Provinces of Zambia

Zambia is divided into 10 provinces for administrative purposes. Each 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 are Deputy Permanent Secretary, heads of government departments and civil servants at the provincial level.

Provinces are further divided into districts and all the district headquarters are the same as the district names. There are nine councils in the province, each of which is headed by a an elected representative, called councilor. Each councilor holds office for three years. 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. Zambia has predominantly rural provinces and hence there are only three municipal councils. The government stipulates 63 different functions for the councils with the majority of them being infrastructure management and local administration.

Western Province was the largest in terms of area, having 126,386 square kilometres (48,798 sq mi), while Lusaka was the smallest with 21,896 square kilometres (8,454 sq mi). In terms of population, Lusaka was the most populated and most densely populated with a population of 2,191,225 and density of 100 persons per square kilometre. Agriculture is the major profession in most of the provinces in Zambia. Maize, mixed beans, rice, sorghum, soya beans, sunflower, sweet potatoes and wheat are the major crops in the provinces. Among all provinces, Central had the maximum area of 391,593.23 ha (967,647.9 acres) constituting 20.64 per cent of the totals, while Luapula had the smallest area at 3.06 per cent.

List of provinces

Province[1]	Capital	Area (km²)	Population	Density (people/km²)	Districts	Map
Central[2]	Kabwe	94,394	1,307,111	13.4	11
Copperbelt[3]	Ndola	31,328	1,972,317	62.5	10
Eastern	Chipata	51,476	1,592,661	24.7	9
Luapula	Mansa	50,567	991,927	19.0	11
Lusaka[2]	Lusaka	21,896	2,191,225	100.4	8
Muchinga[4]	Chinsali[5]	87,806	711,657[6]	8.1	7
North-Western	Solwezi	125,826	727,044	5.6	9
Northern	Kasama	77,650	1,105,824[7]	14.2	9
Southern	Choma	85,283	1,589,926	18.8	13
Western[3]	Mongu	126,386	902,974	7.0	16
Zambia	Lusaka	752,612	13,092,666	17.3	103

Administration

Provincial administration is setup 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 are Deputy Permanent Secretary, heads of government departments and civil servants at the provincial level. Provinces are further divided into districts and all the district headquarters are the same as the district names. There are nine councils in the province, each of which is headed by a an elected representative, called councilor. Each councilor holds office for three years.^[8] The administrative staff of the council is selected based on 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 from the council. Zambia has predominantly rural provinces and hence there are only three municipal councils. 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 for helping in agriculture, conservation of natural resources, postal service, establishing and maintaining hospitals, schools and colleges. The councils prepare schemes that encourage community participation.^[9]

Primary data

Western Province was the largest in terms of area, having 126,386 sq. km, while Lusaka was the smallest with 21,896 sq. km. In terms of population, Lusaka was the most populated and most densely populated with a population of 2,191,225 and desntiy of 100 persons per sq. km. As of 2010, Western Province had the best sex ratio of 108 females for every 100 males, while Copperbelt had the lowest of 101. Northern had the highest number of basic schools, while Copperbelt had the highest number of high schools. The unemployment rate of youth (55%) and general unemployment rate (32%) was the highest in Copperbelt province, while Eastern had the lowest unemployment rate of 6 per cent. AIDS death was maximum in Copperbelt with 26,799 recorded deaths in 2010, while it was lowest in North-Western with 2,859 recorded deaths. Lusaka Province had the most number of doctors and least number of Malaria related incidents, while North-Western has the lowest number of doctors.^{[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]}

Primary data of Zambia Provinces

Parameter	Year	Central[10]	Copperbelt[14]	Eastern[18]	Luapula[11]	Lusaka[15]	Muchinga Province[12]	Northern[19]	North-Western[16]	Southern[13]	Western[17]
Capital	000	Kabwe	Ndola	Chipata	Mansa	Lusaka	Chinsali	Kasama	Solwezi	Choma	Mongu
Minister	000	Davies Chisopa	Musenge Mwenya	Sichone Malozo	Brig. Gen. Benson Kapaya	Obvious Mwaliteta	Mwimba Malama	Chomba Sikazwe	Dawson Kafwaya	Nathaniel Mubukwanu	Poniso Njeulu
Land area, sq. km	000	94,394	31,328	51,476	50,567	21,896	87,806	77,650	125,826	85,283	126,386
Population, persons	2,010	1,307,111	1,972,317	1,592,661	991,927	2,191,225	711,657	1,105,824	727,044	1,589,926	902,974
Population density, people per sq. km	2,010	014	063	031	020	100	008	014	006	019	007
Sex Ratio (females per 100 males)	2,010	102	101	103	103	102	103	102	103	104	108
Basic Schools	2,004	653	856	861	527	502	No data	1,208	536	995	648
High Schools	2,004	028	071	041	020	039	No data	026	023	045	026
Out of School Children Aged 7-15	2,004	33,081	14,332	132,728	58,887	90,620	No data	22,348	26,834	30,390	36,984
Unemployment rate (%)	2,008	009	032	006	006	031	No data	007	014	007	010
Unemployment rate, Youth (%)	2,008	018	055	012	014	052	No data	012	031	006	018
Doctors	2,005	035	213	036	030	231	No data	040	025	050	046
Malaria Incidence rate per 1,000 population	2,005	331	377	447	407	313	No data	331	439	344	430
AIDS Deaths	2,010	9,016	26,799	9,338	5,209	15,429	No data	6,958	2,859	12,403	6,044

Economy

Agriculture is the major profession in most of the provinces in Zambia. Maize, mixed beans, rice, sorghum, soya beans, sunflower, sweet potatoes and wheat are the major crops in the provinces. Among all provinces, Central had the maximum area, 391,593.23 ha (967,647.9 acres), constituting 20.64 per cent of the total, while Luapula had the smallest area at 3.06 per cent. Maize production was maximum in Eastern (22.5%), mixed beans (51.66%) in Northern, sorghum in Southern (40.62%), sunflower in Eastern (70.2%), soya beans (45.06%), sweet potatoes (28.5%) and wheat (49.51%) in Central Province.^[20]

Agriculture data of Zambia Provinces^[20]

Paramaeter	Central	Copperbelt	Eastern	Luapula	Lusaka	Muchinga Province	Northern	North-Western	Southern	Western
Area Planted (HA)	391,593.23	122,525.52	387,273.09	57,966.31	82,603.72	112,345.23	191,104.56	79,528.80	360,160.32	112,153.47
Maize Production	723,760.85	235,415.71	745,580.30	131,746.91	148,290.62	244,978.50	283,755.88	160,866.33	597,999.41	78,276.86
Mixed Beans Production	5,316.43	1,213.88	2,794.77	4,130.48	673.80	9,277.33	31,898.08	4,446.71	1,685.30	312.13
Rice Production	017.85	004.24	900.37	2,254.43	036.53	6,928.63	18,169.24	445.61	021.22	20,861.51
Sorghum Prodution	452.85	587.45	200.49	105.83	320.21	3,118.55	283.55	1,038.13	4,694.90	755.44
Soya Beans Production	96,518.03	37,609.86	17,534.11	430.00	32,237.44	2,245.70	4,742.11	579.67	22,203.88	077.92
Sun Flower Production	2,872.09	028.67	24,053.17	005.58	049.21	432.17	764.17	014.86	6,042.08	001.66
Sweet Potatoes Production	42,787.85	11,603.63	7,842.74	11,356.02	4,689.72	18,151.34	11,636.01	8,200.76	31,048.67	2,841.24
Wheat Production	99,758.27	28,690.00	120.00	000.00	48,509.73	000.00	000.00	000.00	24,426.13	000.00
Grand Total	971,484.23	315,153.44	799,025.94	150,029.26	234,807.26	285,132.23	351,249.04	175,592.09	688,121.60	103,126.75

See also

• Districts of Zambia
• ISO 3166-2:ZM

References

1. Gwillim Law. "Zambia Provinces". Retrieved 18 June 2015. (Population figures are from the census of 2010).
2. Lusaka province was split from Central province in 1973. Initially Lusaka province was only 360 km², but by 1988 it had been enlarged to its present size.
3. The Copperbelt province was known as Western Province until 1969. At the same time the name of the Barotseland province was changed to Western province.
4. Created on November 2011, consisting 5 districts from Northern Province and one from Eastern.
5. Zambia's 10th Province, Muchinga, Ministry of Local Government and Housing, Zambia
6. "City population of Zambia". 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
7. population figures adjusted for new smaller area
8. 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.
9. The local government system in Zambia (PDF) (Report). Common Wealth Local Government Forum. pp. 218–220. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
10. "Primary Data of Central Province". Zambia data portal, Central statistical Office of Zambia. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
11. "Primary Data of Lauapula Province". Zambia data portal, Central statistical Office of Zambia. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
12. "Primary Data of Muchinga Province". Zambia data portal, Central statistical Office of Zambia. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
13. "Primary Data of Southern Province". Zambia data portal, Central statistical Office of Zambia. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
14. "Primary Data of Copperbelt Province". Zambia data portal, Central statistical Office of Zambia. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
15. "Primary Data of Lusaka Province". Zambia data portal, Central statistical Office of Zambia. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
16. "Primary Data of North-Western Province". Zambia data portal, Central statistical Office of Zambia. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
17. "Primary Data of Western Province". Zambia data portal, Central statistical Office of Zambia. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
18. "Primary Data of Eastern Province". Zambia data portal, Central statistical Office of Zambia. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
19. "Primary Data of Northern Province". Zambia data portal, Central statistical Office of Zambia. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
20. "Agriculture statistics of Zambia 2014". Central Stastistical Office of Zambia. 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.