Provinces of 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 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 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, while Lusaka was the smallest with. 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 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 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 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 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.

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 and general unemployment rate 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.
ParameterYearCentralCopperbeltEasternLuapulaLusakaMuchinga ProvinceNorthernNorth-WesternSouthernWestern
CapitalKabweNdolaChipataMansaLusakaChinsaliKasamaSolweziChomaMongu
MinisterHon. Sydney MushangaHon. Japhen MwakalombeHon. Makebi ZuluHon. Nickson ChilangwaHon. Bowman LusamboHon. Sichone MalozoHon. Lazarous ChunguHon. Nathaniel MubukwanuHon. Edify HamukaleHon. Richard Kapita
Land area, km294,39431,32851,47650,56721,89687,80677,650125,82685,283126,386
Population, persons20101,307,1111,972,3171,592,661991,9272,191,225711,6571,105,824727,0441,589,926902,974
Population density, people per km22010014063031020100008014006019007
Sex Ratio 2010102101103103102103102103104108
Basic Schools2004653856861527502No data1,208536995648
High Schools2004028071041020039No data026023045026
Out of School Children Aged 7–15200433,08114,332132,72858,88790,620No data22,34826,83430,39036,984
Unemployment rate 2008009032006006031No data007014007010
Unemployment rate, Youth 2008018055012014052No data012031006018
Doctors2005035213036030231No data040025050046
Malaria Incidence rate per 1,000 population2005331377447407313No data331439344430
AIDS Deaths20109,01626,7999,3385,20915,429No data6,9582,85912,4036,044

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,, 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, mixed beans in Northern, sorghum in Southern, sunflower in Eastern, soya beans, sweet potatoes and wheat in Central Province.
ParamaeterCentralCopperbeltEasternLuapulaLusakaMuchinga ProvinceNorthernNorth-WesternSouthernWestern
Area Planted 391,593.23122,525.52387,273.0957,966.3182,603.72112,345.23191,104.5679,528.80360,160.32112,153.47
Maize Production723,760.85235,415.71745,580.30131,746.91148,290.62244,978.50283,755.88160,866.33597,999.4178,276.86
Mixed Beans Production5,316.431,213.882,794.774,130.48673.809,277.3331,898.084,446.711,685.30312.13
Rice Production017.85004.24900.372,254.43036.536,928.6318,169.24445.61021.2220,861.51
Sorghum Production452.85587.45200.49105.83320.213,118.55283.551,038.134,694.90755.44
Soya Beans Production96,518.0337,609.8617,534.11430.0032,237.442,245.704,742.11579.6722,203.88077.92
Sun Flower Production2,872.09028.6724,053.17005.58049.21432.17764.17014.866,042.08001.66
Sweet Potatoes Production42,787.8511,603.637,842.7411,356.024,689.7218,151.3411,636.018,200.7631,048.672,841.24
Wheat Production99,758.2728,690.00120.00000.0048,509.73000.00000.00000.0024,426.13000.00
Grand Total971,484.23315,153.44799,025.94150,029.26234,807.26285,132.23351,249.04175,592.09688,121.60103,126.75

Human Development

This is a list of 9 provinces by Human Development Index as of 2017.