Zambia
Fast facts
- Official language
- English
- Capital
- Lusaka
- Currency
- Zambian kwacha
- Time zone
- CAT
- Drives on
- left
- Calling code
- +260
Facts from Wikipedia’s “Zambia” page (CC BY-SA 4.0).
The Republic of Zambia is a country in southern Africa. It shares its borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the northeast, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to the southeast, Zimbabwe and Botswana (Via a very tiny border) to the south, Namibia (Via the Caprivi Strip) to the southwest, and Angola to the west. It used to be called Northern Rhodesia and it is currently named after the Zambezi River. Zambia is home to one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Victoria falls. Zambia has at least 72 spoken languages.
The capital of Zambia is Lusaka, which is also the largest city in the country. Hakainde Hichilema is the current president. Its motto is One Zambia, One Nation and its national anthem is Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free. Its official language is English.
History
Zambia originated from Northern Rhodesia. On 24 October 1964, Zambia became an independent country. The first president was Kenneth Kaunda, who ruled Zambia from 1964 to 1991. Zambia was a one party state. His United National Independence Party was the only legal party, and all other parties were banned.
After protests, democratic elections were held in 1991. Kenneth Kaunda lost the elections and gave away his power in an orderly manner to his successor Frederick Chiluba, a former union leader.
Zambia is now a multi-party democracy. It has had four democratic elections since 1991. The latest presidential election was in 2021, which was won by Hakainde Hichilema against Edgar Lungu.
Economy
In 1969, Zambia was making a lot of money because of the copper deposits that were mined in Copperbelt province. When copper became cheaper in the 1970s, the economy got worse because people in Zambia were not making as much money from selling copper. Today, Zambia is a poor country. It does not have many industries. Copper is still its main export. Commercial farming in Zambia is starting to make more money.
Provinces
Zambia is divided into ten provinces. Each province is divided into several districts. There are 117 districts all together. The provinces are:
- Central
- Copperbelt
- Eastern
- Luapula
- Lusaka
- Muchinga
- Northern
- North-Western
- Southern
- Western
Cities
The important places in Zambia are:
Written for younger readers
Zambia, in simpler words
This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.
From Wikijunior: Africa
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a country located in the South-Central and Southern East Africa. Zambia’s capital city is Lusaka. Zambia’s main currency is the Zambian Kwacha.
Zambia borders Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Botswana. Zambia is the 39th largest country in the world at 290,586 square miles. The Zambezi River, the fourth-longest river in Africa, starts in Zambia, flows through eastern Angola, along the North-eastern border of Namibia and the northern border of Botswana, then along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe to Mozambique, where it empties into the ocean.
About 100 years after the first Europeans came to Zambia, Zambia gained independence from British rule.
The official language of Zambia is English. The official religion is Christianity.
Zambian sports include but are not limited to football (soccer), athletics, netball, volleyball, and other indigenous games.
A popular tourist attraction in Zambia and along the Zambezi is Victoria Falls.
Wikijunior:Countries A-Z/Zambia
Where this page comes from
The article above is adapted from “Zambia” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.
Both sources are published under CC BY-SA 4.0, so this page is published under the same licence. You may share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same licence.
Worksheets, answer keys and printable layouts elsewhere on K5Print are our own work and are not covered by this licence.