ZAMBIAN INTRODUCTION
Area -
752,615 sq km
Population - 9.9 million (2000 estimate)
Population growth - 2.11% (2000 estimate)
Capital city: Lusaka (Population 1.6 million)
Date of Independence: October 24, 1964
Major languages - English (official), Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga,
Lozi and Luvale used widely.
Literacy rate is 76.3%
Ethnicity: 73 groups of mostly Bantu origin.
Major religions - Christian (75%), Muslim and Hindu (24%),
animist (1%)
75% of the people live on less than $40 per month.
58% of the people live on less than $23 per month
Total external debt in 1999 was $10.4 billion.
Chief exports are copper, cobalt, tobacco and flowers.
Doctor to patient ratio: 7 per 100,000 people.
Infant mortality rate: 112 per 1000 live births
Under 5 mortality rate: 202 per 1000 live births
Maternal mortality rate: 649 per 100,000 births
Life expectancy – 41 years.
20% of Zambians are infected with HIV/AIDS
| Occupation |
Monthly
Salary CND$ |
Monthly
Basic Needs(Family of 6) |
| Day
Labourer |
$65.33 |
$308.48 |
| Clerk |
$93.33 |
$308.48 |
| Teacher |
$112.00 |
$308.48 |
| Statistics
don’t tell the whole story of people who are hard-working,
full of ingenuity and dignity, and very creative as they
find ways to feed and shelter their families. - Deborah
Marshall |
Zambia is bounded on the north by Zaire and Tanzania; on the
east by Malawi; on the southeast by Mozambique; on the south
by Zimbabwe, Botswana, and the Caprivi Strip of Namibia; and
on the west by Angola.
Most of the country is a plateau about 3,280 feet high, though
there are higher areas on the eastern border. The main river
system is the Zambezi and its tributaries, especially the Kafue
and the Luangwa. Zambia has a savannah climate, with rain in
the hot season (October to March) and a cool dry season from
May to August. The north is generally wetter than the south
and has a longer rainy season. In the valleys, especially those
of the Zambezi and Luangwa Rivers, the climate is hotter and
drier than in other parts.
Without doubt Zambia's most spectacular topographical feature
is Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River. As explorer David Livingstone
trekked the Zambezi River and first saw Victoria Falls in 1855,
he called them “the most beautiful sight - the most wonderful
sight that I have witnessed in Africa.” The African name
of the falls, Mosi-oa-Tunya (the smoke that thunders) is an
even more graphic description.
Websites:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/2654/modern/zambia.htm
http://cwr.utoronto.ca/cultural/english/zambia/index.html
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/africa/zambia_back
ground-en.asp
http://www.mapzones.com/world/africa/zambia/introindex.php
http://sg.travel.yahoo.com/guide/africa/zambia/index.html
