Social conditions
Zambia is one of the world’s poorest countries. Visit AbbreviationFinder to see the definitions of ZWB and acronym for Zambia. Despite efforts to fight poverty over the past decade, about 2/3 of the population still lives in extreme poverty. The worst is the situation in the countryside, where only about half of the population has access to clean water. Almost one in ten children dies during their first year of life and every fifth child under five is malnourished.
Difficult economic problems in the latter part of the 1980s forced savings and cuts in the social security system; inter alia health care fees were introduced in 1990. Of public expenditure, 11 percent is spent on health care (2009), but access to care is very poor; there are 19 hospital beds (2008) and one doctor (2006) per 10,000 residents. Qualified personnel are available for half of the deliveries. Common health risks are malnutrition, tuberculosis, parasite infestation and leprosy. Because Zambia is also one of the most severely affected countries in Africa in terms of the number of HIV-infected, the health care sector is under great strain. In 2009, 14 percent of the population aged 15-49 were assessed to carry the virus.
ZAMBIA. – Formerly Northern Rhodesia, then Republic of Zambia within the Commonwealth from 24 October 1964, following the dissolution of the Federation of Rhodesias and Nyasaland, born in December 1963.
On 746,254 km 2 of surface lived, at the census of August 1969, 4,056,995 residents. (density: 5.4 residents / km 2). A 1974 estimate brings it to 4,751,000 residents the population, mostly Kaffir.
Divided before the birth of the republic into eight provinces, it still is today with the only change of the name Barotse in Prov. Western (Western), and that of the former Western in Copperbelt (see table).
The names of some capitals have also been changed. Other important centers are Kitwe-Kalulushi (314,000 residents); Chingola-Chililabombwe (202,000 residents); Mufulire (136,000 residents); Luanshya (119,000 residents), All cities of the Copperbelt.
Economic conditions. – 90% of the surface, approximately half and half, is made up of permanent meadows and pastures and woods; only a little more than 6% is for arable land and woody crops. Thus, the rural economy is relatively modest.
Main products are corn (in 1977: 1,050,000 ha and 9.8 million q; in 1963: 32,000 ha and 1.2 million q); sorghum (80,000 ha and 510,000 q in 1977), millet (135,000 ha and 860,000 q in 1977), peanut (32,000 ha and 320,000 q in 1977), cassava, sweet potato, sugar and tobacco. Cotton is also cultivated (6,000 ha, 70,000 q of seeds and 10,000 q of fiber in 1977).
The breeding in 1977 consisted of 1,860,000 cattle, and 342,000 goats and sheep (in 1963, 1,270,000 and 198,000 head respectively). Fishing in major lakes and rivers yielded over 50,000 tonnes in 1977.
But the basis of the economy is mining, starting with the production of copper; in 1976 about 850,000 tons of metal (576,000 in 1963) placed the Zambia in fourth place in the world; then zinc (about 70,000 t of Zn in 1976; 49,500 in 1963), lead (26,100 t of Pb in 1976; 19,600 in 1963), manganese (9,600 t of Mn in 1968; 27,000 t in 1961), cobalt (1900 t of Co in 1976; 1708 t in 1961); and again selenium, tin, mica. In addition, 6000 kg of silver and 170 kg of gold were obtained in 1974. Coal production in 1976 reached 800,000 t. The mining activity in 1974 employed more than 58,000 people. Electricity production in 1976 was 7 billion kWh; the installed power was imil. of kW between thermal and water plants, including the part of the Kariba plant belonging to Zambia.
The manufacturing industry, in addition to the processing of metal ores, the production of cement, the refining of petroleum, the ginning of cotton and its weaving, the manufacture of tractors and other agricultural machinery, includes numerous food activities, overall, employing more than 42,000 people.
Railways, in 1956 just over 1000 km, in 1975 had reached 2187, including the recent Zambian section of the Lusaka-Dar es Salaam.
In addition to the 6,100 km of main roadways, there are more than 34,000 of secondary roads. The main airports are located in Lusaka, Ndola and Livingstone.
Lusaka
Lusaka, the capital and largest city of Zambia; 1.7 million residents (2009). Check to see Zambia population. The town lies at an altitude of 1300 m on a flat limestone plateau in the southeastern part of the country, where it is a traffic hub.
Up to World War II, Lusaka was a planned city and a city for the whites of what was then northern Rhodesia.. Only after the war were residential neighborhoods built for the Africans. After independence in 1964, the strong and uncontrolled growth that has continued since then began. In the central part of the city, modern office high-rise buildings are predominant, while the rest is characterized by low-rise housing, which is spreading ever further from the city center. The business base consists of the central administration, trade, crafts and light industry in addition to many educational institutions, including the country’s university. But there is a chronic shortage of housing and work for the steady flow of immigrants from rural areas. It is estimated that half of the city’s residents live in slums around the city, without public transport and under very poor social and health conditions.
History
The town originated on a subway track on the one-lane railroad that reached south from there in 1905 and was named after a local chief Lusaakas. Farmers from South Africa established themselves as farmers in the area, considered to be one of the most god-forsaken places in Northern Rhodesia. Their presence, together with a good water supply, provided the basis for an actual city, officially recognized in 1913, whose square street pattern can still be seen in the city center. In 1931 it was decided to make Lusaka the capital of Northern Rhodesia, and an extensive construction east of the railway was started. The economic world crisis put an end to the work, and it was a half-finished capital with a few thousand residents inaugurated in 1935.