Population: 11,862,740
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 45.1% (male 2,685,142/female 2,659,771)
15-64 years: 52.6% (male 3,122,305/female 3,116,846)
65 years and over: 2.3% (male 114,477/female 164,199) (2009 est.)
Birth Rate: 40.24 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death Rate: 21.34 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
Infant mortality Rate:
total: 101.2 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 8
male: 105.97 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 96.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life Expectancy:
total population: 38.63 years
country comparison to the world: 223
male: 38.53 years
female: 38.73 years (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 15.2% (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.1 million (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 56,000 (2007 est.)
Ethnic Groups:
African 99.5% (includes Bemba, Tonga, Chewa, Lozi, Nsenga, Tumbuka, Ngoni, Lala, Kaonde, Lunda, and other African groups), other 0.5% (includes Europeans, Asians, and Americans) (2000 Census)
Religions: Christian 50%-75%, Muslim and Hindu 24%-49%, indigenous beliefs 1%
Languages: Bemba 30.1% (official), Nyanja 10.7% (official), Tonga 10.6% (official), Lozi 5.7% (official), Chewa 4.9%, Nsenga 3.4%, Tumbuka 2.5%, Lunda 2.2% (official), Kaonde 2% (official), Lala 2%, Luvale 1.7% (official), English 1.7% (official), other 22.5% (2000 Census)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write English
total population: 80.6%
male: 86.8%
female: 74.8% (2003 est.)
Government Type: republic
Capital: Lusaka
Geographic coordinates: 15 25 S, 28 17 E
Time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Independence: 24 October 1964 (from the UK)
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Currency: Zambian kwacha (ZMK)
Population below poverty line: 86% (1993)
Transnational Issues:
Disputes - international:
in 2004, Zimbabwe dropped objections to plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly delimited, Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river.
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 42,565 (Angola); 60,874 (Democratic Republic of the Congo); 4,100 (Rwanda) (2007).
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for moderate amounts of methaqualone, small amounts of heroin, and cocaine bound for southern Africa and possibly Europe; a poorly developed financial infrastructure coupled with a government commitment to combating money laundering make it an unattractive venue for money launderers; major consumer of cannabis.
**Information retreived from CIA - The World Factbook: