Facts about Zambia

The country is landlocked and sparsely populated by more than 70 ethnic groups, many of them Bantu-speaking. It has some spectacular scenery, including the Victoria Falls along the Zambezi river, the Bangweulu Swamps and the Luangwa river valley.

In the late 1960s it was the third largest copper miner, after the US and the Soviet Union. World copper prices collapsed in 1975 with devastating effects on the economy.

Even so, copper accounts for most of Zambia's foreign earnings and there is optimism about the future of the industry, which was privatised in the 1990s. Electronics manufacturers have fuelled demand and investment in the sector has grown.

Aids is blamed for decimating the cream of Zambian professionals - including engineers and politicians - and malaria is a major problem. Many Zambians live below the World Bank poverty threshold of $1 a day.

Zambia hosts tens of thousands of refugees who have fled fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo.