THE COUNTRY IN GENERAL

Zambia is a country in south-central Africa which lies between 22°E and 33°E and 8°S and 18°S. It ranks as one of the world's largest producers of copper. Without copper, Zambia would be one of the poorest countries in Africa.

Zambia takes its name from the Zambezi River, which forms most of its southern border. Mighty Victoria Falls, one of the world's most beautiful waterfalls, lies on the river. The great Kariba Dam, one of the world's largest hydroelectric projects, and Kariba Lake also are located on the Zambezi, serving both Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Zambia was formerly ruled by the United Kingdom (UK) as a British protectorate called Northern Rhodesia. From 1953 to 1963, it formed part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland with Nyasaland (now Malawi) and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Zambia became an independent nation in 1964. Lusaka is its capital and largest city.

GOVERNMENT

A president serves as head of state and government and is the most powerful official in Zambia. The National Assembly, the country's legislature, consists of 150 members. The president appoints a vice president and a Cabinet from the Assembly to help run the day-to-day affairs of the government. The people elect the president and the members of the Assembly to five-year terms. The Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) is the largest party in Zambia. The United Party for National Development (UPNP) is the second largest party but a number of other parties exist including United National Independence Party (UNIP) .

The current President is Levy Mwanawasa SC who is a prominent lawyer and once served as the Vice President to the immediate past president.

The country is divided into nine provinces. Each province is administered by a minister of state.


PEOPLE

Most Zambians are black Africans who speak Bantu languages. There are more than 70 ethnic groups represented and eight major local languages spoken in Zambia. Many people also speak English, the official language.

In remote parts of the country the people live in circular, grass-roofed huts, and raise crops on the surrounding land. However, the development of mining has caused thousands of Zambians to move to mining towns.

Maize is the main food. A favorite dish is nshima, a thick porridge made from maize. The people plant their crops in November and December.

The majority of Zambians are Christians, but traditional local beliefs still have a strong hold on the village people. However, the use of traditional medicine, and old customs such as polygamy (marrying several wives) and bride price (paying the parents for a bride), are slowly dying out in the towns.

Most Zambian children attend primary school. But only a fifth of them go to secondary school. Zambia's only university, the University of Zambia, was founded in 1965. Zambia also has trade and technical schools.

LAND

Most of Zambia is flat and covered with trees and bushes. It lies on a plateau about 1,200 meters above sea level. The plateau is broken by the 2,100-metre Muchinga Mountains in the northeast.

Because of its altitude, Zambia has a milder climate than might be expected. The hot season lasts from September to November. Midday temperatures then range between 27 and 38 °C. From November to April, Zambia has a rainy season. Storms flood the rivers by March. From May to August, temperatures range from 16 to 27 °C. Northern Zambia gets about 130 centimeters of rainfall a year. The south gets 50 to 75 centimeters.

ECONOMY

Copper accounts for more than 80 per cent of Zambia's export earnings. Four large copper mines and several smaller mines lie in an area called the copperbelt, along Zambia's border with Congo (Kinshasa). Valuable amounts of cobalt are obtained as by-products of copper mining. Zambia has a lead and zinc mine at Kabwe, and large coal deposits near Kariba Lake. The production of copper products is the country's most important manufacturing activity. Maize is the country's most important farm product. Other leading crops include cassava, coffee, millet, sorghum, sugar cane, and tobacco.

Zambia has no outlet to the sea. Railways connect the country with seaports in Angola, Mozambique, and Tanzania. The railway to Angola passes through Congo (Kinshasa), and the one to Mozambique passes through Zimbabwe.

HISTORY

In 1851, the Scottish missionary David Livingstone crossed the Zambezi from the south. He spent nearly 20 years exploring the region.

In 1897, Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company named the area Northern Rhodesia. In 1924, the British government took over the administration of Northern Rhodesia and appointed a governor. Copper had been mined in the area for hundreds of years. The discovery of large copper ore deposits during the late 1920's brought a rush of Europeans to the area. Ten years later, mining was an important industry.

In 1953, the United Kingdom formed a federation of Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland. The Africans opposed the federation, because the European minority controlled the government in Southern Rhodesia. The UK dissolved the federation in 1963. On Oct. 24, 1964, Northern Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zambia. Kenneth Kaunda was elected president in 1964. He was re-elected in 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, and 1988. From 1972 to 1990, the UNIP was the only legal political party in Zambia.

Southern Rhodesia came to be called Rhodesia after the federation was dissolved. In 1965, Rhodesia declared its independence. Relations between Zambia and Rhodesia became severely strained, because Rhodesia's white minority government refused to give the African majority a greater voice in government.

Zambia experienced serious economic problems in the 1970's and 1980's. In 1973, Rhodesia prohibited Zambia from shipping goods across its territory, eliminating one of Zambia's main outlets to the sea. Rhodesia soon lifted the ban. But until 1978, Zambia refused to ship goods across Rhodesia. In 1980, blacks gained control of Rhodesia's government, and the country's name was changed to Zimbabwe. Relations improved between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Zambia's economy suffered from low worldwide market prices for copper and a reduction of the country's copper ore reserves.

In 1990, Zambia legalized opposition political parties. Multiparty elections were held in 1991. Frederick Chiluba, head of the MMD, was elected president. He defeated Kaunda in the election. The MMD also won a majority of seats in the National Assembly. Chiluba was re-elected president in 1996. In 2001, Levy Patrick Mwanawasa became the third president of the Republic of Zambia.

TOURISM

Zambia - Africa's undiscovered Gem

Welcome to Zambia! Zambia – the real Africa!

Land of the legendary African Walking Safari, Earth's biggest Waterfall, the wild Zambezi River, breath-taking Lakes and Wetlands, a profusion of birds, abundant wildlife, and raw, pulsating wilderness, white-water rafting, highest free-standing bungi jump in the world ...all in one friendly country!

From the southern shores of Lake Tanganyika in northern Zambia to the shores of Lake Kariba; from the vast Barotse Floodplains to the rich wilderness of Zambia's world renowned Luangwa Valley; from the sparkling waters of Lake Bangweulu and the endless surrounding wetlands to the spectacular beauty and abundance of the Busanga Plains in Kafue National Park; from the magnificent Victoria Falls to Zambia's diverse cultural ceremonies. ... this is Zambia and this is the real Africa!

Zambia is fed and shaped by three great rivers, bordered by three massive lakes and big, big skies. Zambia beckons to the intrepid, the adventurous - those who want to step off the conveyor belt of mass tourism.

The legendary David Livingstone first saw the awesome glory of the Victoria Falls from Zambia - his memory is enshrined in the nearby town of Livingstone and his heart is buried in this beautiful land. And at the heart of Zambia lies the modern and vibrant capital city Lusaka

Come to Zambia and experience the finest African safaris available. See the astonishing wildlife of Luangwa Valley, home of the legendary walking safari; the graceful lechwe antelope filling the vast plains of Busanga and Bangweulu in their tens of thousands; the annual wildebeest migration of the Liuwa Plains which rivals the Serengeti; the white-water rafting frenzy of the Zambezi River ; the adrenaline choked bungi jump off Victoria Falls Bridge; the limitless expanse of lakes Kariba and Tanganyika, fishing, diving, houseboating, skiing and paddling, canoeing, birding and wildlife safaris par excellence.

Zambia - land of glorious sunsets, friendly people, ancient traditions and mystic legends, of nature at its wildest and most exquisite.

Welcome!

THE VICTORIA FALLS

Described by the Kololo tribe living in the area in the 1800’s as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ - ‘the Smoke that Thunders’ and in more modern terms as ‘the greatest known curtain of falling water’, Victoria Falls are a spectacular sight of awe-inspiring beauty and grandeur on the Zambezi River, bordering Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Columns of spray can be seen from miles away as 546 million cubic meters of water per minute plummet over the edge (at the height of the flood season) over a width of nearly two kilometers into a deep gorge over 100 meters below. The wide basalt cliff, over which the falls thunder, transforms the Zambezi from a wide placid river to a ferocious torrent cutting through a series of dramatic gorges.

Facing the Falls is another sheer wall of basalt, rising to the same height and capped by mist-soaked rain forest. A path along the edge of the forest provides the visitor who is prepared to brave the tremendous spray with an unparalleled series of views of the Falls. One special vantage point is across the Knife edge bridge, where visitors can have the finest view of the Eastern Cataract and the Main Falls as well as the Boiling Pot where the river turns and heads down the Batoka Gorge. Other vantage points include the Falls Bridge and the Lookout Tree which commands a panoramic view across the Main Falls.

"The first impression was unmistakable; immense power, the raw energy unleashed when the entire Zambezi leaps wildly into a black two kilometre wide abyss. The scale is massive, the spectacle spellbinding and perpetually changing. The falls hiss and roar as if possessed, they rumble and crash like thunder. Vast clouds spew and billow out from the seething cauldron of its dark impenetrable depths. The moving water creates a magnetism that sucks you closer, so that you recoil in horror to quench a subliminal sacrificial urge." (Jumbo Williams, Zambezi, River of Africa. 1988)

LINKS

Zambia National Tourist Board