Economy
Zambia holds 6% of the world’s copper reserves and is the fourth largest copper producing nation in the world. Zambia is internationally recognised as a major producer of emeralds, aquamarines, amethyst and tourmalines and the quality of the gems are highly competitive with world markets.
The discovery and opening up during the late 1920’s and 1930’s of the rich underground ore bodies along the Zambian Copperbelt were soon to make that small region - 120 kilometres m long, and only forty kilometres - one of the worlds’ most concentrated and renowned mining areas.
Zambia’s climate makes possible the cultivation of a wide range of crops: maize, tobacco, cotton, rice, wheat and groundnuts. Numerous vegetables are grown, together with citrus fruit, bananas, pineapples, mangoes, and avocados. Litchis are also a high potential export crop. Tea and coffee are also grown successfully, and sugar cane is grown both by villagers and commercially.
Of recent years Tourism has added positively to Zambia’s economy, not just in and around Livingstone (with its famed Victoria Falls), but also in several of the country’s National Parks – most notably the South Luangwa and the newer Lower Zambezi National Parks. The country’s largest National Park, Kafue, is also enjoying a resurgence.
The discovery and opening up during the late 1920’s and 1930’s of the rich underground ore bodies along the Zambian Copperbelt were soon to make that small region - 120 kilometres m long, and only forty kilometres - one of the worlds’ most concentrated and renowned mining areas.
Zambia’s climate makes possible the cultivation of a wide range of crops: maize, tobacco, cotton, rice, wheat and groundnuts. Numerous vegetables are grown, together with citrus fruit, bananas, pineapples, mangoes, and avocados. Litchis are also a high potential export crop. Tea and coffee are also grown successfully, and sugar cane is grown both by villagers and commercially.
Of recent years Tourism has added positively to Zambia’s economy, not just in and around Livingstone (with its famed Victoria Falls), but also in several of the country’s National Parks – most notably the South Luangwa and the newer Lower Zambezi National Parks. The country’s largest National Park, Kafue, is also enjoying a resurgence.