1,599 mi) river rises in Zambia and flows through eastern Angola, along the north-eastern border of Namibia and the northern border of Botswana, then along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe to Mozambique, where it crosses the country to empty into the Indian Ocean.
Lozi, also known as siLozi and Rozi, is a Bantu language of the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho–Tswana branch of Zone S (S.30), that is spoken by the Lozi people, primarily in southwestern Zambia and in surrounding countries. This language is most closely related to Northern Sotho, Tswana (Setswana), Kgalagari (SheKgalagari) and Sotho. Lozi, sometimes written as Rotse, and its dialects are spoken and understood by approximately six percent of the population of Zambia. Silozi is the endonym as defined by the United Nations. Lozi is the exonym.
Maravi was a kingdom which straddled the current borders of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, in the 16th century. The present-day name "Maláŵi" is said to derive from the Chewa word "malaŵí", which means "flames". "Maravi" is a general name of the peoples of Malawi, eastern Zambia, and northeastern Mozambique. The Chewa language, which is also referred to as Nyanja, Chinyanja or Chichewa, and is spoken in southern and central Malawi, in Zambia and to some extent in Mozambique, is the main language that emerged from this empire.
Livingstone is a city in Zambia. Until 1935, it served as the capital city of Zambia. Lying 10 km (6.2 mi) to the north of the Zambezi River, it is a tourism attraction center for the Victoria Falls and a border town with road and rail connections to Zimbabwe on the other side of the Victoria Falls. A historic British colonial city, its present population was enumerated at 134,349 inhabitants at the 2010 census. It is named after David Livingstone, the Scottish explorer and missionary who was the first European to explore the area.
Lozi people, or Barotse, are a southern African ethnic group who speak Lozi or Silozi, a Sotho–Tswana language. The Lozi people consist of more than 46 different ethnic groups and are primarily situated between Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe including half of North-Western and western province of Zambia inhabiting the region of Barotseland.
Barotseland is a region between Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe including half of eastern and northern provinces of Zambia and the whole of Democratic Republic of Congo's Katanga Province. It is the homeland of the Lozi people or Barotse, or Malozi, who are a unified group of over 46 individual formerly diverse tribes related through kinship, whose original branch are the Luyi (Maluyi), and also assimilated Southern Sotho tribe of South Africa known as the Makololo.
The Copperbelt is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining.
Lusaka Province is one of the ten provinces of Zambia. Its capital is Lusaka, which is also the national capital. It is the smallest province in Zambia, with an area of 21,896 km2. Lusaka is also Zambia's most populated and most densely populated province, with a population of 2,191,225 and density of 100 persons per km2 as of 2010. It is the most urban province, with the most doctors and fewest malaria-related incidents. The province is bordered by Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and separated by the Lower Zambezi National Park.
The Bemba belong to a large group of Bantu peoples mainly in the Northern, Luapula, Muchinga, and the northern Central Province of Zambia. The Bemba entered modern-day Zambia before 1740 by crossing the Luapula River from Kola. A few other ethnic groups in the Northern and Luapula regions lof Zambia speak languages that are similar to Bemba but do not share a similar origin. The Bemba people are not indigenous to the Copperbelt Province, having reached there only in the 1930s due to employment opportunities in copper mining.
Kazembe is a traditional kingdom in modern-day Zambia, Southeastern Congo. For more than 250 years, Kazembe has been an influential kingdom of the Kiluba-Chibemba, speaking the language of the Eastern Luba-Lunda people of south-central Africa. Its position on trade routes in a well-watered, relatively fertile and well-populated area of forestry, fishery and agricultural resources drew expeditions by traders and explorers who called it variously Kasembe, Cazembe and Casembe.
Zambia has several major indigenous languages, all members of the Bantu family, as well as Khwedam, Zambian Sign Language, several immigrant languages and the pidgins Settla and Fanagalo. English is the official language and the major language of business and education.
The Luvale people, also spelled Lovale, Balovale, Lubale, as well as Lwena or Luena in Angola, are a Bantu ethnic group found in northwestern Zambia and southeastern Angola. They are closely related to the Lunda and Ndembu to the northeast, but they also share cultural similarities to the Kaonde to the east, and to the Chokwe and Luchazi, important groups of eastern Angola.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Zambia:
Zambia, officially known as the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are 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, located in the southeast of the country. The population is concentrated mainly around the capital and the Copperbelt to the northwest.
Lusaka is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about 1,279 metres (4,196 ft). As of 2019, the city's population was about 3.3 million, while the urban population is estimated at 2.5 million in 2018. Lusaka is the centre of both commerce and government in Zambia and connects to the country's four main highways heading north, south, east, and west. English is the official language of the city administration, while Bemba, Tonga, Lenje, Soli, Lozi, and Nyanja are the commonly spoken street languages.
Lamba people are a Bantu ethnolinguistic group mainly located in the Central, Copperbelt, and North-Western provinces of Zambia. Lamba people speak the Lamba language, with Lamba and Lima the major dialects recognized.
↑ "Lozi | people". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
↑ The elites of Barotseland, 1878–1969: a political history of Zambia's Western Province: a. Gerald L. Caplan, C. Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd, 1970, ISBN0900966386
↑ Spectrum Guide to Zambia. Camerapix International Publishing, Nairobi, 1996. ISBN1874041148.
↑ Bolnick, Doreen; Bingham (2007). A guide to the common wild flowers of Zambia and neighbouring regions 2nd Edition. Lusaka: Wildlife & Environmental Conservation Society of Zambia. p.75. ISBN9789982180634.
↑ Mkandawire, Sitwe Benson. (2015). The State of Affairs of Cultural Literacy in Zambia's Multicultural Education System. In A. L. Jotia and J. Dudu (Ed.), Multicultural Education Discourses: Breaking Barriers of Exclusion in Selected African Contexts. Windhoek, Namibia: Zebra publishing (Pty) LTD. pp.190–204. ISBN978-99945-84-99-4.
↑ "Laws of Zambia". National Assembly of Zambia. National Assembly of Zambia. 1996. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
↑ "The Education Act (2011)". National Assembly of Zambia. National Assembly of Zambia. 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
↑ S, Henning Goranson; Press, berg for Think Africa; Network, part of the Guardian Africa (22 July 2013). "Why Zamrock is back in play". the Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
DeRoche, Andy, Kenneth Kaunda, the United States and Southern Africa (London: Bloomsbury, 2016)
Ferguson, James (1999). Expectations of Modernity: Myths and Meanings of Urban Life in the Zambian Copperbelt. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN978-0-520-21701-0.
Gewald, J. B., et al. One Zambia, Many Histories: Towards a History of Post-colonial Zambia (Brill, 2008)
Ihonvbere, Julius, Economic Crisis, Civil Society and Democratisation: The Case of Zambia (Africa Research & Publications, 1996)
LaMonica, Christopher, Local Government Matters: The Case of Zambia (Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
$76.325 billion [4] (102nd)
0.565 [6] 
