You are here:
  1. Homepage
  2. » Zambia
Zambia Flag Icon

Zambia Country Guide

Explore Zambia in Africa

Zambia with the capital city Lusaka is located in Africa (Southern Africa, east of Angola). It covers some 752,614 square kilometres (slightly larger than Texas) with 11,669,000 citizens.

Interactive map of Zambia

The landscape offers mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains. The average density of population is approximately 16 per km². The notable climate conditions in Zambia can be described as tropical with modified by altitude and rainy season (October to April). Potential threats by nature are periodic drought or tropical storms (November to April).

To reach someone in Zambia dial +260 prior to a number. There are 90,300 installed telephones. And there are 4,407,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks commonly support frequencies of 900 MHz. Websites registered in this country end with the top level domain ".zm". If you want to bring electric equipment on your trip (e.g. laptop power supply), note the local power outlet of 230V - 50Hz.

About the flag and history of Zambia

Zambia Flag Icon

Green field with a panel of three vertical bands of red (hoist side), black, and orange below a soaring orange eagle, on the outer edge of the flag; green stands for the country's natural resources and vegetation, red symbolizes the struggle for freedom, black the people of Zambia, and orange the country's mineral wealth; the eagle represents the people's ability to rise above the nation's problems.


The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the [British] South Africa Company from 1891 until it was taken over by the UK in 1923. During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining spurred development and immigration. The name was changed to Zambia upon independence in 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining copper prices, economic mismanagement and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. Elections in 1991 brought an end to one-party rule, but the subsequent vote in 1996 saw blatant harassment of opposition parties. The election in 2001 was marked by administrative problems with three parties filing a legal petition challenging the election of ruling party candidate Levy MWANAWASA. MWANAWASA was reelected in 2006 in an election that was deemed free and fair. Upon his abrupt death in August 2008, he was succeeded by his vice president, Rupiah BANDA, who subsequently won a special presidential byelection in October 2008. Michael SATA was elected president in September 2011.



Geography Quick-Facts

SummaryContinent: Africa
Neighbours: Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Malawi, Angola
Capital: Lusaka
Size752,614 square kilometers (km² or sqkm) or 290,585 square miles (mi² or sqmi)
slightly larger than Texas
Population11,669,000
CurrencyName Kwacha, Currency Code:ZMK
Country Top Level Domain (cTLD).zm
Telephone Country Prefix+260
Mobile Phone Connections4,407,000
Landline Phone Connections90,300

Country Position in World Rankings

Information about single country attributes and how these compare against the rest of the world. The information below is compiled with data from 2013. As such, it may differ a bit to the Information above in the text (which is from 2010).

Geography

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Area752,618 (sq km)39

People and Society

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Population14,222,233 70
Population growth rate2.89 (%)12
Birth rate42.79 (births/1,000 population)5
Death rate13.17 (deaths/1,000 population)19
Net migration rate-0.75 (migrant(s)/1,000 population)143
Maternal mortality rate440.00 (deaths/100,000 live births)25
Infant mortality rate68.58 (deaths/1,000 live births)19
Life expectancy at birth51.51 (years)216
Total fertility rate5.81 (children born/woman)7
Health expenditures5.90 (% of GDP)113
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate13.50 (%)6
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS980,000 11
HIV/AIDS - deaths45,000 10
Obesity - adult prevalence rate3.60 (%)174
Children under the age of 5 years underweight14.90 (%)52
Education expenditures1.40 (% of GDP)168
Unemployment, youth ages 15-2423.40 (%)41

Economy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
GDP (purchasing power parity)24,360,000,000 124
GDP - real growth rate7.30 (%)24
GDP - per capita (PPP)1,700 200
Labor force5,839,000 68
Unemployment rate14.00 (%)139
Distribution of family income - Gini index50.80 19
Investment (gross fixed)20.50 (% of GDP)90
Taxes and other revenues19.90 (% of GDP)164
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)-6.20 (% of GDP)177
Public debt31.20 (% of GDP)111
Inflation rate (consumer prices)6.50 (%)171
Central bank discount rate14.49 (%)12
Commercial bank prime lending rate18.84 (%)20
Stock of narrow money1,919,000,000 127
Stock of broad money4,906,000,000 129
Stock of domestic credit3,956,000,000 122
Market value of publicly traded shares2,817,000,000 92
Industrial production growth rate8.80 (%)19
Current account balance-1,048,000,000 113
Exports8,346,000,000 99
Imports7,279,000,000 110
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold2,616,000,000 115
Debt - external5,445,000,000 112

Energy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Electricity - production10,200,000,000 (kWh)93
Electricity - consumption7,704,000,000 (kWh)97
Electricity - exports110,000,000 (kWh)70
Electricity - imports33,000,000 (kWh)102
Electricity - installed generating capacity1,679,000 (kW)110
Electricity - from fossil fuels0.40 (% of total installed capacity)206
Electricity - from hydroelectric plants99.60 (% of total installed capacity)4
Crude oil - imports10,790 (bbl/day)77
Refined petroleum products - production9,664 (bbl/day)106
Refined petroleum products - consumption19,260 (bbl/day)131
Refined petroleum products - exports21 (bbl/day)122
Refined petroleum products - imports17,570 (bbl/day)109
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy2,416,000 (Mt)147

Communications

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Telephones - main lines in use85,700 149
Telephones - mobile cellular8,165,000 87
Internet hosts16,571 122
Internet users816,200 105

Transportation

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Airports88 65
Railways2,157 (km)69
Roadways91,440 (km)50
Waterways2,250 (km)39

Military

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Military expenditures1.80 (% of GDP)82

Data based on CIA facts book 2010 & 2013, wikipedia, national statistical offices and their census releases

List of current world heritage sites

NameSince
Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls
These are among the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. The Zambezi River, which is more than 2 km wide at this point, plunges noisily down a series of basalt gorges and raises an iridescent mist that can be seen more than 20 km away. ...
1989