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| Country | Zambia | | | Flag |  | | | Capital | name: Lusaka geographic coordinates: 15 25 S, 28 17 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) | | | Population | 11,477,447 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.) | | | GMT | +2 | | | Location | Southern Africa, east of Angola
see map | | | Area | total: 752,614 sq km land: 740,724 sq km water: 11,890 sq km | | | Ethnic groups | African 98.7%, European 1.1%, other 0.2% | | | Religions | Christian 50%-75%, Muslim and Hindu 24%-49%, indigenous beliefs 1% | | | Languages | English (official), major vernaculars - Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages | | | Government type | republic | | | National holiday | Independence Day, 24 October (1964) | | | Constitution | 24 August 1991; amended in 1996 to establish presidential term limits | | | Legal system | based on English common law and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in an ad hoc constitutional council; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | | | Background | The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the [British] South Africa Company from 1891 until it was taken over by the UK in 1923. During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining spurred development and immigration. The name was changed to Zambia upon independence in 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining copper prices and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. Elections in 1991 brought an end to one-party rule, but the subsequent vote in 1996 saw blatant harassment of opposition parties. The election in 2001 was marked by administrative problems with three parties filing a legal petition challenging the election of ruling party candidate Levy MWANAWASA. The new president launched an anticorruption task force in 2002, but the government has yet to make a prosecution. The Zambian leader was reelected in 2006 in an election that was deemed free and fair. | | Internet country code | .zm | |
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