ABOUT ZAMBIA

Facts about Zambia

Zambia, in southern Africa, is a landlocked country of rugged terrain and diverse wildlife, with many parks and safari areas. On its border with Zimbabwe is famed Victoria Falls – indigenously called Mosi-oa-Tunya, or “Smoke that Thunders” – plunging a misty 108m into narrow Batoka Gorge. Spanning the Zambezi River just below the falls is Victoria Falls Bridge, a spectacular viewpoint.

The Copper Belt or Copperbelt is a region of Central Africa running through northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo known for copper mining. Traditionally, it refers to the mining regions of Zambia’s Copperbelt Province (around the towns of Ndola, Kitwe, Chingola, Luanshya and Mufulira). Blessed to Bless’ operations are in Chingola and Kitwe.

Language- Bemba

There are over 70 languages spoken in Zambia. The majority of people also speak English. In the Copperbelt area (including Kitwe and Chingola), Bemba is most commonly spoken.

zambia-map

Below are some general rules to apply when speaking Bemba (taken from the Bemba-English/English-Bemba Dictionary by Rev. E. Hoch);
– The letters r, q, v, x and z do not exist in the Bemba alphabet.
– The letters d, g and j only exist in connection with ‘n’ (eg nda, nga, njelwa).
– The letter ‘b’ in connection with ‘m’ is pronounced like a soft ‘w’ (as in the English word ‘tumbler’).
– The letter ‘c’ is always pronounced as ‘ch’ as in the English word ‘church’.
– The letters ‘ch’ together are only maintained in proper nouns (eg ‘Chingola’).

Statistics

54% live on less than USD$2 per day

34% of children aged 7-14 are working (predominantly in the agriculture sector)

86% of adults over 15 are literate

6 million people (32%) are without access to clean water

9.7 million people (56%) are without access to sanitation facilities

According to statistics, life expectancy in Zambia in 2020 was 64
years (in Australia it was 83 years)

95% of Zambians are Christians  (Protestants 75% and Roman Catholics 20%).

Inflation: 2015 – 7.4%, 2016 – 17.9%, 2017 – 6.6%, 2018- 6.99%, Average 2005 – 2018 – 9.98%