Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

is divided into 10

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

s 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 each 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 almost all the district headquarters are the same as the district names. Each of the 116 districts in the 10 provinces has a council which is headed by an elected representative, called councilor. Each councilor holds office for five years. Each council is responsible for raising and collecting local taxes and the budgets of the

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

are audited and submitted every year after the annual budget. Zambia has predominantly rural provinces and hence there are only three

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

s. 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 , while Lusaka was the smallest with . In terms of

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using ...

, 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 Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn ( North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. ...

, mixed beans,

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family ( Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many ot ...

soya beans Soya may refer to: Food * Soya bean, or soybean, a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean * Soya sauce, see soy sauce, a fermented sauce made from soybeans, roasted grain, water and salt Places * Sōya District, ...

, sunflower, sweet potatoes and

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeolog ...

are the major crops in the provinces. Among all provinces, Central had the maximum area of constituting 20.64 per cent of the totals, while Luapula had the smallest area at 3.06 per cent.

List of provinces

Administration

Provincial government is set up purely 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 each 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 almost all the district headquarters are the same as the district names. Each of the 116 districts in the 10 provinces has a council which is headed by an elected representative, called councilor. Each councilor holds office for three years. 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 four city councils (

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was about 3.3 milli ...

; Ndola; Kitwe; Chipata) as of 2017. 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,

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...

s 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.

Primary data

Western Province was the largest in terms of area, having 126,386 km², while Lusaka was the smallest with 21,896 km². In terms of population, Lusaka was the most populated and most densely populated with a population of 2,191,225 and densf 100 persons per km². 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 doctors and fewest malaria related incidents, while North-Western has the lowest number of doctors.

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, , 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.

Human Development

This is a list of 9 provinces by

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, Education Index, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the Educational system, education system), ...

as of 2017.

References