History: Early humans inhabited present-day Zambia between one and two million years ago. Today the country is made up almost entirely of Bantu-speaking peoples. Empire builder Cecil Rhodes obtained mining concessions in 1889 from King Lewanika of the Barotse and sent settlers to the area soon thereafter. The region was ruled by the British South Africa Company, which he established, until 1924, when the British government took over the administration.
From 1953 to 1964, Northern Rhodesia was federated with Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (now Malawi) in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. On Oct. 24, 1964, Northern Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zambia.
Kenneth Kaunda, the first president, kept Zambia within the Commonwealth of Nations. The country's economy, dependent on copper exports, was threatened when Rhodesia declared its independence from British rule in 1965 and defied UN sanctions, which Zambia supported, an action that deprived Zambia of its trade route through Rhodesia. The U.S., Britain, and Canada organized an airlift in 1966 to ship gasoline into Zambia.
In 1972 Kaunda outlawed all opposition political parties. The world copper market collapsed in 1975. The Zambian economy was devastated—it had been the third-largest miner of copper in the world after the United States and Soviet Union. With a soaring debt and inflation rate in 1991, riots took place in Lusaka, resulting in a number of killings. Mounting domestic pressure forced Kaunda to move Zambia toward multiparty democracy. National elections on Oct. 31, 1991, brought a stunning defeat to Kaunda. The new president, Frederick Chiluba, called for sweeping economic reforms, including privatization and the establishment of a stock market. He was reelected in Nov. 1996. Chiluba declared martial law in 1997 and arrested Kaunda following a failed coup attempt. The 1999 slump in world copper prices again depressed the economy since copper provides 80% of Zambia's export earnings.
In 2001 Chiluba contemplated changing the constitution to allow him to run for another presidential term. After protests he relented, and selected Levy Mwanawasa, a former vice president with whom he had fallen out, as his successor. Mwanawasa became president in Jan. 2002; opposition parties protested over alleged fraud. In June 2002, Mwanawasa, once seen as a pawn of Chiluba, accused the former president of stealing millions from the government while in office. Chiluba was arrested and charged in Feb. 2003.
Although the country faced the threat of famine in 2002, the president refused to accept any international donations of food that had been genetically modified, which Mwanawasa considered “poison.” In Aug. 2003, impeachment proceedings against the president for corruption were rejected by Parliament.
Map:
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Stu...mbia_19892.gif
Area - comparative: slightly larger than Texas
Capital: Lusaka
Border Countries: Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe
Climate: tropical; modified by altitude; rainy season (October to April)
Terrain: mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains
Environment - current issues: 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
Natural hazards: periodic drought, tropical storms (November to April)
Population: 11,261,795 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
Population growth rate: 2.12% Birth rate: 41.38 births/1,000 population, Death rate: 20.23 deaths/1,000 population, Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 16.5%, HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 920,000, HIV/AIDS - deaths: 89,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: very high, food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: malaria and plague are high risks in some locations water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2004), note: Aids is blamed for decimating the cream of Zambian professionals - including engineers and politicians - and malaria remains a major problem.
Ethnic groups: African 98.7%, European 1.1%, other 0.2%
Religions: Christian 50%-75%, Muslim and Hindu 24%-49%, indigenous beliefs 1%
Languages: English (official), major vernaculars - Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write English, total population: 80.6%, male: 86.8%, female: 74.8% (2003 est.)
Economy - overview: Despite progress in privatization and budgetary reform, Zambia's economic growth remains somewhat below the 5% to 7% needed to reduce poverty significantly. Privatization of government-owned copper mines 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 increased in 2004 and is expected to increase again in 2005, due to higher copper prices and the opening of new mines. The maize harvest was again good in 2004, helping boost GDP and agricultural exports. Cooperation continues with international bodies on programs to reduce poverty, including a new lending arrangement with the IMF in the second quarter, 2004. A tighter monetary policy will help cut inflation, but Zambia still has a serious problem with fiscal discipline.
Labor force: 4.63 million (2004 est.) Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 85%, industry 6%, services 9% Unemployment rate: 50% (2000 est.) Population below poverty line: 86% (1993), note: Three-quarters of Zambia's population lives below the World Bank poverty threshold of $1 a day
Exports: $1.548 billion, Imports: $1.519 billion (2004 est.)
Currency (code): Zambian kwacha (ZMK), Exchange rates: Zambian kwacha per US dollar - 4,778.9 (2004), 4,733.3 (2003), 4,398.6 (2002), 3,610.9 (2001), 3,110.8 (2000)
Disputes - international: in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections and joined Namibia in supporting 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; 90,000 Angolan refugees were repatriated from Zambia by 2004, the remaining 160,000 are expected to return in 2005
Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 158,894 (Angola) 58,405 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) 5,767 (Rwanda) (2004)
Illicit drugs: 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
Government type: republic
Note on Law (specifically - lack of freedom of speech): The authorities make use of several laws, including libel and security laws, to intimidate journalists, especially those who have reported on corruption. Defaming the president is a criminal offence.
President: President Levy MWANAWASA (since 2 January 2002) note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Vice President: Lupando MWAPE (since 4 October 2004)
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