Zambia

Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The capital city is Lusaka, and the population of 17,351,822 is concentrated largely around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the north.

Landlocked landscapes and economic hubs

Covering an area of 752,614 square kilometers, Zambia 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, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the south, Namibia to the southwest, and Angola to the west. Natural resources across this landlocked territory include minerals, wildlife, forestry, freshwater, and arable land, though a 2018 estimate noted that 47.9% of the population is affected by multidimensional poverty.

From Northern Rhodesia to an independent republic

Originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region experienced the Bantu expansion beginning around the thirteenth century. Following eighteenth-century European expeditions, the British Empire consolidated control after the 1890 British Ultimatum against the Portuguese. Britain formed the protectorates of Barotziland–North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia, which merged in 1911 to form Northern Rhodesia. In 1953, the territory was grouped into the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland alongside Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

A historical turning point for sovereignty

A major historical turning point occurred on 24 October 1964, when Northern Rhodesia gained independence from the United Kingdom, was renamed Zambia, and became a republic in the Commonwealth. Kenneth Kaunda assumed office as the inaugural president, leading the socialist United National Independence Party. From 1972 to 1991, Zambia operated as a one-party state under UNIP and the motto "One Zambia, One Nation." Following the reintroduction of a multiparty system, Kaunda lost the 1991 general election, and the country has since experienced peaceful transitions of power.