49 Facts About Zambia

Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in South-Central Africa.

For most of the colonial period, Zambia was governed by an administration appointed from London with the advice of the British South Africa Company.

On 24 October 1964, Zambia became independent of the United Kingdom and prime minister Kenneth Kaunda became the inaugural president.

From 1972 to 1991 Zambia was a one-party state with UNIP as the sole legal political party under the motto "One Zambia, One Nation" coined by Kaunda.

Zambia has since become a multi-party state and has experienced several peaceful transitions of power.

Related searches

Zambia contains abundant natural resources, including minerals, wildlife, forestry, freshwater and arable land.

The early history of the peoples of modern Zambia is deduced from oral records, archaeology, and written records, mostly from non-Africans.

Zambia's bellows are made from the skins of animals and the pipes are clay tile, and the anvil and hammers are pieces of the iron he has obtained.

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.

Zambia was the first European to see the magnificent waterfalls on the Zambezi River in 1855, naming them the Victoria Falls after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Zambia described them thus: "Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight".

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, but, as copper prices remained depressed, it became increasingly difficult to service its growing debt.

All this led to Zambia being courted enthusiastically by aid donors and saw a surge in investor confidence in the country.

Politics in Zambia take place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Zambia is both head of state and head of government in a pluriform multi-party system.

Zambia became a republic immediately upon attaining independence in October 1964.

From 2011 to 2014, Zambia's president had been Michael Sata, until Sata died on 28 October 2014.

In 2019, Zambia signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Zambia is administratively divided into ten provinces subdivided into 117 districts, and electorally into 156 constituencies and 1, 281 wards.

Zambia is a landlocked country in southern Africa, with a tropical climate, and consists mostly of high plateaus with some hills and mountains, dissected by river valleys.

These plateau areas of northern Zambia have been categorised by the World Wildlife Fund as a large section of the Central Zambezian miombo woodlands ecoregion.

Zambia is located on the plateau of Central Africa, between 1, 000 and 1, 600 metres above sea level.

Zambia is racially and ethnically diverse, with 73 distinct ethnic groups.

Zambia continues to have a small population of a historically mixed race group referred to as "Coloured" or Goffal, a group made up largely of people with black African and white British heritage.

Coloureds have not been recorded on the census since Zambia gained independence in 1964 and have not enjoyed the same rights as other groups.

Related searches

Zambia has a small but economically important Asian population, most of whom are Indians and Chinese.

Refugees who wish to work in Zambia must apply for permits, which can cost up to $500 per year.

Zambia is officially a "Christian nation" under the 1996 constitution, but recognizes and protects freedom of religion.

These include Lozi, Tumbuka, Kaonde, Tonga, Lunda and Luvale, which featured on the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation local-languages section.

Fundamentally, the aim of education in Zambia is to promote the full and well-rounded development of the physical, intellectual, social, affective, moral, and spiritual qualities of all learners.

Zambia ranked 117th out of 128 countries on the 2007 Global Competitiveness Index, which looks at factors that affect economic growth.

Zambia fell into poverty after international copper prices declined in the 1970s.

In 2007 Zambia recorded its ninth consecutive year of economic growth.

Zambia is still dealing with economic reform issues such as the size of the public sector, and improving Zambia's social sector delivery systems.

Agriculture plays a very important part in Zambia's economy providing many more jobs than the mining industry.

Much of the original cultures of Zambia have largely survived in rural areas, with some outside influences such as Christianity.

Sports and games in Zambia include but not limited to football, athletics, netball, volleyball and indigenous games such as nsolo, chiyenga, waida, hide and seek, walyako, and sojo.

However, Zambia started taking part in popular global sports and games mainly in 1964 Summer olympics.

Zambia declared its independence on the day of the closing ceremony of the 1964 Summer Olympics, thereby becoming the first country ever to have entered an Olympic game as one country, and leave it as another.

In 2016, Zambia participated for the thirteenth time in the Olympic games.

Kalusha Bwalya, Zambia's most celebrated football player, and one of Africa's greatest football players in history scored a hat trick in that match.

However, to this day, many pundits say the greatest team Zambia has ever assembled was the one that perished on 28 April 1993 in a plane crash at Libreville, Gabon.

In 2012, Zambia won the African Cup of Nations for the first time after losing in the final twice.

Rugby union in Zambia is a minor but growing sport.

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.

Related searches

Zambia later withdrew its bid to host the 2011 All-Africa Games, citing a lack of funds.

Zambia produced the first black African to play in the United States Golf Open, one of the four major golf tournaments.

In 2017, Zambia hosted and won the Pan-African football tournament U-20 African Cup of Nation for players age 20 and under.

Zambia's culture has been an integral part of their development post-independence such as the uprising of cultural villages and private museums.