Zambia

Republic of Zambia
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  "One Zambia, One Nation"
Anthem: "Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free"
Capital and largest city	Lusaka 15°25′S 28°17′E / 15.417°S 28.283°E / -15.417; 28.283
Official languages	English
Recognised regional languages	List 28.5% Bemba 13.8% Nyanja 11.4% Tonga 10.6% Tumbuka 5.5% Lozi 4.5% Chewa 3.0% Nsenga 1.9% Lunda 1.9% Kaonde 1.8% Lala 1.8% Lamba 1.7% English 1.5% Luvale 1.3% Mambwe 1.2% Lenje 1.2% Namwanga 1.0% Bisa 0.9% Ushi 0.7% Ila 0.7% Mbunda 0.7% Ngoni 0.7% Senga 0.6% Lungu 0.5% Toka-Leya 4.7% others
Ethnic groups (2010[1])	List 19.0% Bemba 13.6% Tonga 7.5% Tumbuka 6.0% Chewa 5.7% Lozi 5.3% Nsenga 3.0% Ngoni 3.1% Lala 3.9% Kaonde 2.8% Namwanga 2.6% Lunda (Northern) 2.5% Mambwe 2.2% Luvale 2.4% Lamba 1.9% Ushi 1.6% Bisa 1.6% Lenje 1.2% Mbunda 0.9% Lunda (Luapula) 0.9% Senga 0.8% Ila 0.8% Lungu 0.7% Tabwa 0.7% Soli 0.7% Kunda 0.6% Ngumbo 0.5% Chishinga 0.5% Chokwe 0.5% Nkoya 5.4% other ethnics 0.8% major racial 0.4% unclassified
Religion	Christianity (official)[2]
Demonym(s)	Zambian
Government	Unitary presidential republic
• President	Hakainde Hichilema
• Vice President	Mutale Nalumango
Legislature	National Assembly
Independence  from the United Kingdom
• North-Western Rhodesia	27 June 1890
• Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia	28 November 1899
• North-Eastern Rhodesia	29 January 1900
• Amalgamation of Northern Rhodesia	17 August 1911
• Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland	1 August 1953
• Republic of Zambia	24 October 1964
• Current constitution	5 January 2016
Area
• Total	752,617 km2 (290,587 sq mi)[3] (38th)
• Water (%)	1
Population
• 2023 estimate	20,216,029[4] (63rd)
• Density	17.2/km2 (44.5/sq mi) (191st)
GDP (PPP)	2023 estimate
• Total	$83.687 billion[5] (100th)
• Per capita	$4,068[5] (155th)
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Total	$29.536 billion[5] (113th)
• Per capita	$1,435[5] (159th)
Gini (2015)	57.1[6] high
HDI (2019)	0.584[7] medium (146th)
Currency	Zambian kwacha (ZMW)
Time zone	UTC+2 (CAT)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+260
ISO 3166 code	ZM
Internet TLD	.zm

Zambia,^[a] officially the Republic of Zambia,^[b] is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa.^[8] It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bordered to the north by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to the southeast, Zimbabwe and Botswana to the south, Namibia to the southwest, and Angola to the west. The capital city of Zambia is Lusaka, located in the south-central part of Zambia. The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the north, the core economic hubs of the country.

Originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region was affected by the Bantu expansion of the thirteenth century. Following European explorers in the 18th century, the British colonised the region into the British protectorates of Barotziland–North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia towards the end of the 19th century. These were merged in 1911 to form Northern Rhodesia. For most of the colonial period, Zambia was governed by an administration appointed from London with the advice of the British South Africa Company.^[9]

On 24 October 1964, Zambia became independent of the United Kingdom and prime minister Kenneth Kaunda became the inaugural president. Kaunda's socialist United National Independence Party (UNIP) maintained power from 1964 until 1991. Kaunda played a key role in regional diplomacy, cooperating closely with the United States in search of solutions to conflicts in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Angola, and Namibia.^[10] From 1972 to 1991 Zambia was a one-party state with UNIP as the sole legal political party under the motto "One Zambia, One Nation" coined by Kaunda. Kaunda was succeeded by Frederick Chiluba of the social-democratic Movement for Multi-Party Democracy in 1991, beginning a period of socio-economic development and government decentralisation. Zambia has since become a multi-party state and has experienced several peaceful transitions of power.

Zambia contains abundant natural resources, including minerals, wildlife, forestry, freshwater, and arable land.^[11] In 2010, the World Bank named Zambia among the top 10 reformers in the World Bank's Ease of doing business index.^[12] As of the latest estimate in 2018, 47.9 percent of the population is affected by multidimensional poverty.^[13] The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is headquartered in Lusaka.

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