15 00 S, 30 00 E

Map references:

Africa

Area:

total: 752,614 sq km land: 740,724 sq km water: 11,890 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly larger than Texas

Land boundaries:

total: 5,664 km border countries: Angola 1,110 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,930 km, Malawi 837 km, Mozambique 419 km, Namibia 233 km, Tanzania 338 km, Zimbabwe 797 km

Coastline:

0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:

none (landlocked)

Climate:

tropical; modified by altitude; rainy season (October to April)

Terrain:

mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Zambezi river 329 m highest point: unnamed location in Mafinga Hills 2,301 m

Natural resources:

copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium, hydropower

Land use:

arable land: 6.99% permanent crops: 0.04% other: 92.97% (2005)

Irrigated land:

1,560 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

105.2 cu km (2001)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 1.74 cu km/yr (17%/7%/76%) per capita: 149 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

periodic drought, tropical storms (November to April)

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

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

landlocked; the Zambezi forms a natural riverine boundary with Zimbabwe

People
Zambia

Population:

11,669,534 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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 45.4% (male 2,659,572/female 2,634,379) 15-64 years: 52.3% (male 3,045,536/female 3,053,465) 65 years and over: 2.4% (male 115,662/female 160,920) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 16.9 years male: 16.8 years female: 17.1 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.654% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

40.52 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

21.35 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

-2.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 100.96 deaths/1,000 live births male: 105.73 deaths/1,000 live births female: 96.04 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 38.59 years male: 38.49 years female: 38.7 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

5.23 children born/woman (2008 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 and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: malaria and plague are high risks in some locations water contact disease: schistosomiasis animal contact disease: rabies (2008)

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.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 7 years male: 7 years female: 7 years (2000)

Education expenditures:

2% of GDP (2005)

Government
Zambia

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Zambia conventional short form: Zambia former: Northern Rhodesia

Government type:

republic

Capital:

name: Lusaka geographic coordinates: 15 25 S, 28 17 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:

9 provinces; Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Northern, North-Western, Southern, Western

Independence:

24 October 1964 (from UK)

National holiday:

Independence Day, 24 October (1964)

Constitution:

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 Rupiah BANDA (since 19 August 2008); Vice President George KUNDA (since 14 November 2008); note - President BANDA was acting president since the illness and eventual death of President Levy MWANAWASA on 18 August 2008, he was then elected president on 30 October 2008 to serve out the remainder of MWANAWASA's term; the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Rupiah BANDA (since 19 August 2008); Vice President George KUNDA (since 14 November 2008) 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 30 October 2008 (next to be held in 2011); vice president appointed by the president; note - due to the untimely death of former President Levy MWANAWASA, early elections were held to identify a replacement to serve out the remainder of his term election results: Rupiah BANDA elected president; percent of vote - Rupiah BANDA 40.1%, Michael SATA 38.1%, Hakainde HICHILEMA 19.7%, Godfrey MIYANDA 0.8%, other 1.3%

Legislative branch:

unicameral National Assembly (158 seats; 150 members are elected by popular vote, 8 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]

Political pressure groups and leaders: