Facts about Zambia

Facts about Zambia

1. Name: Zambia’s name derives from the Zambezi River. The word ‘Zambezi’ comes from the local word ‘yambezi’, meaning “the heart of all”

2. Capital city: The capital Lusaka was originally planned to house 200,000 people – now it’s home to over 1.5 million! Zambia’s first capital was the city of Livingstone

3. Waterfall: Zambia has a total of 17 waterfalls – 10 of them are in the northern part of the country. The largest, most beautiful and best known is Victoria Falls in the south of the country on the border with Zimbabwe

4. Weather and climate: From October to April is the rainy season in the country, which involves several ‘rain storms’ and is most reminiscent of an East Asian monsoon. The climate is otherwise mild and temperatures rarely reach 35 degrees Celsius.

5. Termites: Termite nests in Zambia can “grow” as big as man-made huts

Fact: David Livingstone is an important figure in Zambian history
Attribution: Uttam h – Wikipedia.org

Fact: David Livingstone was the first European to see the Zambezi River. He named it ‘Victoria Falls’, which today is the name of the world’s largest waterfall in the south of the country

 

6. Residences: Much of Zambia is sparsely populated and the vast majority of the country’s population lives in the most developed area called the ‘Line of Rail’. In this area, there is a railway that connects the Copperbelt (a mining area rich in copper) with the capital Lusaka and the southern border town of Livingstone

7. Mining: Mining has been taking place in Zambia for more than 2000 years, with copper and iron in particular being extracted. Copper remains Zambia’s most important natural resource and the country is the world’s 5th largest copper producer

8. Poverty: Zambia is one of the poorest countries in the world and ranks low on the UN Human Development Index. 64% of the population live below the poverty line. 14.9% of all children are underweight

9. David Livingstone: The first European to come to Zambia was the Portuguese Francisco de Lacerda in the late 18th century. In the 19th century, more Europeans came to the country. Of these, the British David Livingstone was the most prominent with his vision to end slavery through ‘Christianity, commerce and civilization’. The city of Livingstone is named after him

10. Northern Rhodesia: In 1888, the British company ‘BSA Company’ was granted the mineral rights to a part of the country that later became North West Rhodesia. In contrast, the other half of the country was named North East Rhodesia. In 1911, however, the two were united to form the British Colony of Northern Rhodesia. Southern Rhodesia was the present-day Zimbabwe. In 1964 Zambia became an independent country and has since had 3 constitutions

Fact: Victoria Falls is the world's largest waterfall
Attribution: Meraj Chhaya – Flickr.com

Fact: Victoria Falls in the southern part of Zambia (next to the city of Livingstone) is the world’s largest waterfall

Geographic facts

  • Location: South Africa. East of Angola and south of the Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Country borders: Angola (1,110 km), Democratic Republic of Congo (1,930 km), Malawi (837 km), Mozambique (419 km), Namibia (233 km), Tanzania (338 km), Zimbabwe (797 km).
  • Coastline: 0 km (inland state)
  • Climate: Tropical, but changes according to altitude. Rainy season in the period October - April
  • Landscape: Mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains
  • Lowest point: 329 m (Zambezifloden)
  • Highest point: 2,301 m (Mafinga Hills)
  • Natural resources: Copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium and hydropower
  • Largest city: Lusaka
  • Capital city: Lusaka
  • Total area (square kilometers): 752.610,00 (2021)
  • Land areas (km2): 740.140,22 (2015)
  • Urban areas (km2): 2.079,14 (2015)
  • Agricultural land (km2): 238.390,00 (2021)
  • Agricultural area (% of total area): 32,07 (2021)
  • Forest area (% of land area): 60,03 (2021)
  • Plant species (higher), endangered: 23,00 (2018)
  • CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita): 0,40 (2020)

Demographic facts

Population

  • Population density (people per km2 total area): 26,20 (2021)
  • Population of largest city: 3.181.250,00 (2023)
  • Population growth (annual %): 2,72 (2023)
  • Population, total: 20.569.737,00 (2023)
  • Population growth in urban areas (annual %): 46,34 (2023)
  • Population in urban areas (% of total population): 3,97 (2023)
  • Population in rural areas (% of total population): 53,67 (2023)
  • Population growth in rural areas (annual %): 1,66 (2023)
  • Etniske grupper: 99.5% African (includes Bemba, Tonga, Chewa, Lozi, Nsenga, Tumbuka, Ngoni, Lala, Kaonde, Lunda and other African groups), 0.5% other (includes Europeans, Asians and Americans)
  • Sprog: 33.4% bembe, 14.7% nyanja, 11.4% tonga, 4.5% chewa, 5.5% lozi, 2.9% nsenga, 2.5% tumbuka, 1.9% lunda (northwestern), 1.8% kaonde, 1.8% lala, 1.8% lamba, 1.7% English (the official language), 1.5% luvale, 1.3% mambwe, 1.2% namwanga, 1.1% lenje, 1% bisa, 9.4% other, 0.4% unspecified
  • Religioner: 50-75% Christian, 24-49% Muslim and Hindu, 1% traditional beliefs
  • Net immigration: -5.000,00 (2023)

Birth and death rates

  • Fertility rate, total (births per woman): 4,24 (2022)
  • Birth rate, gross (per 1,000 inhabitants): 34,13 (2022)
  • Teenage mothers (% of women aged 15-19 who have had children or are pregnant): 29,20 (2018)
  • Death rate, gross (per 1,000 people): 6,72 (2022)
  • Life expectancy at birth, women (years): 59,06 (2022)
  • Life expectancy at birth, men (years): 61,80 (2022)
  • Life expectancy at birth, all (years): 22,00 (2022)
  • Mortality caused by traffic accidents (per 100,000 inhabitants): 20,50 (2019)
  • Mortality, women (per 1,000 adult women): 242,38 (2022)
  • Mortality, male (per 1,000 adult males): 359,56 (2022)
  • Suicide rate, women (per 100,000 women): 2,70 (2019)
  • Mortality, infant (per 1,000 live births): 39,00 (2022)

Work, income and education

  • Wage earners, total (% of total labor force): 26,98 (2022)
  • Income share of the highest 10%: 39,10 (2022)
  • Income share of the lowest 10%: 1,50 (2022)
  • Unemployment, total (% of total labor force): 6,00 (2022)
  • Labor force, total: 64,51 (2022)
  • Workforce with basic education (% of the workforce): 58,52 (2022)
  • Labor force with medium education (% of labor force): 7.051.257,00 (2023)
  • Number of poor cf. national poverty limits (% of the population): 60,00 (2022)
  • Proportion of the population with moderate or severe food insecurity (%): 73,10 (2021)
  • School enrolments, primary school (gross %): 94,78 (2020)
  • Youth unemployment, all young people (% of total labor force aged 15 - 24): 9,82 (2022)
  • Young people not in education, employment or training, total (% of all young people): 29,37 (2022)
  • Literacy/literacy, total adults (% of population over 15): 87,50 (2020)

    Spending

  • Household (and NPIS) consumption expenditure (US$): 27.648.642.688,26 (2022)
  • Electricity consumption (kWh per inhabitant): 701,94 (2014)
  • Inhabitants using the Internet (% of the population): 31,23 (2022)
  • Mobile subscriptions (per 100 people): 99,10 (2022)
  • Number of smokers, total (over 15 years): 14,40 (2020)
  • Alcohol consumption per capita (litres of pure alcohol, expected estimates, +15 years): 3,62 (2020)

Business and tourism

  • Employers, total (% of total labor force): 3,78 (2022)
  • New companies (number of registrations): 17.300,00 (2022)
  • New businesses (new registrations per 1,000 inhabitants aged 15 - 64): 1,56 (2022)
  • Listed companies, total: 95.621,03 (2022)
  • Business conditions (0 = lowest grade to 100 = highest grade): 1.248,00 (2019)
  • International tourism, number of arrivals: 502.000,00 (2020)
  • International tourism, number of departures: 58,37 (2022)
  • Railway lines (total route kilometers): 1.248,00 (2019)
  • Railways, number of passengers transported (million passenger-kilometres): 4,19 (2018)

Health

  • Hospital beds (per 1,000 inhabitants): 2,00 (2010)
  • Suicide rate, men (per 100,000 men): 12,00 (2019)
  • Nurses and midwives (per 1,000 inhabitants): 1,86 (2021)
  • Doctors (per 1,000 inhabitants): 0,30 (2021)
  • Prevalence of HIV, total (% of population aged 15 - 49): 369,00 (2023)

Facts Zambia's economy

GDP and GNI

  • BNP (US$): 8,72 (2020)
  • GDP growth (annual %): 66,94 (2019)
  • GDP per capita (US$): 28.162.630.953,93 (2023)
  • GDP, KPP (US$): 5,83 (2023)
  • BNI (US$): 1.369,13 (2023)
  • GNI growth (annual %): 84.863.032.638,16 (2023)
  • Gross savings (% of GDP): 27.020.053.297,76 (2023)

Inflation, interest rates and consumer prices

  • Deposit rate (%): 9,25 (2021)
  • Lending rate (%): 10,40 (2019)
  • Inflation, consumer prices (annual %): 10.157.748.788,82 (2023)
  • Consumer Price Index (2010 = 100): 369,00 (2023)

Trade and production

  • Trade (% of GDP): 0,00 (2002)
  • Vareeksport (US$): 2.337.653.415,82 (2023)
  • Vareimport (US$): 9.652.000.000,00 (2023)
  • Food exports (% of merchandise exports): 10,61 (2023)
  • Food imports (% of goods imports): 6,86 (2023)
  • Food Production Index (2004 - 2006 = 100): 119,91 (2022)
  • Index of animal production (2004 - 2006 = 100): 9,48 (2020)

Industry

  • Industry (including construction), value added (% of GDP): 45,39 (2022)
  • Industry (including construction), value added (US$): 36,07 (2023)
  • Industry, value added (% of GDP): 109,06 (2022)
  • Industry, value added (US$): 8,30 (2023)

Military

  • Armed forces, total: 16.000,00 (2020)
  • Military expenditure (% of GDP): 9.324.000.000,00 (2023)
  • Military Expenditure (US$): 1,19 (2022)

Others

  • Current health expenditure (% of GDP): 9,25 (2021)
  • Labor tax and contribution (% of company profit): 10,88 (2023)
  • Development Assistance (ODA) received per capita (US$): 326.078.759,60 (2022)
  • Social contributions (% of income): 91,42 (2022)