The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the [British] South Africa Company from 1891 until it was taken over by the UK in 1923. During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining spurred development and immigration. The name was changed to Zambia upon independence in 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining copper prices and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. Elections in 1991 brought an end to one-party rule, but the subsequent vote in 1996 saw blatant harassment of opposition parties. The election in 2001 was marked by administrative problems with three parties filing a legal petition challenging the election of ruling party candidate Levy MWANAWASA. The new president launched an anticorruption task force in 2002, but the government has yet to make a prosecution. The Zambian leader was reelected in 2006 in an election that was deemed free and fair.
11,477,447 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 (July 2007 est.)
total: 16.8 years male: 16.6 years female: 16.9 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.664% (2007 est.)
Birth rate:
40.78 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate:
21.46 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate:
-2.68 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.993 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.742 male(s)/female total population: 0.994 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 100.71 deaths/1,000 live births male: 105.48 deaths/1,000 live births female: 95.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 38.44 years male: 38.34 years female: 38.54 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate:
5.31 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
16.5% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
920,000 (2003 est.)
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 (2007)
Nationality:
noun: Zambian(s) adjective: Zambian
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.)
24 August 1991; amended in 1996 to establish presidential term limits
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
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Levy MWANAWASA (since 2 January 2002); Vice President Rupiah BANDA (since 9 October 2006); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Levy MWANAWASA (since 2 January 2002); Vice President Rupiah BANDA (since 9 October 2006) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 28 September 2006 (next to be held in 2011); vice president appointed by the president election results: Levy MWANAWASA reelected president; percent of vote - Levy MWANAWASA 43.0%, Michael SATA 29.4%, Hakainde HICHILEMA 25.3%, Godfrey MIYANDA 1.6%, Winright NGONDO 0.8%
Legislative branch:
unicameral National Assembly (158 seats; 150 members are elected by popular vote, eight members are appointed by the president, to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 28 September 2006 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MMD 72, PF 44, UDA 27, ULP 2, NDF 1, independents 2; seats not determined 2
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (the final court of appeal; justices are appointed by the president); High Court (has unlimited jurisdiction to hear civil and criminal cases)
Political parties and leaders:
All Peoples Congress Party [Winright NGONDO]; Forum for Democracy and Development or FDD [Edith NAWAKWI]; Heritage Party or HP [Godfrey MIYANDA]; Liberal Progressive Front or LPF [Roger CHONGWE]; Movement for Multiparty Democracy or MMD [Levy MWANAWASA]; National Democratic Focus or NDF; Patriotic Front or PF [Michael SATA]; Party of Unity for Democracy and Development or PUDD [Dan PULE]; Reform Party [Nevers MUMBA]; United Democratic Alliance or UDA; United Liberal Party or ULP [Sakwiba SIKOTA]; United National Independence Party or UNIP [Tilyenji KAUNDA]; United Party for National Development or UPND [Hakainde HICHILEMA]; Zambia Democratic Congress or ZADECO [Langton SICHONE]; Zambian Republican Party or ZRP [Benjamin MWILA]
chief of mission: Ambassador Inonge MBIKUSITA-LEWANIKA chancery: 2419 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 265-9717 through 9719 FAX: [1] (202) 332-0826
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Carmen M. MARTINEZ embassy: corner of Independence and United Nations Avenues, Lusaka mailing address: P. O. Box 31617, Lusaka telephone: [260] (1) 250-955 FAX: [260] (1) 252-225
Flag description:
green with a panel of three vertical bands of red (hoist side), black, and orange below a soaring orange eagle, on the outer edge of the flag
general assessment: facilities are aging but still among the best in Sub-Saharan Africa domestic: high-capacity microwave radio relay connects most larger towns and cities; several cellular telephone services in operation; Internet service is widely available; very small aperture terminal (VSAT) networks are operated by private firms international: country code - 260; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean)
in 2004, Zimbabwe dropped objections to 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; 42,250 Congolese refugees in Zambia are offered voluntary repatriation in November 2006, most of whom are expected to return in the next two years; Angolan refugees too have been repatriating but 26,450 still remain with 90,000 others from other neighboring states in 2006
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 75,468 (Angola), 61,243 (Democratic Republic of the Congo), 5,669 (Rwanda) (2006)
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; major consumer of cannabis
StumbleUpon
Delicious