Zambia

Zambia is a landlocked country of high plateaus in southern Africa, with eight neighbors, among them Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Angola. It takes its name from the Zambezi River, which rises within its borders.

Lusaka is the capital, English is the official language, and Nyanja and Bemba are the most widely used local languages. Khoisan peoples were the first inhabitants, and Bantu groups later settled the region; the Bemba and related peoples belonged to the Luba Kingdom, and the Maravi Empire, founded in 1480, reached into the east. David Livingstone came to the Zambezi in 1855 and named its great waterfall after Queen Victoria. Britain set up two protectorates and joined them in 1911 as Northern Rhodesia. On 24 October 1964 the country became independent as the Republic of Zambia, with Kenneth Kaunda as first president, and the change fell on the closing day of the Tokyo Olympics, so Zambia entered the Games as one country and left as another. A multi-party system returned in 1991.

Under its presidential system, the president leads both the state and the government. Its 752,614 km2 (290,586 sq mi) drain mainly into the Zambezi and Kafue basins, with the Congo basin in the north. Copper from the Copperbelt has long carried the economy, and mines also produce gold at Kansanshi, manganese, nickel and gemstones such as emeralds and amethyst. Farming gives far more jobs than mining, maize is the staple crop, and the Kariba dam on the Zambezi produces hydroelectric power.

Victoria Falls, known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya, the smoke that thunders, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and South Luangwa and Kafue are among the 20 national parks. Traditional ceremonies include Kuomboka in Western Province and Ncwala in Eastern Province, and Tonga baskets are a known craft. In the 1970s Zamrock blended local music with heavy rock riffs. Nshima, a thick maize porridge, is the main dish, and the national football team won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012.