Zambia's population of over 12 million comprises more than 70 Bantu-speaking tribes. Some tribes are small, and only two have enough people to constitute at least 10 percent of the population. English is the official language. The indigenous languages spoken in Zambia include Bemba, Tonga, Nyanja, Lozi, Kuvale, Ndembu (Lundu) and Kaonde.
Ethnically, Zambia is home to more than 70 tribal groups, almost precisely coinciding with the lingusitic diversity of the country, which is briefly described above. Expatriates, mostly British (about 15,000 in total) or South African, live mainly in Lusaka and in the copperbelt in northern Zambia, where they are employed in mines and related activities. Zambia also has a small but economically important Asian population, most of whom are Indians.
Officially, the religions of Zambia include Christianity and indigenous animist beliefs. The predominant religion, in practice, however, is a blend of Christianity and animism.
Education
Education in Zambia is compulsory for 7 years, however, less than 50 percent of the eligible population actually attends school in grades 1 though 7. Less than 20 percent of the primary school graduates, themselves, go on to secondary schooling. Nevertheless, Zambia has a very high literacy rate of 80.6 percent for the total population. This literacy rate compares very favorably with other African countries.
Health and Welfare
In terms of health and welfare, the infant mortality rate is 88.29 deaths per 1,000 births. The life expectancy rate varies according to sources used in research. The rate ranges generally from 35 years to 50 years, and is generally equivalent in regard to gender.
Most Zambians are subsistence farmers. Indeed, national figures suggest that 60 percent of the population is engaged in work related to agr iculture while 40 percent of the population is involved in industry or commerce. The latter figure coincides with the finding that 42 percent of the population lives in urban centers.
Note: About 4.8 percent of GDP in this country is spent on health expenditures. About 1.3 percent of GDP is spent on educational expenditures.
Human Development
One notable indicator used to measure a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main areas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a ranking of 169 countries, the HDI places Zambia in the low human development category, at 150th place. Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional econ omic and financial indicators.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief at Countrywatch.com; see Bibliography for research sources.