Zambia facts for kids

Republic of Zambia
Flag	Coat of arms
	Motto: One Zambia, One Nation
	Anthem: "Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free"
Capital; and largest city	Lusaka;
Official languages	English
Recognised regional languages	Chewa, Bemba, Lunda, Tonga, Lozi, Luvale, Kaonde, Nyanja
Demonym	Zambian
Government	Republic
Independence
Area
Population
GDP (PPP)	2009 estimate
GDP (nominal)	2009 estimate
Gini (2002–03)	42.1; medium
HDI (2011)	0.430; low · 164th
Currency	Zambian kwacha (ZMK)
Time zone	CAT (UTC+2)
Drives on the	left
Calling code	260
Internet TLD	.zm

The flag of Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a country in southern Africa. It shares its borders with 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. It was called Northern Rhodesia and it is currently named after the Zambezi River.

The capital of Zambia is Lusaka, which is also the largest city in the country. Edgar Lungu is the current president. Its motto is One Zambia, One Nation and its national anthem is Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free. Its official language is English.

History

Zambia originated from Northern Rhodesia which was a colony of Great Britain. In 1965 Zambia became an independent country. The first president was Kenneth Kaunda, who ruled Zambia for 30 years with his party UNIP. Zambia was a one party democracy. UNIP was the only legal party and all other parties were banned.

After protests, democratic elections were held in 1991. Kenneth Kaunda lost the elections and gave away his power in an orderly manner to his successor Frederick Chiluba, a former union leader.

Zambia is now a multi-party democracy. It has had three democratic elections since 1991. The latest presidential election was in 2008, which was won by Rupiah Banda against Michael Sata.

Economy

In the 1960s, Zambia was making a lot of money because of the copper deposits that were mined in Copperbelt province. When copper became cheaper in the 1970s, the economy got worse because people in Zambia were not making as much money from selling copper.

Today, Zambia is a poor country. It does not have many industries. Copper is still its main export. Commercial farming in Zambia is starting to make more money.

Provinces

The provinces of Zambia

Zambia is divided into nine provinces. Each province is divided into several districts. There are 72 districts all together. The provinces are:

Central
Copperbelt
Eastern
Luapula
Lusaka
Northern
North-Western
Southern
Western

Cities

The important places in Zambia are:

Cities in Zambia
Rank	City	Population
Rank	City	Census 1980	Census 1990	Census 2000	Est. 2007
1.	Lusaka	735,830	1,069,353	1,684,703	2,146,522	Lusaka
2.	Ndola	297,490	367,228	397,757	467,529	Copperbelt
3.	Kitwe	283,962	288,602	363,734	409,865	Copperbelt
4.	Kabwe	127,422	154,318	176,758	193,100	Central
5.	Chingola	130,872	142,383	147,448	148,469	Copperbelt
6.	Mufulira	138,824	123,936	122,336	119,291	Copperbelt
7.	Livingstone	61,296	76,875	97,488	113,849	Southern
8.	Luanshya	113,422	118,143	115,579	112,029	Copperbelt
9.	Kasama	36,269	47,653	74,243	98,613	Northern
10.	Chipata	33,627	52,213	73,110	91,416	Eastern

Related pages

Images for kids

Skull of Broken Hill Man discovered in present-day Kabwe.
The Muata Cazembe, Emperor of the Lunda people in the 1800s.
Map that supports common hypothesis of Bantu expansion.
An 1864 portrait of Scottish explorer and missionary David Livingstone.
Cecil Rhodes
Kenneth Kaunda, first Republican president, on a state visit to Romania in 1986.
Zambia National Assembly building in Lusaka
A tribal and linguistic map of Zambia.
Pupils at the prestigious St Monicas Girls Secondary School in Chipata, Eastern Province
Zambia Export Treemap (2014)
GDP per capita (current), compared to neighbouring countries (world average = 100)
The major Nkana open copper mine, Kitwe.
Victoria Falls (Mosi-oa-Tunya Falls) a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Kuomboka ceremony of the Lozi people
Nshima (top right corner) with three types of relish.
A Yombe sculpture, 19th century.