Zambia

Airports

121 total, 106 usable; 13 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 23 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

6 major transport aircraft

Highways

36,370 km total; 6,500 km paved, 7,000 km crushed stone, gravel, or stabilized soil; 22,870 km improved and unimproved earth

Inland waterways

2,250 km, including Zambezi and Luapula Rivers, Lake Tanganyika

Pipelines

1,724 km crude oil

Ports

Mpulungu (lake port)

Railroads

1,266 km, all 1.067-meter gauge; 13 km double track

Telecommunications

facilities are among the best in Sub-Saharan Africa; high-capacity radio relay connects most larger towns and cities; 71,700 telephones; stations--11 AM, 3 FM, 9 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT

Branches

Army, Air Force, Police, paramilitary

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 1,755,585; 920,878 fit for military service

Agriculture

accounts for 15% of GDP and 85% of labor force; crops--corn (food staple), sorghum, rice, peanuts, sunflower, tobacco, cotton, sugarcane, cassava; cattle, goats, beef, eggs; marginally self-sufficient in corn

Budget

revenues $1.5 billion; expenditures $1.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $300 million (1991 est.)

Currency

Zambian kwacha (plural--kwacha); 1 Zambian kwacha (ZK) = 100 ngwee

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (1970-89), $484 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $4.5 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $60 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $533 million

Electricity

1,900,000 kW capacity; 8,245 million kWh produced, 1,050 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates

Zambian kwacha (ZK) per US$1--43.2900 (January 1991), 28.9855 (1990), 12.9032 (1989), 8.2237 (1988), 8.8889 (1987), 7.3046 (1986), 2.7137 (1985)

Exports

$1.1 million (f.o.b., 1990); commodities--copper, zinc, cobalt, lead, tobacco; partners--EC, Japan, South Africa, US

External debt

$7.2 billion (December 1990)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$4.7 billion, per capita $580; real growth rate - 2% (1990)

Imports

$1.1 million (c.i.f., 1990); commodities--machinery, transportation equipment, foodstuffs, fuels, manufactures; partners--EC, Japan, South Africa, US

Industrial production

growth rate 2.9% (1990); accounts for one-third of GDP

Industries

copper mining and processing, transport, construction, foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals, textiles, and fertilizer

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

80% (1990)

Overview

The economy has been in decline for more than a decade with falling imports and growing foreign debt. Economic difficulties stem from a sustained drop in copper production and ineffective economic policies. In 1990 real GDP stood only slightly higher than that of 10 years before, while an annual population growth of more than 3% has brought a decline in per capita GDP of 25% during the same period. A high inflation rate has also added to Zambia's economic woes in recent years.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Climate

tropical; modified by altitude; rainy season (October to April)

Coastline

none--landlocked

Comparative area

slightly larger than Texas

Disputes

quadripoint with Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe is in disagreement; Tanzania-Zaire-Zambia tripoint in Lake Tanganyika may no longer be indefinite since it is reported that the indefinite section of the Zaire-Zambia boundary has been settled

Environment

deforestation; soil erosion; desertification

Land boundaries

5,664 km total; Angola 1,110 km, Malawi 837 km, Mozambique 419 km, Namibia 233 km, Tanzania 338 km, Zaire 1,930 km, Zimbabwe 797 km

Land use

arable land 7%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 47%; forest and woodland 27%; other 19%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Maritime claims

none--landlocked

Natural resources

copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium, hydropower potential

Note

landlocked

Terrain

mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains

Total area

752,610 km2; land area: 740,720 km2

Administrative divisions

9 provinces; Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Northern, North-Western, Southern, Western

Capital

Lusaka

Communists

no Communist party

Constitution

25 August 1973

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Paul J. F. LUSAKA; Chancery at 2419 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 265-9717 through 9721; US--Ambassador Gordon L. STREET; Embassy at corner of Independence Avenue and United Nations Avenue, Lusaka (mailing address is P. O. Box 31617, Lusaka); telephone [2601] 228-595, 228-596, 228-598, 228-601, 228-602, 228-603, 251-419

Executive branch

president, prime minister, Cabinet

Flag

green 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

Independence

24 October 1964 (from UK; formerly Northern Rhodesia)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court Chief of State--President Dr. Kenneth David KAUNDA (since 24 October 1964); Head of Government--Prime Minister Gen. Malimba MASHEKE (since 15 March 1989) United National Independence Party (UNIP), Kenneth KAUNDA; Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), Frederick CHILUBA; National Democratic Alliance (NADA), leader NA; Democratic Party, leader NA; note--the first Extraordinary Congress of UNIP began on 6 August 1991

Legal system

based on English common law and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in an ad hoc constitutional council; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral National Assembly

Long-form name

Republic of Zambia

Member of

ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, FLS, G-19, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, SADCC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day, 24 October (1964)

Suffrage

universal at age 18 President--last held 26 October 1988 (next to be held mid-1991); results--President Kenneth KAUNDA was reelected without opposition; National Assembly--last held 26 October 1988 (next to be held mid-1991); results--UNIP was the only party; seats--(136 total, 125 elected) UNIP 125

Type

multiparty system; on 17 December 1990, President Kenneth KAUNDA signed into law the constitutional amendment that officially reintroduced the multiparty system in Zambia and ending 17 years of one-party rule

Birth rate

49 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

12 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic divisions

African 98.7%, European 1.1%, other 0.2%

Infant mortality rate

79 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force

2,455,000; 85% agriculture; 6% mining, manufacturing, and construction; 9% transport and services

Language

English (official); about 70 indigenous languages

Life expectancy at birth

55 years male, 58 years female (1991)

Literacy

73% (male 81%, female 65%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality

noun--Zambian(s); adjective--Zambian

Net migration rate

- 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor

about 238,000 wage earners are unionized

Population

8,445,724 (July 1991), growth rate 3.5% (1991)

Religion

Christian 50-75%, Muslim and Hindu, remainder indigenous beliefs 1%

Total fertility rate

6.9 children born/woman (1991)