Country · Africa
Zambia
Republic of Zambia
Zambia is a country in Eastern Africa. About 17.4 million people live there, in an area of 752 612 square kilometres. Its capital city is Lusaka.
Picture credit: Dareisaac (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Sungaphiri (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Matthew Grollnek (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Zambia?
Zambia lies in Eastern Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the southern half of the world, roughly 1 670 km from the equator.
Zambia is landlocked: it has no coast at all, so you cannot reach the sea without crossing another country.
It shares a border with 8 countries: Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
How big is Zambia?
Zambia covers 752 612 square kilometres.
That is about 7.3 times the size of Iceland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 38th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 23.1 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Zambia?
About 17.4 million people live in Zambia.
That is the 64th biggest population in the world.
People here speak English.
They pay with the Zambian kwacha (ZK).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 37 years.
The land of Zambia
The land of Zambia sits on average 1 138 metres above sea level — high enough that much of it counts as mountain country.
Because it is landlocked, anything that comes by ship has to cross one of its 8 neighbours to get here.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Zambia different?
Websites from here often end in .zm.
Zambia and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 2 live in Zambia.
It takes up about 0.56 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa the country ranks 17th of 54 by size, and 22nd by population.
Zambia and its neighbours
DR Congo, its largest neighbour, is about 3.1 times bigger.
DR Congo has more people: 84.1 million against 17.4 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 16 live wild in Zambia: Lion, African elephant, Giraffe, Zebra, Hippopotamus, Cheetah and more. The highest mountain in the country is Mafinga Central, at 2 339 metres. The longest river in the country is the Kafue. The largest lake in the country is Lake Bangweulu.
Lion
African elephant
Giraffe
Zebra
Hippopotamus
Cheetah
Leopard
African buffalo
Dung beetle
Blue wildebeest
Spotted hyena
Ground pangolin
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Zambia compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 12 times as big as Zambia: 9 372 610 km² against 752 612 km².
- Zambia is about 3.1 times as big as the United Kingdom: 752 612 km² against 242 900 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Zambia?
The capital of Zambia is Lusaka. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Zambia?
About 17.4 million people live in Zambia, which makes it the 64th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Zambia?
How big is Zambia?
Zambia covers 752 612 square kilometres, making it the 38th largest country in the world. That is about 7.3 times the size of Iceland.
What is the highest mountain in Zambia?
The highest mountain in Zambia is Mafinga Central, 2 339 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Zambia?
The longest river in Zambia is the Kafue, about 1 576 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Zambia?
The largest lake in Zambia is Lake Bangweulu. It covers about 3 000 km².
Which continent is Zambia in?
Zambia is in Africa, in the part called Eastern Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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