Zambia
Name
| Official name | The Republic of Zambia — the independence of 24 October 1964 (the President Kenneth Kaunda's republic within the Commonwealth); the constitutions of 1964, 1973 (the one-party state's 'Second Republic'), 1991 (the multiparty 'Third Republic'), 1996 and the 2016 amendment (the 50%+1 rule and the running mates; the 2025–26 'Bill 7' amendment's debate — by the reports); the UN's member (1 December 1964), the Commonwealth's, the OAU's and the African Union's, the SADC's (1980 as the SADCC), the COMESA's (the seat at Lusaka), the Non-Aligned Movement's (the Lusaka summit of 1970) |
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| Former names | Northern Rhodesia (the British South Africa Company's administration of 1891/1911–1924 — Cecil Rhodes's company — and the British protectorate of 1924–1964), the North-Western and the North-Eastern Rhodesia (1899–1911), Barotseland (the Lozi kingdom's protectorate status of the 1890s — the Barotseland Agreement of 1964 and its abrogation of 1969, both the Lozi activists' and the government's lines stated, LAW 2), the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953–1963) |
| Demonym | Zambian; the about 73 ethnic groups by the official count — the Bemba (the north and the Copperbelt; the largest), the Tonga (the south; President Hichilema's), the Chewa and the Nsenga (the east), the Lozi (the west), the Lunda, the Kaonde and the Luvale (the northwest), the Tumbuka, the Ngoni, the Lamba, the Lenje; the 'One Zambia, One Nation' identity |
| Meaning of the name | From the Zambezi River (the Zambeze; the river's name of the disputed origin — the 'great river' or the 'river of God' by the different readings, both stated) — chosen by the independence leaders in 1964; 'Lusaka' from the village headman Lusaaka; 'Mosi-oa-Tunya' — 'the smoke that thunders' (Victoria Falls) |
| Motto | 'One Zambia, One Nation' — the national motto (Kaunda's of the 1960s against the tribalism; on the coat of arms); the Christian nation's declaration (29 December 1991 — Chiluba's; the 1996 constitution's preamble and the 2016 amendment's national values); the UPND's 'Bally will fix it' slogan of 2021 (Hichilema's nickname 'Bally') |
Quick facts
| Capital | Lusaka — the capital since 1935 (planned as the 'garden city' by the colonial planners; moved from Livingstone), about 3–3.3 million in the district and the metro area by the 2022 census and the 2025 estimates (both stated); the State House, the Parliament (1967), the Freedom Statue, the Cairo Road, the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (the new terminal of 2021), the National Heroes Stadium (2014; the 2026 inauguration's venue), the COMESA's secretariat, the Embassy Park (the presidents' burial site — the Lungu burial dispute's site, LAW 2) |
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| Largest cities | Lusaka (about 3–3.3 million), Kitwe (about 0.7–0.8 million; the Copperbelt's largest — Nkana's mine), Ndola (about 0.6 million; the Copperbelt's provincial capital), Kabwe (about 0.3 million; the old lead mine town — the lead pollution's legacy), Chingola (about 0.3 million), Mufulira, Luanshya, Livingstone (about 0.2 million; the Victoria Falls' town — the capital to 1935), Chipata, Kasama, Solwezi (the northwest's mining boom), Mansa, Mongu, Choma; the counts of the 2022 census's districts (rounded, both bases stated) |
| Official language | English — the official language by the constitution; seven regional official languages for the education and the broadcasting — Bemba (the most spoken — about a third of the people as the first or the second language), Nyanja (Chewa; the Lusaka's lingua franca), Tonga, Lozi, Lunda, Kaonde, Luvale; about 72–73 languages and dialects by the counts (both stated); the 'Town Bemba' and the 'Town Nyanja' of the cities; the local language instruction in the early grades (the 2014 policy) and the return to the English instruction (the 2023 decision — by the reports) |
| Currency | Zambian kwacha (ZMW; K; 100 ngwee) — the rebased kwacha of 1 January 2013; about K18.87 to the U.S. dollar in late September 2026 (the about 17% gain of 2026 with the copper prices — by the reports; about K26–28 in 2025's weak months — both points stated), about 4.6–4.8 Indian rupees to the kwacha; the Bank of Zambia (Governor Denny Kalyalya since 2021, his second term) — the policy rate of 10.75% (28–29 September 2026; the 250 basis point cut from 13.25%), the inflation of 6.1% in September 2026 (6.2% in August; 6.5% by the mid-year reports — the eight-year low) within the 6–8% target band |
| Time zone | UTC+2 the year round (Central Africa Time; no daylight saving) — the same clock as South Africa, Zimbabwe and Malawi, 3 hours 30 minutes behind India (IST) |
| Calling code, internet and ISO codes | +260 (the operators Airtel, MTN, Zamtel — the state's; the mobile money's boom); internet .zm; the cyber laws of 2025 (the Cyber Security and the Cyber Crimes Acts — the 'security' line and the critics' 'free speech' line both stated, LAW 2); ISO 3166 ZM, ZMB, 894; the vehicle code Z; the IOC code ZAM, FIFA code ZAM; the aircraft registration 9J-; the plugs of Types C, D and G at 230 V and 50 Hz |
| Area | About 752,618 km² (290,587 sq mi; about 752,612 km² by another count — both stated) — the 38th or 39th of the world, about 23% of India's area; landlocked, the borders with eight states — the Democratic Republic of the Congo (about 1,930–2,330 km; the Congo Pedicle's intrusion), Angola (about 1,110 km), Tanzania (about 338 km), Malawi (about 837 km), Mozambique (about 419 km), Zimbabwe (about 797 km; the Zambezi and Lake Kariba), Botswana (the shortest — about 0.15 km at the Kazungula quadripoint's bridge; the existence of the border itself once disputed, both stated), Namibia (about 233 km; the Caprivi Strip) |
| Population | 19,610,769 by the census of 18 August – 14 September 2022 (the Zambia Statistics Agency; the first digital census) — 13,092,666 in 2010, 9,885,591 in 2000, 7,383,097 in 1990, 3,490,170 in 1963; about 21–22 million by the 2025–26 estimates (both stated); the growth about 2.8–3.0% a year by the census's rate (both stated); the provinces by the 2022 census — Lusaka about 3.08 million, the Copperbelt about 2.76 million, Eastern about 2.45 million, Southern about 2.38 million, Central about 2.01 million, Northern about 1.52 million, Luapula about 1.5 million, Muchinga about 1.0 million, Western about 1.07 million, North-Western about 1.09 million (rounded) |
| Density | About 26–29 people per km² by the 2022 census and the estimates (both stated) — the line of rail's crowding (Lusaka about 140 per km² of the province, the Copperbelt about 89), against the empty west and the northwest (the Western province about 8–9 per km², the North-Western about 9); about 40–45% urban |
| Religion | Christian about 95–97% by the 2010 census and the surveys (both stated; the Protestants about 75% — the Pentecostals, the Seventh-day Adventists, the United Church of Zambia, the New Apostolic Church, the Reformed, the Anglicans; the Catholics about 20%) — the 'Christian nation' of the 1991 declaration and the constitution's preamble (the 2016 Ministry of National Guidance and Religious Affairs and the 18 October National Day of Prayer); the Muslims about 1–2% (the Indian and the Malawian traders' communities of Lusaka and Chipata), the Hindus (the Indian community), the Bahá'ís, the traditional beliefs |
| Government type | Unitary presidential republic under the constitution of 1991 (amended 1996 and 2016) — the President elected for five years by the absolute majority (the 50%+1 since 2016; the two-term limit), the Vice President as the running mate, the unicameral National Assembly (156 constituency seats plus the nominated and the ex officio — the 2025–26 'Bill 7' amendment's added seats and the proportional representation of 2026 by the reports), the Constitutional Court (2016), the Supreme Court, the House of Chiefs (the advisory body of the traditional leaders); the 'competitive but uneven' democracy of the EU's 2026 line and the 'stable democracy' of the government's line (both stated, LAW 2); Freedom House's 'Partly Free' (about 54–60 of 100 by its 2024–25 editions — both stated) |
| Head of state | President Hakainde Hichilema ('HH'; 'Bally'; since 24 August 2021; the second term from 1 September 2026) — born 4 June 1962 in Monze district; the economist of the University of Zambia (1986) and the MBA of the University of Birmingham, the businessman (the Grant Thornton Zambia's and the Coopers and Lybrand's chief executive, the cattle rancher); the UPND's leader since 2006 (Anderson Mazoka's successor); his detention on the treason charges of April–August 2017 (the motorcade incident — dropped); elected on 12 August 2021 (about 59.0%) and reelected on 13 August 2026 (60.49% of the votes cast — 2,965,326; about 61.4% of the valid votes by the commission's relayed line — both stated); the debt restructuring, the free education (2022), the mining revival's drive (the 3 million metric tons of copper by 2031 goal) |
| Head of government | The President heads the government with the Vice President Mutale Nalumango (since 24 August 2021; reelected on the ticket of 2026 — born 1955; the former deputy speaker, the second woman vice president after Inonge Wina of 2015–2021) and the cabinet of the ministers drawn from the National Assembly (the second-term cabinet of September 2026 — by the reports); the Secretary to the Cabinet; the Finance Minister's 2027 budget of the autumn session (by the plan) |
| Legislature | The National Assembly (unicameral; Speaker Nelly Mutti — the first woman Speaker, 2021) — the election of 13 August 2026 (the results of 19 August by the reports: the UPND about 161 seats with the 137 constituencies and the 24 proportional, the NRPUP about 75, the Resolute Party 5, the Citizens First 2, the Zambia Must Prosper 1, the independents 20, plus the 14 appointed — the count of 226 of 280 declared seats by then; the totals' final counts by the reports, both stated); the 2026 mixed system's proportional seats (the Bill 7 amendment by the reports); the five-year term |
| National Day | 24 October — the Independence Day (1964; the 62nd of 2026); the other holidays — 1 January, 12 March (the Youth Day), 28 March (the Kenneth Kaunda Day — from 2022), Good Friday and Easter, 1 May (the Labor Day), 25 May (the Africa Freedom Day), the Heroes Day and the Unity Day (the first Monday and Tuesday of July), the Farmers' Day (the first Monday of August), 18 October (the National Day of Prayer — 2015), 25 December |
| Driving side and HDI | Left (the British legacy; the road network of about 67,000–70,000 km by the counts, about a fifth paved — both stated; the Great North Road, the Great East Road, the Lusaka–Ndola dual carriageway of the 2020s' PPP); Human Development Index about 0.57–0.60 by the 2024 and the 2025 reports (both stated), 'medium', about 150th–155th of 193; the life expectancy about 61–66 years (both stated); the GDP a head about US$1,300–1,450 by the relays (2025) |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | The flag of 24 October 1964 — a green field with an orange (copper-colored) African fish eagle in flight at the upper fly and three vertical stripes of red, black and orange below it at the fly; the green the land and the nature, the red the freedom's struggle, the black the people, the orange the mineral wealth (the copper), the eagle the people's ability to rise above the problems by the usual reading; designed by Gabriel Ellison; the green's shade brightened in 1996; the proportion 2:3Flag of Zambia |
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| Coat of arms | The coat of arms of 1964 — the black shield with the white wavy lines (Victoria Falls' water over the black rock), the African fish eagle over the crossed hoe and the pick (the agriculture and the mining) above it, supported by an African man and woman; the mineral wealth (the mine head), the maize cob and the zebra on the green base; the motto 'One Zambia, One Nation' on the scroll (the Northern Rhodesia's arms of 1939 the source of the shield) |
| National anthem | 'Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free' (Lumbanyeni Zambia) — the melody of Enoch Sontonga's 'Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika' (the hymn of 1897 — shared with South Africa's and Tanzania's anthems), the words chosen by the national competition of 1964; adopted at the independence of 1964 (no lyrics quoted) |
| National motto | 'One Zambia, One Nation' — Kaunda's motto on the coat of arms and the state's unity slogan; the 'Christian nation' of the constitution's preamble |
| National colors | Green, red, black and orange — the flag's; the national teams' green and the copper (the football's 'Chipolopolo' — the 'copper bullets'); the UPND's red, the Patriotic Front's green, the UNIP's black, red and green of Kaunda's era |
| National animal | The African fish eagle (the national bird — the flag's and the arms'), the African buffalo, the elephant, the lion, the leopard, the Thornicroft's giraffe (endemic to the Luangwa Valley), the Kafue lechwe and the black lechwe (the Bangweulu's endemic antelopes), the shoebill (the Bangweulu swamps' prehistoric-looking bird), the puku, the Cookson's wildebeest; the 'national animal' none by law — the fish eagle by custom |
| National flower and tree | The bougainvillea (the national flower by the usual line), the Mukwa (the African teak — Pterocarpus angolensis; the national tree by the usual line), the miombo woodland (the brachystegia — about two-thirds of the land), the baobab of the Luangwa, the mopane, the Zambezi teak |
| National dish | Nshima (the stiff porridge of the white maize meal — eaten by the hand with the relishes; the national dish by the usual line), the ifisashi (the greens in the groundnut sauce), the kapenta (the small dried fish of Lake Kariba and Tanganyika), the bream (the tilapia of the lakes), the chikanda (the 'African polony' of the orchid tubers — the conservation's concern), the mopane worms, the munkoyo and the chibwantu (the fermented drinks), the Mosi beer (the Victoria Falls' name) |
| National sport | Football by custom — the 'Chipolopolo' (the copper bullets): the Africa Cup of Nations' title of 2012 (12 February 2012 in Libreville, Gabon — beating Côte d'Ivoire on the penalties, 8–7, near the 1993 air disaster's site; Hervé Renard's team), the runners-up of 1974 and 1994; the 1993 Gabon air disaster (27 April 1993 — 18 players and the crew killed off Libreville; Kalusha Bwalya's survival by the travel, the African player of the year of 1988); the women's 'Copper Queens' — the Olympics of Tokyo 2021 and the Women's World Cup debut of 2023 (Barbra Banda's goals; the first win — 3–1 over Costa Rica), the Women's AFCON third place of 2022; the athletics (Samuel Matete's 400 m hurdles world title of 1991; Muzala Samukonga's Commonwealth 400 m gold of 2022) |
| Heritage listings | One World Heritage property by UNESCO's list — Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls (1989; natural — shared with Zimbabwe); the tentative list (the Barotse Cultural Landscape, the Kalambo Falls' prehistoric site, the Chirundu Fossil Forest); the intangible — the Makishi masquerade (2005/2008; the Luvale, the Chokwe, the Lunda and the Mbunda's initiation rite), the Gule Wamkulu (2005/2008 with Malawi and Mozambique; the Chewa's) |
| Symbol status | The flag, the coat of arms and the anthem by the constitution (Article 258 — the national symbols) and the National Flag and the Armorial Ensigns Act; the Independence Day and the holidays by the Public Holidays Act; the 'Christian nation' in the preamble; no national dish, sport or animal by law — the nshima, the football and the fish eagle by custom; the symbols' misuse an offense by the act |
Geography
| Location | South-central Africa between about 8° and 18° S and 22° and 34° E — a landlocked plateau shaped by the Congo Pedicle's intrusion from the north; the borders with eight states (the DR Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Angola); the Zambezi and the Congo basins' watershed; Lusaka about 6,500 km southwest of Mumbai across the Indian Ocean and Mozambique |
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| Regions | 10 provinces — Central (Kabwe), Copperbelt (Ndola), Eastern (Chipata), Luapula (Mansa), Lusaka (Lusaka), Muchinga (Chinsali; the 10th of 2011), Northern (Kasama), North-Western (Solwezi), Southern (Choma), Western (Mongu) — and about 116 districts by the counts (both stated); the natural regions — the central plateau (about 1,000–1,400 m; the miombo woodland), the Copperbelt, the Luangwa and the Zambezi valleys (the rift's low country), the Barotse floodplain of the west, the Bangweulu and the Kafue Flats' wetlands, the Muchinga escarpment and the northeast's highlands |
| Highest point | The Mafinga Central (Mafinga Hills, on the Malawi border) — about 2,339 m (2,301–2,339 m by the surveys, both stated), the Muchinga province's northeast; the Nyika Plateau's Zambian side (about 2,200 m), the Muchinga escarpment (about 1,500–1,800 m) |
| Lowest point | The Zambezi River at the Mozambique border near Luangwa (Feira) — about 329 m by the usual count; the Luangwa Valley's floor (about 500–700 m), the Zambezi's Gwembe Valley under Lake Kariba |
| Longest river | The Zambezi (about 2,574 km — Africa's fourth-longest; rising at the Kalene Hill in the northwest, about 1,000 km in or along Zambia — Victoria Falls, the Kariba and the Mozambique's Cahora Bassa downstream), the Kafue (about 960 km; the longest wholly within Zambia — the Kafue Gorge's hydropower), the Luangwa (about 770 km), the Chambeshi and the Luapula (the Congo's headwaters — the Chambeshi the Congo River's remotest source by the usual line), the Kabompo, the Lunsemfwa |
| Largest lake | Lake Kariba (about 5,580 km²; 1958–59 — the Kariba Dam; shared with Zimbabwe; among the world's largest artificial lakes by the volume — the Tonga's displacement of about 57,000 people, both the 'progress' and the 'injustice' lines stated, LAW 2), Lake Tanganyika (the Zambian tip at Mpulungu; the world's second-deepest lake), Lake Mweru (about 5,120 km²; shared with the DR Congo), Lake Bangweulu (about 3,000 km² of the open water and up to about 15,000 km² with the swamps in the floods), Lake Itezhi-Tezhi (the Kafue's reservoir) |
| Largest island | No sea islands — the islands of the Bangweulu (Chilubi — the largest by the usual line), the Lake Mweru's Kilwa, the Zambezi's islands above Victoria Falls (Livingstone Island — the Devil's Pool; the explorer's 1855 viewpoint), the Lake Kariba's islands (the Chete) |
| Climate | Humid subtropical and tropical savanna (Cwa, Cwb and Aw by the Köppen map; the plateau's altitude tempering the heat) — the three seasons: the cool dry (May–August; about 15–20 °C, the frosts in the low hollows), the hot dry (September–November; about 30–35 °C, the October heat — 'the suicide month' of the colonial slang by the usual line), the rainy (November–April; about 700–1,400 mm a year — the north wetter); the droughts of El Niño (2015–16, 2019, 2023–24 — the worst of decades by the official line) and the floods |
| Natural hazards | The droughts (the 2023–24 drought — the national disaster's declaration of 29 February 2024 by President Hichilema, the maize harvest's halving, the Kariba's water at the record lows and the load-shedding of up to 17–21 hours a day by the reports), the floods (the Zambezi and the Kafue floods of 2007–08, the 2025 rains), the cholera (the 2023–24 outbreak — about 20,000 cases and about 700–750 deaths by the counts, both stated; the Lusaka's stadium treatment center), the anthrax, the armyworms and the locusts, the Sino-Metals' tailings dam's collapse into the Kafue's tributary (18 February 2025 — the acid spill, by the reports) |
| Nearby countries | The DR Congo (the north; the longest border — the Copperbelt's twin across the line, the Congo Pedicle road), Tanzania (the northeast; the TAZARA railway and the TAZAMA pipeline to Dar es Salaam), Malawi (the east), Mozambique (the southeast), Zimbabwe (the south; the Zambezi, Victoria Falls and Kariba — the Victoria Falls Bridge of 1905), Botswana (the Kazungula's border of about 150 m — the bridge of 2021), Namibia (the Caprivi's Katima Mulilo bridge of 2004), Angola (the west; the Lobito Corridor's railway plan to the Atlantic) |
| Minerals and resources | Copper — Africa's second-largest producer after the DR Congo (about 890,346 metric tons in 2025 by the reports and about 820,000 in 2024 by the counts — both stated; the 3 million metric tons a year goal by 2031) and the world's top-eight by the counts; the cobalt (the Copperbelt's by-product), the emeralds (about 20% of the world's by the counts — Kagem's of Gemfields, the world's largest open-pit emerald mine), the amethyst, the manganese, the gold (Kansanshi's), the uranium, the coal (Maamba), the lead and the zinc (Kabwe's legacy); the water (about 40% of the SADC's freshwater by the usual line); the forests and the fish |
| Protected areas | 20 national parks and about 34–36 game management areas by the counts (both stated; about 30–40% of the land protected by the official line) — the Kafue (about 22,400 km² — among Africa's largest), the South Luangwa (the walking safari's birthplace — Norman Carr's of the 1950s), the North Luangwa, the Lower Zambezi, the Liuwa Plain (Africa's second-largest wildebeest migration), the Kasanka (the straw-colored fruit bats' migration — about 10 million in October–December, the world's largest mammal migration by the biomass by the usual line), the Mosi-oa-Tunya, the Bangweulu (the shoebill), the Nsumbu |
| Extreme points | North: the Lake Tanganyika's shore near Mpulungu (about 8°13′ S); South: the Zambezi near the Kazungula–Sesheke's line (about 18°04′ S); West: the Angola border in the Western province (about 21°59′ E); East: the Malawi border in the Eastern province near Chipata's northeast (about 33°42′ E) |
| Land and water | About 752,618 km² (752,612 by the other count — both stated) — the forests about 60% (the miombo woodlands; the deforestation of about 250,000–300,000 hectares a year by the counts — the charcoal and the farming, both stated), the arable land about 5% cultivated of the about 58% suitable by the counts, the wetlands and the floodplains about 6% (the Bangweulu, the Kafue Flats, the Barotse plain), the inland water about 9,220 km² (the lakes Kariba, Tanganyika, Mweru, Bangweulu) |
| Islands and coasts | No sea coast (landlocked) — the lake shores of Kariba (the 'inland sea' of Siavonga), Tanganyika (Mpulungu — the port to Tanzania, Burundi and the DR Congo), Mweru and Bangweulu; the Zambezi's riverbanks of Livingstone and the Lower Zambezi; the Lobito Corridor and the TAZARA the routes to the sea |
| The country | The 'real Africa' of the tourism line in five pictures — Victoria Falls's thundering spray (Mosi-oa-Tunya; about 1,708 m wide and about 108 m high — the largest curtain of the falling water by the usual line), the South Luangwa's walking safaris, the Copperbelt's open pits (Chingola's Nchanga), the Barotse floodplain's Kuomboka ceremony (the Lozi king's royal barge's move to the high ground), the Lusaka's markets; the miombo's green rains |
People
| Population | 19,610,769 by the 2022 census (the Zambia Statistics Agency; the men about 49%, the women about 51%) — about 21–22 million by the 2025–26 estimates (both stated); the censuses since 1963 (3.49 million) — 5.66 million (1980), 7.38 million (1990), 9.89 million (2000), 13.09 million (2010); the provinces — Lusaka and the Copperbelt the most populous (about 3.1 and 2.8 million by the 2022 census), Muchinga the least (about 1.0 million) |
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| Growth rate | About 2.8–3.0% a year (the 2010–2022 intercensal rate about 3.4% by the agency's line and about 2.8% by the UN's estimates — both stated) — among the world's fastest; the population's doubling every about 25 years |
| Fertility rate | About 4.2–4.5 children per woman by the 2018 Demographic and Health Survey and the estimates (both stated; about 3.0 urban and about 5.8 rural); the early marriages' decline (the Marriage Act's minimum age of 18 of 2023 by the reports); the teenage pregnancy's high rate |
| Life expectancy | About 61–66 years at birth by the estimates (both stated; the women about 66, the men about 61) — up from about 42–45 at the HIV epidemic's worst of the early 2000s; the HIV prevalence about 10–11% of the adults (15–49) by the 2021 survey (both stated; the antiretrovirals' coverage about 90% — the '95-95-95' progress by the UNAIDS's line); the malaria, the tuberculosis, the malnutrition (the stunting about 32–35% of the under-fives — both stated) |
| Age structure | 0–14 years about 42–44%, 15–64 about 54–56%, 65 and over about 2% by the 2022 census and the estimates (both stated) — the median age about 17–18; the world's youngest populations |
| Urbanization | About 40–45% urban by the census and the estimates (both stated) — the 'line of rail' towns (Livingstone, Choma, Kabwe, Lusaka, the Copperbelt's Kitwe, Ndola, Chingola, Mufulira, Luanshya), the Lusaka's compounds (the informal settlements — Kanyama, George, Matero, Chawama), the northwest's mining boom towns (Solwezi, Kalumbila) |
| Ethnic groups | About 73 ethnic groups by the official count — the Bemba (about 20–21%), the Tonga (about 13–14%), the Chewa (about 7%), the Lozi (about 5–6%), the Nsenga (about 5%), the Tumbuka (about 4%), the Ngoni, the Lala, the Kaonde, the Namwanga, the Lunda, the Mambwe, the Luvale, the Lamba, the Ushi, the Lenje, the Bisa, the Mbunda (the 2010 census's shares, both the census's and the later estimates stated); the Europeans and the Asians (the Indians — about 13,000–20,000 by the counts; the Gujarati traders since the 1900s), the Chinese (about 20,000–100,000 by the counts — the mines' and the construction's; both stated) |
| Languages | English (the official language), Bemba (the most widely spoken — about 33–35% as the first language by the 2010 census), Nyanja/Chewa (about 15%; Lusaka's lingua franca), Tonga (about 11%), Lozi (about 5–6%), Chewa, Nsenga, Tumbuka, Lunda, Kaonde, Lala, Lamba, Luvale; the seven regional official languages of the schools and the radio; the Gujarati and the Hindi of the Indian community |
| Religion | Christian about 95–97% (the Protestants and the Pentecostals about 75% — the explosive growth of the Pentecostal churches since the 1990s; the Catholics about 20%; the United Church of Zambia, the Seventh-day Adventists, the New Apostolic Church, the Jehovah's Witnesses — the large share by the usual line, the Anglicans, the Reformed Church in Zambia) by the 2010 census and the surveys (both stated); the 'Christian nation' of 1991; the Muslims about 1–2%, the Hindus, the Bahá'ís; the traditional beliefs and the ancestors' veneration mixed in |
| Health | The public health system (the University Teaching Hospital of Lusaka; the 2023–24 cholera's treatment center at the Heroes Stadium); the health spending about 5–6% of GDP; the HIV's response (the about 1.3 million on the antiretrovirals by the counts); the malaria (about 5–7 million cases a year by the counts — both stated); the cholera of 2023–24 (about 20,000 cases, about 700–750 deaths — both stated); the U.S. aid cuts' impact of 2025 (the PEPFAR's changes — by the reports); the Kabwe's lead poisoning (the 'world's most toxic town' of the 2010s' NGO line — the residents' class action in South Africa dismissed in 2023, both stated, LAW 2) |
| Education | The free education from the early childhood to the secondary since January 2022 (Hichilema's policy — the about 2 million more pupils enrolled by the government's line, by the reports); the teachers' recruitment of about 30,000 (2022) and about 4,000–5,000 more (2024–25); the literacy about 87% by the estimates (both stated); the University of Zambia (UNZA; 1966 — the first), the Copperbelt University (1987), the Mulungushi University; the bursaries and the loans (the Higher Education Loans and Scholarships Board) |
| Migrants and diaspora | The Zambians abroad about 200,000–300,000 by the counts (both stated) — South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, Botswana, Australia; the refugees hosted — about 100,000 by the UNHCR's counts (the Congolese of Mantapala and Meheba, the Angolans' former camps, the Rwandans, the Burundians); the Indian community (the Gujarati and the Hindu and the Muslim traders since the British era — the Lusaka's Cairo Road shops) and the Chinese investors' presence |
| Social indicators | The poverty about 60% of the people below the national line by the 2022 Living Conditions Monitoring Survey (the extreme about 48% — both stated; the rural far higher), the inequality among the world's highest (the Gini about 0.51–0.57 by the surveys — both stated); the unemployment about 11–13% by the labor surveys (the youth's higher — both stated); the social cash transfers (about 1.3 million households by the 2024–25 counts — by the reports); the drought's food insecurity of 2024 (about 6–9 million in need by the counts, both stated) |
| Cities and provinces | 10 provinces (Muchinga the newest — 2011, carved from the Northern and the Eastern) and about 116 districts by the counts (both stated); the councils (the city, the municipal and the town councils — the elected mayors and the council chairs); the chiefdoms (about 288 chiefs by the counts — the House of Chiefs); the Barotseland's question (the 1964 agreement's abrogation of 1969 — the Lozi activists' and the government's lines both stated, LAW 2) |
| Names and customs | The English, the Biblical and the local names (the clan names — the Bemba's 'mukowa' clans); the traditional ceremonies — the Kuomboka of the Lozi (the Litunga's barge — the Nalikwanda — from Lealui to Limulunga at the floods' end, about March–April), the Ncwala of the Ngoni (February), the Umutomboko of the Lunda (July), the Likumbi Lya Mize of the Luvale (August; the Makishi masks), the Kulamba of the Chewa, the Lwiindi of the Tonga; the nshima's daily meal, the chitenge cloth, the kalindula music |
| Media and sport culture | The state's ZNBC (the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation; the TV of 1961), the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail (the state-owned dailies), the private News Diggers!, the Daily Nation, Muvi TV, Diamond TV, the Prime TV (closed in 2020 by the license's revocation — both the government's and the station's lines stated, LAW 2), the community radios; the press freedom's ranks about 90th–100th by the RSF's line (both stated); the football's passion — the Chipolopolo's 2012 AFCON title, the Copper Queens' Barbra Banda (the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year of 2024 by the reports), the Super League (ZESCO United, Power Dynamos, Zanaco, Nkana) |
Government
| System | Unitary presidential republic under the constitution of 1991 (the 1996 amendment's citizenship clauses — the parentage rule that barred Kaunda by the critics' line; the 2016 amendment — the 50%+1 threshold, the running mates, the Constitutional Court) — the President (five years; two terms), the National Assembly, the judiciary (the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal of 2016, the High Court), the House of Chiefs; the 2025–26 'Bill 7' amendment (the added seats, the proportional representation and the reserved seats — the government's 'inclusion' line and the opposition's 'manipulation before the election' line both stated, LAW 2; by the reports); the decentralization's Constituency Development Fund (raised to about K30–36 million per constituency by 2025–26 — by the reports) |
|---|---|
| Head of state | President Hakainde Hichilema (since 24 August 2021; the second term from 1 September 2026) — the UPND's leader; the 2026 election's 60.49% of the votes cast (2,965,326) and about 61.4% of the valid votes (both stated) against Brian Mundubile's 37.87% (1,856,222); declared on 18 August by the Electoral Commission's chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis; sworn in at the National Heroes Stadium on 1 September 2026 with the regional presidents present; the post-election arrests of about a dozen opposition figures and the treason charges against Mundubile and his running mate Makebi Zulu (late August 2026 — both their denials and the state's case stated, LAW 2); the courts' closure on 24 August (the petition deadline's day — the 'security' line and the Human Rights Watch's criticism both stated, LAW 2) |
| Head of government | The President leads the government with the Vice President Mutale Nalumango (since 2021; reelected 2026) and the cabinet of the ministers (the second-term cabinet of September 2026 — by the reports); the Secretary to the Cabinet; the Finance and National Planning ministry's 2027 budget (the autumn session); the provincial ministers of the 10 provinces |
| Legislature | The National Assembly (unicameral; Speaker Nelly Mutti since 2021 — the first woman Speaker) — the 2026 election under the amended system (the 156 constituencies plus the proportional and the reserved seats by the Bill 7 changes — the about 280 seats in all by the reports): the UPND about 161 (137 constituency + 24 proportional), the NRPUP about 75 (59 + 16), the Resolute Party 5, the Citizens First 2, the Zambia Must Prosper 1, the independents 20, the 14 appointed (the count of 19 August — 226 of 280 seats declared then; the final totals by the reports — both stated); the 2021 Assembly's UPND 82 and the PF 59 of the 156 elected seats |
| Parties | The United Party for National Development (UPND; 1998 — Anderson Mazoka's; Hichilema's since 2006; the ruling party of 2021–), the Patriotic Front (PF; 2001 — Michael Sata's; the ruling party of 2011–2021 — split after 2021 between the factions, the Lungu wing's 'Tonse Alliance' and the court fights over the presidency), the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP — Brian Mundubile's 2026 vehicle; the main opposition), the Resolute Party, the Citizens First (Harry Kalaba's), the Socialist Party (Fred M'membe's), the Zambia Must Prosper, the United National Independence Party (UNIP; 1959 — Kaunda's; the one-party state's 1972–1991), the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD; 1990 — Chiluba's; the ruling party of 1991–2011) |
| Judiciary | The Constitutional Court (2016; the election petitions — the 2016 petition's dismissal, the 2024 ruling barring Edgar Lungu's 2026 candidacy as a two-term president, both the court's and Lungu's camp's lines stated, LAW 2), the Supreme Court (Chief Justice Mumba Malila since 2022 by the reports), the Court of Appeal (2016), the High Court (the economic and the financial crimes' division), the subordinate and the local courts; the customary law of the chiefdoms; the death penalty and the criminal defamation of the President abolished in December 2022 (the Penal Code's amendment); the anti-corruption cases of the former officials (the 'unexplained wealth' forfeitures — Dalitso Lungu's assets ordered seized on 10 February 2026, by the reports) |
| Administrative divisions | 10 provinces (Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Muchinga, Northern, North-Western, Southern, Western) and about 116 districts by the counts (both stated); the 156 constituencies (the Bill 7's additional ones by the reports); the councils and the wards; the chiefdoms (about 288 chiefs — the four paramount chiefs: the Litunga of the Lozi, the Chitimukulu of the Bemba, the Mwata Kazembe of the Lunda, the Mpezeni of the Ngoni) |
| Constitution and rights | The constitution of 1991 (amended 1996 and 2016; the Bill of Rights' expansion's referendum of 11 August 2016 failing the turnout threshold — both stated); the rights — the free press's improvements of 2021–22 (the criminal defamation's repeal), the cyber laws of 2025 (the critics' concerns — LAW 2), the public order act's use against the opposition rallies (the opposition's and the police's lines both stated, LAW 2), the same-sex relations criminalized (the penal code), the 2026 election's restrictions (the EU's 'uneven playing field' line); Freedom House's 'Partly Free' (about 54–60 of 100 — both stated) |
| Military | The Zambia Defense Force (ZDF — the Zambia Army, the Zambia Air Force, the Zambia National Service; about 15,000–16,000 active by the counts, both stated) — the Commander-in-Chief the President; the UN peacekeeping (the Central African Republic's MINUSCA, the South Sudan's; Zambia among Africa's steady contributors); the frontline state's role against the Rhodesian and the South African raids of the 1970s–80s (the liberation movements' bases — the ANC's headquarters at Lusaka of 1967–1990); no conscription |
| Foreign relations | The non-alignment and the regional diplomacy — the SADC (the 2024–25 chairmanship of the Organ on Politics by the reports), the COMESA's host, the African Union; the frontline states' role of the liberation era (Kaunda's support of the ANC, the ZANU and the ZAPU, the SWAPO — Lusaka's 'Mecca of the liberation movements' by the usual line); China (the largest bilateral creditor — the restructuring of 2023; the TAZARA's builder of 1970–75 and its 2024 revitalization's concession), the United States (the Lobito Corridor's backer; the 2025 aid cuts and the drug theft's dispute of the U.S. medicines — by the reports), the European Union, India (the Indian investors in the mining and the pharmaceuticals — Vedanta's KCM; the lines of credit; the trade about US$1–1.5 billion by the counts), South Africa (the Lungu remains' court case — LAW 2), Ghana (the visa-free travel of 4 February 2026 by the reports) |
| Police and security | The Zambia Police Service (the Inspector-General), the Zambia Correctional Service, the Drug Enforcement Commission (the cannabis and the codeine seizures — the 1,380.8 kg haul of 4 February 2026 by the reports), the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Office of the President's intelligence; the police raid on Mundubile's home the day after the 13 August 2026 election (a former cabinet member killed during the raid — by the reports; the police's and the opposition's accounts both stated, LAW 2); the cadres' violence of the party politics (the 2021 ban on the party cadres in the markets and the bus stations) |
| Elections | The general election of 13 August 2026 (the president, the National Assembly, the mayors and the councilors; the 8,786,300 registered voters, the turnout 57.23% with 5,028,606 ballots cast — by the commission's relayed count; Hichilema 60.49%/61.4% (both bases stated) and Mundubile 37.87%; the EU's 'competitive but uneven playing field' and the other observers' concerns of the state resources' misuse and the campaign restrictions — the government's 'free and fair' line both stated, LAW 2); the earlier — 2021 (Hichilema about 59.0% over Lungu's about 38.7%), 2016 (Lungu about 50.35% — the petition's dismissal, LAW 2), 2015 (the by-election after Sata's death), 2011 (Sata), 1991 (the multiparty return); the next general election in August 2031 |
| The politics of 2024–26 in dates | 29 Feb 2024 the drought's national disaster; Jun 2024 the Eurobond holders' restructuring deal; Dec 2024 the Constitutional Court bars Lungu's 2026 run; 5 Jun 2025 Edgar Lungu dies in Pretoria (the burial dispute between the family and the government — LAW 2); 2025 the cyber laws; Nov 2025 the default's exit by the ratings' upgrade (by the reports); 4 Feb 2026 the Ghana visa-free deal; 10 Feb 2026 the Dalitso Lungu asset order; 23 Apr 2026 the South African court's order on Lungu's remains (by the reports); 13 Aug 2026 the general election; 14 Aug 2026 the raid on Mundubile's home; 18 Aug 2026 Hichilema declared; 24 Aug 2026 the petition deadline with the courts closed; late Aug 2026 the treason charges; 1 Sep 2026 the second-term inauguration; 28–29 Sep 2026 the Bank of Zambia's cut to 10.75% |
| Current issues | The post-election climate (the opposition leaders' treason trials and the detentions — LAW 2; the EU Parliament's call for the investigations by the reports), the copper's 3 million metric tons goal by 2031 (the mines' expansions and the Lobito Corridor), the debt's sustainability after the restructuring and the new IMF program sought by the end of 2026 (by the reports), the electricity's deficit after the 2024 drought (the solar and the coal additions), the inflation's fall to 6.1% and the kwacha's 2026 gain, the youth's jobs, the Lungu burial dispute (LAW 2), the Kafue's pollution (the 2025 tailings spill), the cholera's prevention |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$26–29 billion in 2025 (US$28.9 billion by the relays; about US$26 billion of 2024 by the IMF's line — both stated) — about US$1,300–1,450 a head; the World Bank's lower-middle-income economy (2011; its 2022 reclassification to the low-income and the 2023–24 return debated — both stated) |
|---|---|
| GDP (PPP) | About US$85–95 billion by purchasing power by the IMF's relayed lines of 2025–26 (both stated) — about US$4,000–4,500 a head |
| Growth and inflation | The growth about 4% in 2024 (the drought's hit — the agriculture's and the hydropower's fall), about 5.4% in 2025 by the relays and about 5.3% projected for 2026 by the Bank of Zambia (both years' figures stated); the inflation's fall to 6.1% in September 2026 (6.2% in August; about 6.5% in mid-2026 — the eight-year low by the reports) from about 16–17% in early 2025 (both points stated) — within the 6–8% target band |
| Monetary policy and the kwacha | The Bank of Zambia (1964; Governor Denny Kalyalya) — the policy rate cut by 250 basis points to 10.75% on 28–29 September 2026 (from 13.25%; the 2025 peak of 14.5% by the counts) to lower the financing costs; the inflation target band of 6–8%; the kwacha's managed float (about K18.87 to the U.S. dollar in late September 2026 — about 17% stronger in 2026 by the reports; the 2020–2025 slides to about K28 at the weakest — both points stated), about 4.6–4.8 Indian rupees to the kwacha; the copper exports' dollar inflows (the refined copper about 63% of the export income of August 2026 — by the reports) |
| Public finances | The debt restructuring after the default of 13 November 2020 (the first African sovereign default of the pandemic) — the official creditors' agreement (the China-led committee under the G20 Common Framework; the June 2023 deal and the October 2023 MoU), the Eurobond holders' exchange (June 2024; about US$3 billion), about 94% of the debt restructured by the reports; the ratings' upgrade out of the default (CCC+ of November 2025 — by the reports); the IMF's Extended Credit Facility (August 2022; about US$1.3 billion, augmented to about US$1.7 billion for the drought) completed in 2025 and the new program sought by the end of 2026 (by the reports); the public debt about 100–110% of GDP before the restructuring and about 90% after (both stated) |
| Structure and labor | Mining about 12–15% of GDP and about 70–80% of the export earnings (the copper about 63–75% — both shares stated), the services about 50–55% (the trade, the transport, the finance, the government), the agriculture about 3–5% of GDP but about half of the employment (the smallholders — both shares stated), the manufacturing about 7–8%; the formal jobs about 1.4–1.6 million; the informal work about 70–80%; the youth's unemployment |
| Trade | The exports about US$10–12 billion a year by the counts (both stated; the copper — refined and the cathodes — about 63–75%, the cobalt, the gold, the emeralds, the sugar, the tobacco, the maize in the good years, the cement, the electricity); the buyers — Switzerland (the traders' hub), China, the DR Congo, Singapore, South Africa; the imports — the fuel, the machinery, the vehicles, the fertilizers, the food; India's trade about US$1–1.5 billion by the counts (the pharmaceuticals, the vehicles, the machinery from India — the copper and the emeralds to India) |
| Agriculture | The maize (the staple — about 2–3.5 million metric tons a year by the counts; the 2024 drought's halving — about 1.5 million — and the 2025 rebound, both stated; the Food Reserve Agency's purchases), the soybeans, the wheat (the commercial farms of Mkushi), the sugar (Zambia Sugar's Nakambala — among Africa's lowest-cost by the usual line), the tobacco, the cotton, the groundnuts, the cassava of the north, the coffee, the cattle (about 4–5 million by the counts) and the fisheries of the lakes (the kapenta); the Farmer Input Support Program's reform to the Comprehensive Agriculture Transformation Support Program (2024) |
| Industry | The copper mines — First Quantum's Kansanshi (among Africa's largest copper mines) and Sentinel (Kalumbila), Barrick's Lumwana (the US$2 billion 'Super Pit' expansion — by the reports), Konkola Copper Mines (KCM — returned to Vedanta in 2023 by the court settlement, by the reports; India's Anil Agarwal's group), Mopani (51% sold to the UAE's International Resources Holding in 2024 by the reports), the Chinese-owned Chambishi and the CNMC's Luanshya; the smelters of Chingola, Kitwe and Mufulira; the emeralds (Kagem of Gemfields); the cement (Lafarge, Dangote), the breweries, the sugar refining, the fertilizer |
| Tourism | About 1–1.5 million international arrivals a year by the counts (both stated) — Victoria Falls (Livingstone; the Devil's Pool, the bungee from the Victoria Falls Bridge), the South Luangwa, the Lower Zambezi, the Kafue, the Liuwa Plain, the Kasanka's bat migration, the Bangweulu's shoebills, Lake Kariba, the Kuomboka; the visa waivers for about 167 nationalities by the reports (2025–26); the KAZA UNIVISA with Zimbabwe; the tourism's about 3–7% of GDP by the counts |
| Energy | The electricity about 80–85% hydropower by the counts (both stated) — the Kariba North Bank (about 1,080 MW), the Kafue Gorge Upper (990 MW) and the Kafue Gorge Lower (750 MW; 2023 — the Chinese-built), the Itezhi-Tezhi, the Victoria Falls station; the 2024 drought's crisis (the Kariba's allocation cut to the minimum — the load-shedding of up to about 17–21 hours a day by the reports, both stated; the imports and the emergency solar), the coal (Maamba Energy's 300 MW plus the expansion), the solar parks of the 2020s (the 'Scaling Solar' and the 2024–26 additions); ZESCO (the state utility); the TAZAMA pipeline and the Indeni refinery's history (the fuel imports) |
| Banks and markets | The Bank of Zambia; the commercial banks — Zanaco (the Zambia National Commercial Bank; the Rabobank's stake), Stanbic, Absa, Standard Chartered, First National Bank, Atlas Mara's legacy, the Indo-Zambia Bank (1984 — the joint venture of the Bank of India, the Bank of Baroda and the Central Bank of India with the government by the usual line); the Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE; 1994) — the copper firms' and the banks' listings; the mobile money's boom (Airtel Money, MTN MoMo); the government's bond market |
| Infrastructure projects | The Lobito Corridor (the U.S.-, EU- and AfDB-backed railway to Angola's Lobito port — the Zambia–Lobito greenfield line of about 800 km from the Chingola–Jimbe route by the plan; the feasibility of 2024–25), the TAZARA's revitalization (the Chinese CCECC's concession of 2024 — about US$1.4 billion by the reports), the Lusaka–Ndola dual carriageway (the PPP of 2023 onward), the Kazungula Bridge (2021; the rail and road bridge to Botswana), the Kafue Gorge Lower (2023), the Batoka Gorge hydro plan (with Zimbabwe), the Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport (Ndola; 2021), the copper mines' expansions |
| Poverty and inequality | The poverty about 60% by the national line (the 2022 Living Conditions Monitoring Survey; the extreme about 48% — both stated), about 78% rural poverty by the survey; the inequality among the world's highest (the Gini about 0.51–0.57 — both stated); the social cash transfers' expansion, the free education (2022), the drought relief of 2024 (the about 6–9 million in need — both stated) |
| Economic history in brief | The copper's discovery and the Copperbelt's mines (the Roan Antelope of 1928, Nkana, Mufulira — the 1930s' boom under the Anglo American and the Rhodesian Selection Trust), the Federation's transfer of the copper revenue to Southern Rhodesia (1953–63 by the usual line), the independence's copper wealth (the world's third-largest producer of 1969 by the usual line), the Mulungushi reforms (1968) and the mines' nationalization (1969 — the ZCCM of 1982), the copper price's collapse (1975) and the debt crisis, the IMF's riots (December 1986), the structural adjustment and the ZCCM's privatization (1997–2000 — the 'sale at the low prices' line and the 'the investment's revival' line both stated, LAW 2), the 2000s' copper boom and the HIPC's debt relief (2005), the Eurobonds (2012–2015) and the default (2020), the restructuring (2023–2025) |
Transport
| Roads | About 67,000–70,000 km of roads by the counts (both stated; about a fifth paved) — the Great North Road (Lusaka–Kapiri Mposhi–Mpika–Nakonde to Tanzania), the Great East Road (to Malawi), the T2 to Zimbabwe (Chirundu), the Lusaka–Livingstone road, the Kafue–Mazabuka, the Lusaka–Ndola dual carriageway (the PPP), the Congo Pedicle road (the Copperbelt to Luapula through the DR Congo's territory), the 'Link Zambia 8000' program (2012) and the Lusaka's decongestion's flyovers; the cars about 900,000–1 million by the counts; the road deaths about 2,000 a year (the minibus crash of Kalomo, 15 March 2026 — eight dead by the reports) |
|---|---|
| Rail | Zambia Railways (the Livingstone–Lusaka–Kitwe 'line of rail' of the 1900s — the Cape-to-Cairo railway's section; about 1,250 km) and TAZARA (the Tanzania–Zambia Railway — about 1,860 km from Kapiri Mposhi to Dar es Salaam; built by China in 1970–1975 — the largest Chinese aid project of its time by the usual line; the 2024 concession's revitalization), the Chingola–Solwezi–Lobito's planned link (the Lobito Corridor), the Chipata–Mchinji line to Malawi (2010) |
| City transit | No metro or tram — the minibuses (the 'buses' of the Lusaka's City Market and the Intercity Bus Terminus), the taxis and the ride apps (Yango, Ulendo), the motorcycles' taxis' bans in the cities; the Lusaka's bus rapid transit's plans; the Copperbelt's intercity buses |
| Air | Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (LUN; Lusaka — the Chinese-built new terminal of 2021), Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport (Ndola; 2021), Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International (Livingstone; the Victoria Falls' gateway), Mfuwe (the South Luangwa), the domestic airfields; Zambia Airways (relaunched in December 2021 — the first since the 1995 liquidation), Proflight Zambia (1991; the domestic carrier); the regional carriers (Ethiopian, Kenya Airways, Emirates; the Indian travelers via Dubai and Addis Ababa) |
| Ports and waterways | No sea ports (landlocked) — the trade's routes: Dar es Salaam (TAZARA and the road), Durban and Walvis Bay (the road), Beira and Nacala (Mozambique), Lobito (Angola — the corridor's plan); the inland port of Mpulungu on Lake Tanganyika (to Tanzania, Burundi and the DR Congo); the dry ports of Lusaka and Kapiri Mposhi; the Zambezi's and the Kariba's boats; the Kazungula ferry replaced by the bridge (2021) |
| Energy and utilities | ZESCO (the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation; the state's power — the Kariba, the Kafue Gorge, the load-shedding of 2024–25), the Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC; the mines' power), the Maamba coal; the TAZAMA oil pipeline (1968; Dar es Salaam–Ndola — converted to the petroleum products), the Indeni refinery (closed to the crude in 2024 — the storage); the water utilities (the Lusaka Water Supply and Sanitation Company — the cholera's prevention), the telecoms (Airtel, MTN, Zamtel; the fiber links of the Zambia's ICT) |
| Border crossings and bridges | The Kazungula Bridge (to Botswana; 2021 — about 923 m, the road and the rail), the Victoria Falls Bridge (to Zimbabwe; 1905 — the bungee jump), the Chirundu (to Zimbabwe; the one-stop border post of 2009 — Africa's first by the usual line), the Nakonde–Tunduma (to Tanzania; the busiest trucks' crossing), the Kasumbalesa (to the DR Congo; the copper trucks' bottleneck), the Mwami–Mchinji (to Malawi), the Katima Mulilo bridge (to Namibia; 2004), the Jimbe (to Angola); the Kafue and the Luangwa bridges |
History in dates
| c. 476,000 BCE – 300 CE | The early humans of the Zambezi and the Kalambo — the Kalambo Falls' wooden structure of interlocked logs (about 476,000 years old by the 2023 dating), the oldest known worked wood of its kind; the Broken Hill (Kabwe) skull found in 1921 at the Kabwe mine (Homo heidelbergensis or rhodesiensis by the readings, both stated; about 300,000 years old by the 2020 dating); the Later Stone Age's hunter-gatherers and the rock art of the north |
|---|---|
| 300 – 1400 | The Bantu-speaking farmers' migrations into the plateau (from about the 4th century), the iron working and the cattle; Ingombe Ilede on the Zambezi (about 14th–15th century by the digs) — the gold, the copper crosses, the cloth and the glass beads of the Indian Ocean trade by the coast's links |
| 1500 – 1800 | The kingdoms' rise from the Luba and the Lunda of the Congo basin — the Lunda of Mwata Kazembe on the Luapula (from about 1740), the Bemba of the Chitimukulu in the northeast, the Chewa of the Undi in the east, the Luyi (Lozi) kingdom of the Litunga on the Barotse floodplain; the Portuguese traders' visits (Lacerda reached Kazembe's court in 1798) |
| 1800 – 1850 | The Mfecane's waves from the south — the Kololo of Sebitwane's conquest of the Lozi (about 1838–1840s), the Ngoni of Zwangendaba's crossing of the Zambezi (1835, by the eclipse's dating) and their settlement in the east; the slave and the ivory trades of the Swahili-Arab and the Mambari caravans |
| 1851 – 1873 | David Livingstone's journeys — the Zambezi (1851), the sighting of Mosi-oa-Tunya named Victoria Falls (16 or 17 November 1855, both stated); the Lozi's restoration under Sipopa (1864) after the Kololo; Livingstone's death at Chitambo's village near Lake Bangweulu (1 May 1873 by the usual date; his heart buried there) |
| 1889 – 1899 | Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company (charter of 1889) — the Lochner Concession with the Litunga Lewanika (1890), the treaties and the concessions of the north; the Ngoni's defeat (1898) and the Kazembe's (1899); Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia's administrations (from 1899–1900) |
| 1900 – 1923 | The company's rule — the hut tax, the migrant work in the mines of the south; the merger into Northern Rhodesia (1911), the capital at Livingstone; the railway from the south through Livingstone (Victoria Falls Bridge 1905) to Broken Hill (1906) and the Congo border (1909); the First World War's East African campaign (von Lettow-Vorbeck's surrender at Abercorn, now Mbala, 25 November 1918) |
| 1924 – 1939 | The British protectorate under the Colonial Office (1 April 1924); the Copperbelt's opening — Roan Antelope (Luanshya) and Nkana, the production from 1931; the Copperbelt strike of 1935 (six killed at Roan by the counts); Lusaka the capital (1935); the Watchtower and the welfare societies' early voices |
| 1940 – 1952 | The second Copperbelt strike (1940); the copper's war boom; the African Mine Workers' Union (1949) and the Northern Rhodesia African Congress (1948, Harry Nkumbula leading from 1951); the settlers' push for the amalgamation with Southern Rhodesia |
| 1953 – 1963 | The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953–1963) over the African opposition — the copper revenues to Salisbury by the critics' line; Kenneth Kaunda's split from the ANC and the Zambia African National Congress (1958, banned 1959); the United National Independence Party (UNIP, 1959); the Cha-cha-cha campaign of civil disobedience (1961); the 1962 elections and the UNIP-ANC coalition; the Federation's dissolution (31 December 1963) |
| 1964 | The January 1964 elections and Kaunda the prime minister; the Lumpa Church uprising of Alice Lenshina (July–October 1964; about 700 to 1,000 or more dead by the counts, both stated, LAW 2); independence as the Republic of Zambia on 24 October 1964 — Kaunda the first president, the Commonwealth's member; the BSAC's mineral rights bought out on the eve |
| 1965 – 1971 | Rhodesia's UDI (11 November 1965) and Zambia's frontline position — the oil airlift, the Great North Road's 'Hell Run', the Tazama oil pipeline (1968); the University of Zambia (1966); the Mulungushi Reforms (April 1968) and the Matero Reforms (1969) — the state's 51% stakes in the mines and the firms; the Kariba Dam shared with Rhodesia |
| 1972 – 1975 | The one-party state — the Chona Commission and the 1973 constitution, UNIP the sole party ('One Zambia, One Nation' the motto); Simon Kapwepwe's UPP banned (1972); the border with Rhodesia closed (1973); the TAZARA railway to Dar es Salaam built with China's loan (1970–1975, handed over in 1976); the copper price's crash (1975) and the long decline |
| 1976 – 1989 | The liberation movements' hosts — the ANC's headquarters in Lusaka, the ZAPU, the SWAPO; the Rhodesian raids (1978–1979); the debt and the IMF programs; the ZCCM's formation (1982); the 1986 food riots on the Copperbelt over the maize-meal price; the IMF break of 1987 and the return |
| 1990 – 1991 | The June 1990 riots in Lusaka (about 30 dead by the counts), Lieutenant Mwamba Luchembe's coup attempt by radio (30 June 1990); the multiparty return (December 1990); the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) of Frederick Chiluba; the election of 31 October 1991 — Chiluba about 76% against Kaunda; Kaunda's peaceful handover |
| 1991 – 2001 | Chiluba's rule — the structural adjustment and the privatizations (the ZCCM's breakup, sold by 2000; Konkola Copper Mines to Anglo American), the 'Christian nation' declaration (1991, in the 1996 constitution's preamble); the 1996 constitution's parentage clause that barred Kaunda; the 'Zero Option' coup attempt of Captain Steven Lungu (28 October 1997) and Kaunda's detention; the third-term bid's defeat (2001) |
| 2002 – 2008 | Levy Mwanawasa's presidency (from 2 January 2002) — the anti-corruption drive (Chiluba's prosecution), the HIPC debt relief (2005), the copper boom and the Chinese investment (the Chambishi explosion of 2005, 46 or 51 dead by the counts, both stated); Mwanawasa's stroke in Egypt and death in Paris (19 August 2008) |
| 2008 – 2011 | Rupiah Banda's presidency (elected 30 October 2008 against Michael Sata); the Collum mine shooting (October 2010) and the Chinese-run mines' disputes; the 2011 election and Sata's Patriotic Front win (20 September 2011) |
| 2011 – 2014 | Michael Sata's presidency — the 'King Cobra'; the kwacha's rebasing (1 January 2013, 1,000 to 1); the 2012 Eurobond (US$750 million); the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations win; Sata's death in London (28 October 2014) and Guy Scott's acting presidency (Africa's first white head of state since apartheid's end by the usual line) |
| 2015 – 2016 | Edgar Lungu's win of the January 2015 by-election; the copper price's fall and the power cuts; the 2016 constitutional amendment (the 50%+1 rule, the running mate, the Constitutional Court); the August 2016 election — Lungu 50.35% against Hakainde Hichilema's 47.63% and the UPND's petition dismissed (LAW 2) |
| 2017 – 2019 | Hichilema's arrest for treason (April 2017) after the convoy incident and his release (August 2017, the charges dropped); the 'threatened state of emergency' (Article 31, July 2017); the debt's growth on the Eurobonds and the Chinese loans; the 2019 drought and the power cuts |
| 2020 – 2021 | The COVID-19 pandemic; the Eurobond default (November 2020) — Africa's first pandemic-era sovereign default; Kenneth Kaunda's death (17 June 2021, aged 97); the 12 August 2021 election — Hichilema's landslide (about 59%) on the sixth attempt and Lungu's concession; Hichilema sworn in (24 August 2021) |
| 2022 – 2023 | Hichilema's first term — free education for the primary and the secondary schools (from January 2022), the IMF's US$1.3 billion credit (August 2022); the 2022 census (19,610,769); the cholera outbreaks; the June 2023 deal with the official creditors under the Common Framework and the 2024 Eurobond restructuring |
| 2024 | The worst drought in decades — the national disaster (29 February 2024), the maize harvest's collapse, the Kariba's low water and the power cuts of up to 21 hours a day by the reports; the cholera's tail; the Constitution Amendment Bill 7's debates and the opposition's alliances |
| 2025 | Edgar Lungu's death in South Africa (5 June 2025) and the dispute over his burial between the family and the government (LAW 2); the default's exit with the credit upgrades (November 2025, by the reports); the copper output's rise (about 890,000 metric tons in 2025, by the reports); the Sino Metals tailings dam spill at Chambishi (February 2025) |
| Early 2026 | The visa-free deal with Ghana (4 February 2026); the court order over Dalitso Lungu's assets (10 February 2026); the Kalomo minibus crash (15 March 2026, eight dead); the South African court order on Lungu's remains (23 April 2026); the campaign of the UPND against the NRPUP's Brian Mundubile |
| August 2026 | The general election of 13 August 2026 — Hichilema 2,965,326 votes (60.49% of the votes cast, about 61.4% of the valid votes, both stated) against Mundubile's 1,856,222 (37.87%), turnout 57.23%; the result declared on 18 August by the Electoral Commission's Mwangala Zaloumis; the EU observers' 'competitive but uneven playing field'; the 14 August police raid on Mundubile's home and the death of a former cabinet member there (by the reports; LAW 2) |
| September 2026 | Hichilema's second inauguration (1 September 2026, the National Heroes Stadium; Mutale Nalumango the vice president); the treason charges against Mundubile and Makebi Zulu (LAW 2); the Bank of Zambia's cut to 10.75% (28–29 September 2026) with the inflation at 6.1%; the kwacha at about K18.87 to the dollar |
| The rulers in brief | Presidents: Kenneth Kaunda (1964–1991), Frederick Chiluba (1991–2002), Levy Mwanawasa (2002–2008), Rupiah Banda (2008–2011; acting from August 2008), Michael Sata (2011–2014), Guy Scott (acting, 2014–2015), Edgar Lungu (2015–2021), Hakainde Hichilema (from 2021; reelected 2026); the colonial governors of Northern Rhodesia (1924–1964) and the BSAC's administrators before |
Records
| The falls' records | Victoria Falls (Mosi-oa-Tunya, 'the smoke that thunders'), shared with Zimbabwe — about 1,708 m wide and 108 m high by the usual figures, the world's largest sheet of falling water by the combined width and height; UNESCO's World Heritage listing (1989); the Devil's Pool at the edge in the low-water months |
|---|---|
| The copper's records | Africa's second-largest copper producer after the DR Congo and among the world's top ten (about 890,000 metric tons in 2025, by the reports); copper about 70% of the exports by the counts; the 3 million metric tons a year goal by 2031; the Copperbelt's century of mining (from 1928) |
| The water's records | Lake Kariba, among the world's largest man-made lakes by the volume (about 180 cubic km), shared with Zimbabwe; Lake Tanganyika's southern tip at Mpulungu (the world's second-deepest lake); Lake Bangweulu's swamps; the Zambezi's source near Mwinilunga; Kalambo Falls (about 221 m or 235 m single drop by the measurements, both stated), among Africa's tallest uninterrupted falls |
| The football's records | The Africa Cup of Nations win of 2012 in Libreville (beat Côte d'Ivoire on penalties, 8–7), near the site of the 1993 Gabon air crash that killed 18 players of the national team (27 April 1993); the Copper Queens at the 2023 Women's World Cup (the first appearance; Barbra Banda's goals); Kalusha Bwalya the 1988 African Footballer of the Year |
| The bats' records | Kasanka National Park's straw-colored fruit bat migration (about 8–10 million bats in October–December by the counts, both stated) — the largest mammal migration on Earth by the biomass by the usual line; the Liuwa Plain's wildebeest migration (Africa's second-largest) |
| The parks' records | About 20 national parks and 30-plus game management areas (about 30% of the land protected by the counts); South Luangwa, the 'birthplace of the walking safari' (Norman Carr, 1950s); Kafue National Park, among Africa's largest (about 22,400 sq km); Lower Zambezi; the Bangweulu's shoebill stork |
| The gems' records | Among the world's leading emerald producers (the Kagem mine near Kitwe, among the world's largest open-pit emerald mines by the usual line); the amethyst of the south; the Kagem's large finds by the auctions (the 'Inkalamu', 5,655 carats, 2018) |
| The independence's records | Independence on the closing day of the Tokyo Olympics (24 October 1964) — the team entered the Games as Northern Rhodesia and marched at the closing ceremony as Zambia, a unique case by the usual line; the flag of Gabriel Ellison (1964) and its green's shade change of 1996; the Freedom Statue in Lusaka; Independence Day each 24 October |
| The religion's records | The 'Christian nation' in the constitution's preamble (1996); the Ministry of National Guidance and Religious Affairs (2016); the National Day of Prayer (18 October, from 2015); about 95% Christian by the census |
| The language records | English the official language; seven regional languages recognized for the broadcasting and the schools — Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi, Kaonde, Lunda, Luvale; about 72 or 73 ethnic groups by the usual count (both stated) |
| The rail's records | TAZARA (1,860 km to Dar es Salaam), China's largest overseas aid project of its era; the Victoria Falls Bridge (1905) at 128 m above the river, Africa's bungee classic; the Lobito Corridor's rail plans to Angola's coast (the US-EU backing from 2023) |
| The democracy's records | Three peaceful transfers of power to the opposition by the ballot (1991, 2011, 2021); Kaunda's 27 years; the 2021 election's turnout (about 70.6%) against the 2026's 57.23%; the Constitutional Court's petitions after each close race (LAW 2) |
| The health records | The HIV prevalence about 11% of the adults by the surveys and the 95-95-95 progress; the cholera outbreaks of 2017–18 and 2023–24 (over 700 dead in the latter by the counts); the life expectancy about 62–66 years (both stated) |
| The disasters' marks | The 1993 Gabon air crash of the national team; the Chambishi explosive plant blast (2005); the 2024 drought, the worst in decades; the 2025 Chambishi tailings spill into the Kafue's tributary; the Kalomo crash (2026) |
| The small and the strange | The Lozi's Kuomboka, the king's barge move from the flooded plain (about March–April, the Nalikwanda royal barge); the Ngoni's Ncwala and the Bemba's Ukusefya Pa Ng'wena; the 'Zambian time'; the kapenta of Lake Kariba, a fish brought from Lake Tanganyika in the 1960s; the Chirundu one-stop border |
| The last and the next | Hichilema's second term from 1 September 2026; the treason cases of the opposition leaders (LAW 2); the IMF program's next reviews; the 3 million metric tons copper goal; the Lobito Corridor's rail; the Kariba's power and the 2026–27 rains; the 2031 elections |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Zambia?
The Republic of Zambia — the independent state of 24 October 1964 (the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia before it, 1911/1924–1964, and the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland's part of 1953–1963); named after the Zambezi River; the demonym Zambian; the motto 'One Zambia, One Nation'; the UN's member (1 December 1964), the Commonwealth's, the African Union's, the SADC's and the COMESA's (the COMESA's headquarters at Lusaka); the Christian nation by the constitution's preamble (the 1991 declaration of Frederick Chiluba, written into the 1996 constitution).
What is the capital of Zambia?
Lusaka — the capital since 1935 (moved from Livingstone by the colonial government), the city of about 3–3.3 million people in the district and the metro area by the 2022 census and the estimates (both stated); the State House, the National Assembly's building (1967), the Freedom Statue, the Kabwata Cultural Village, the Cairo Road; the seat of the COMESA. The Copperbelt's Kitwe and Ndola the next largest cities, then Kabwe, Chingola and Livingstone (the Victoria Falls town).
How big is Zambia, and how many people live there?
About 752,618 km² (290,587 sq mi; about 752,612 km² by another count — both stated) — about 23% of India's area, about the size of Rajasthan and Maharashtra together; the landlocked plateau of south-central Africa; 19,610,769 people by the census of 2022 (the Zambia Statistics Agency's count; the first digital census) and about 21–22 million by the 2025–26 estimates (both stated) — among the world's fastest-growing populations (about 2.8–3% a year by the census's rate).
What are the highest and lowest points of Zambia?
The Mafinga Central in the Mafinga Hills on the Malawi border — about 2,339 m (2,301–2,339 m by the surveys, both stated; the earlier 'Mafinga' heights of the maps differing), in the northeast's Muchinga province; the Nyika Plateau's Zambian edge (about 2,200 m); the lowest point the Zambezi River at the Mozambique border near Luangwa (about 329 m by the usual count); the plateau of about 1,000–1,400 m covering most of the country.
What currency does Zambia use?
The Zambian kwacha (ZMW; K; 100 ngwee) — the kwacha of 16 January 1968 (replacing the Zambian pound), rebased on 1 January 2013 (1,000 old kwacha to 1 new — the ZMW); the Bank of Zambia (1964; Governor Denny Kalyalya) — the policy rate cut by 250 basis points to 10.75% on 28–29 September 2026 (from 13.25%), the inflation of 6.1% in September 2026 within the 6–8% target band; about K18.87 to the U.S. dollar in late September 2026 (the kwacha's about 17% gain in 2026 — by the reports), about 4.6–4.8 Indian rupees to the kwacha; the notes of K2 to K100.
Who governs Zambia?
President Hakainde Hichilema — born 4 June 1962 in Monze district (Southern province), the businessman and the United Party for National Development's (UPND) leader since 2006; elected on 12 August 2021 (the sixth attempt) and reelected on 13 August 2026 (60.49% of the votes cast and about 61.4% of the valid votes, both stated; declared 18 August; sworn in for the second term on 1 September 2026 at the National Heroes Stadium) — the EU's 'competitive but uneven playing field' line and the government's 'free and fair' line both stated (LAW 2); Vice President Mutale Nalumango (since 2021); the National Assembly of the UPND's majority; the main rival Brian Mundubile (the NRPUP) detained on the treason charges (August 2026 — both his denial and the state's case stated, LAW 2).
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