Lusaka Province is one of the ten provinces of Zambia. It is the smallest in terms of land area, covering 21,896 km2. However, it is the most populated and densely populated province in Zambia, with a population of 3,079,964 as of 2022 and a population density of 140 persons per km2.[2][3]

Lusaka
Nickname: 
LSK
Map of Lusaka Province showing its districts.
Map of Lusaka Province showing its districts.
Country Zambia
CapitalLusaka
DistrictsChilanga District

Chongwe District Kafue District Luangwa District Lusaka District

Rufunsa District
Government
 • TypeProvincial Administration
 • Provincial MinisterSheal Mulyata
Area
 • Province
21,896 km2 (8,454 sq mi)
Population
 (2022)
 • Province
3,079,964
 • Density140/km2 (360/sq mi)
 • Urban
2,204,059
Time zoneUTC+2
HDI (2018)0.664[1]
medium · 1st
Websitewww.lsk.gov.zm

The provincial capital is Lusaka, which is also the national capital of Zambia. Lusaka Province is the most urbanized province in the country, featuring the highest number of medical doctors and the lowest incidence of malaria. It shares borders with Central Province to the north, Southern Province to the south, Eastern Province to the east, and the countries of Zimbabwe and Mozambique to the south-east, separated by the Lower Zambezi National Park.

The province is known for its natural attractions, including the Lower Zambezi National Park, the Lunsemfwa River valley, and the lower Luangwa Valley in the north-east. The Kafue Flats lie in the south-western part of the province.

Lusaka Province also has rich cultural heritage, with various festivals celebrated by different ethnic groups. The Nkhombalyanga festival is celebrated in Chongwe District by the Soli people in July, the Dantho festival is celebrated in Luangwa District by the Chikunda people in September, and the Chakwela Makumbi festival is celebrated in Chongwe District by the Soli people in September.

The province is divided into six districts: Chilanga District, Chongwe District, Kafue District, Luangwa District, Lusaka, and Rufunsa District. The literacy rate was recorded at 83% in 2004, while the unemployment rate was 31%. The youth unemployment rate stood at 52% as of 2008.

Lusaka Province is also home to two airports: Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, which is located in Chongwe District but serves Lusaka, and Lusaka City Airport, which is situated within Lusaka.

Geography

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Lusaka, the capital city of the country and the province

Lusaka Province is bordered along Zimbabwe along Lower Zambezi National Park in the south, Central Province in the north, Southern Province in the southwest and Eastern Province in the north east. The general topography of the province is characterized by uplifted planation surfaces. The general elevation of the nation as a whole is tended towards West to East from the Kalahari Basin. The level of land falls from the upper Congo towards the Zambezi depression in the South forming a plateau.[4]

Kafue River is a tributary of Zambezi River and it has huge valleys breaking the plateau. The province lies in the watershed between Congo DR and Zambezi river systems. The province lies in the frontier formed between the continental divide separating the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, which traverses from DR Congo to the south of Tanzania. There are three major seasons: a cool dry season from April to August, a hot dry season from August to November and a warm wet season from November to April. The maximum heat and rainfall, both are experienced during October. The annual rainfall is less than 750 mm in the region.[5]

Climate data for Lusaka (Zambia)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 26
(79)
25.9
(78.6)
28.7
(83.7)
25.8
(78.4)
24.2
(75.6)
22.6
(72.7)
22.5
(72.5)
25.1
(77.2)
28.7
(83.7)
30.3
(86.5)
29
(84)
26.3
(79.3)
30.3
(86.5)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 21.1
(70.0)
21
(70)
20.8
(69.4)
20.1
(68.2)
17.2
(63.0)
16.8
(62.2)
15.1
(59.2)
17
(63)
21.4
(70.5)
24.3
(75.7)
22.3
(72.1)
21.3
(70.3)
24.3
(75.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 17.1
(62.8)
16.9
(62.4)
16.2
(61.2)
15.8
(60.4)
12
(54)
11
(52)
9.2
(48.6)
11.3
(52.3)
14.4
(57.9)
19.2
(66.6)
17.6
(63.7)
17.3
(63.1)
9.2
(48.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 250
(9.8)
194
(7.6)
137
(5.4)
31
(1.2)
4
(0.2)
1
(0.0)
1
(0.0)
0
(0)
2
(0.1)
16
(0.6)
103
(4.1)
231
(9.1)
970
(38.2)
Source 1: [6]
Source 2: [7]

Demography

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Historical population
YearPop.±%
1969353,975—    
1980691,054+95.2%
1990987,106+42.8%
20001,391,329+41.0%
20102,238,569+60.9%
20223,079,964+37.6%
Source:[8]

As per 2022 Zambian Census, Lusaka's population was 3,079,964, making it the most populated province.[2] The majority of this population is concentrated in its smallest district, which is Lusaka District, with its population of 2,204,059 at the 2022 Census , with a population density of 5,272.9 people per km2.[2]

The province has the population highest growth rate, with an average of 4.6%, compared to the national growth rate of 2.8%. In 2000, it was the second most populated province from the Copperbelt province, with a population of 1,391,329. However, as of the 2010 census growth rate, Lusaka had surpassed the Copperbelt as the most populated province.

Ethnicity

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Lusaka is an ethnically diverse province and is the only province in Zambia without a single ethnic group making up a third of the Population. The Bemba form the largest ethnicity at 20.2%, while the largest ethnic cluster is the Nyanja cluster (comprising Chewa, Nsenga, Chikunda, Kunda and Ngoni) making up 30.5%. The native Soil, Goba and Chikunda people only markup 0.8%,0.6% and 1.2% respectively. Other natives are the Nsenga Luzi (of Luangwa District)).

There is also a considerable presence of Europeans, Asians and other African nationalities.

ETHNICITY PERCENTAGE
BEMBA 20.2
TONGA 11.1
NSENGA 10.8
CHEWA 10.5
NGONI 7
TUMBUKA 5.4
LOZI 4.8
SOLI 3.2
MAMBWE 2.9
NAMWANGA 2.4
LENJE 2.2
KAONDE 2.1
LALA 1.5
LUVALE 1.4
CHIKUNDA 1.2
LAMBA 1.1
KUNDA 1
LUNDA(NWP) 0.9
ILA 0.8
LUNDA(LP) 0.6
BISA 0.6
GOBA 0.6
NYANJA 0.6
USHI 0.5
SENGA 0.5
OTHERS 6.1

Languages

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The most spoken language in Lusaka is ciNyanja, a language that exhibits the melting pot that the Province has become. ciNyanja is a lingua franca which is close to ciChewa, ChiNsenga, other languages of Eastern Province and notable influence from Nguni languages. The contemporary Lusaka Nyanja has incorporated a lot of borrowed words from English and other languages, due to the massive influx of people from the entire Southern and Central African region.

Bemba is another language that is common, Tonga is spoken in pockets of the province. While English was the fastest growing language between 2000 and 2010. There is no clear distinction between dialects and languages in mainstream Zambia. Therefore, languages in the diagrams below will be grouped and listed individually.

LANGUAGE PERCENTAGE
NYANJA 61.9
BEMBA 17.6
ENGLISH 6.2
TONGA 4.3
SOLI 1.7
NSENGA 1.6
LOZI 1.3
CHEWA 1.2
LENJE 0.6
OTHERS 3.6

National Parks and culture

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The Lower Zambezi National Park, parts of the Lunsemfwa River valley and the lower Luangwa Valley in the north-east and part of the Kafue Flats in the south-west are the major National parks and game area in Lusaka Province. The Nkhombalyanga festival celebrated in Chongwe District by Soli tribe during July, Dantho festival celebrated in Luangwa District by Chikunda tribe during September, Chakwela Makumbi festival celebrated in Chongwe District by Soli tribe during September, Mbambara festival celebrated in Luangwa District by Nsenga Luzi tribe during November, Chibwela Kumushi festival celebrated in Luangwa District by Soli tribe during November, Kailala festival celebrated in Kafue District by Goba tribe during November and Chibwela Kumushi festival celebrated in Luangwa District by Soli tribe during November are the major festivals celebrated in the Province.[9]

Administration

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Profession[10] % of working population
Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (by Industry) 4.80
Community, Social and Personnel 33.90
Construction 35.80
Electricity, Gas, and water 26.80
Financial & Insurance 43.10
Hotels and Restaurants 36.70
Manufacturing 27.10
Mining & Quarrying 9.30
Transportation and Storage 37.00
Wholesale & Retail Trade 32.30

Provincial administration is set up purely for administrative purposes. The province is headed by a minister appointed by the President, and there are ministries of central government for each province. The administrative head of the province is the Permanent Secretary, appointed by the President. There is a Deputy Permanent Secretary, heads of government departments and civil servants at the provincial level. Lusaka Province is divided into six districts, namely, Chilanga District, Chongwe District, Kafue District, Luangwa District, Lusaka District and Rufunsa District. All the district headquarters are the same as the district names. There are six councils in the province, each of which is headed by an elected representative, called a councilor. Each councilor holds office for three years.[11] The administrative staff of the council is selected by a Local Government Service Commission from within or outside the district. The office of the provincial government is located in each of the district headquarters and has provincial local government officers and auditors. Each council is responsible for raising and collecting local taxes and the budgets of the council are audited and submitted every year after the annual budget. The elected members of the council do not draw salaries, but are paid allowances by the council. Lusaka is a province and Zambia's capital city is also Lusaka with one city council. The government stipulates 63 different functions for the councils, with the majority of them being infrastructure management and local administration. Councils are mandated to maintain each of their community centres, zoos, local parks, drainage system, playgrounds, cemeteries, caravan sites, libraries, museums and art galleries. They also work along with specific government departments to help with agriculture, conservation of natural resources, postal services, and establishing and maintaining hospitals, schools and colleges. The councils prepare schemes that encourage community participation.[12]

Economy and education

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HIV infected & AIDS deaths[13]
Year HIV infected AIDS deaths
1985 1,518 107
1990 23,828 640
1995 111,753 4,786
2000 155,729 12,188
2005 155,687 16,569
2010 141,663 15,429

As of 2004, the province had 502 basic schools, 39 high schools and 502 school for children out of school aged between 7 and 15 . The unemployment rate was 31%, and the general unemployment rate for youth was 52% as of 2008. The province had 231 doctors as of 2005. There were 313 Malaria incidence for every 1,000 people in the province as of 2005 and there were 15,429 AIDS death as of 2010.[14]

The total area of crops planted during the year 2014 in the province was 82,603.72 hectares, which constituted 4.35% of the total area cultivated in Zambia. The net production stood at 234,807 metric tonnes, which formed 5.76% of the total agricultural production in the country. Wheat was the major crop in the province with 48,510 metric tonnes, constituting 24.07% of the national output.[15] Kenneth Kaunda International Airport and Lusaka City Airport are the two airports in the province.[16][17]

Notes

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  1. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  2. ^ a b c 2022 Census of Population and Housing - Preliminary Report (PDF)
  3. ^ "Lusaka (Province, Zambia) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  4. ^ "Geography of Zambia". Zambia Tourism Board. 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  5. ^ Williams, Geoffery J. (2003). "Physical and social geography of Zambia". Africa South of the Sahara 2004. Psychology Press. p. 1995. ISBN 9781857431834.
  6. ^ "Weather statistics for Lusaka (Zambia)". Norway: Norwegian Meteorological Institute and Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  7. ^ Clima Data.org - Clima Data for Lusaka from 1991 to 2021
  8. ^ Population
  9. ^ "Traditional Ceremonies". Ministry of Tourism and Arts, Republic of Zambia. 2011. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Labour force survey". Central Statistical Office of Zambia. 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  11. ^ Zambi Public administration Country profile (PDF) (Report). Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM), Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), United Nations. 2004. p. 7. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  12. ^ The local government system in Zambia (PDF) (Report). Common Wealth Local Government Forum. pp. 218–220. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  13. ^ "AIDS and HIV statistics". Central Statistical Office of Zambia. 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  14. ^ "Atlas Home". Zambia data portal, Central statistical Office of Zambia. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  15. ^ "Agriculture statistics of Zambia 2014". Central Statistical Office of Zambia. 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  16. ^ "Airports in Zamiba". The Great Circle Mapper. 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  17. ^ "Code for Trade and Transport Locations". United Nations. 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2016.

References

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15°25′S 29°00′E / 15.417°S 29.000°E / -15.417; 29.000