Introduction
Lusaka is the capital, largest city, and economic center of Zambia, a landlocked country in southern Africa. Lusaka is a tropical city, but it has a moderate climate because of its high elevation of 4,198 feet (1,280 meters) above sea level. Although it was founded by Europeans, Lusaka was named for the chief of a nearby African village.
Places of interest
Lusaka's cultural institutions include the National Museum and the Henry Tayali Visual Arts Gallery. The University of Zambia is just outside the city, and the Munda Wanga Botanical Gardens are nearby. The city's open-air markets are popular, bustling places. In the flat landscape surrounding the city, termite mounds 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 meters) high are a common sight.
Economy
Government and services are important parts of Lusaka's economy. Lusaka is also an important market for the corn (maize), tobacco, cattle, and poultry that are produced by the many farms and ranches in the region.The city's factories make food products, beverages, shoes, textiles, and cement.
The city lies where the Great North Road, which runs to Tanzania, meets the Great East Road, which runs to Malawi. Lusaka is on a railroad that links the southern and northern parts of the country. An international airport serves the city.
History
People have lived in the region of Lusaka for thousands of years. Early inhabitants were mostly hunters and nomadic herders who did not live in large settlements.
In the 1890s the British South Africa Company moved into the area. The company was a creation of British-born Cecil Rhodes, who operated mines throughout southern Africa. Lusaka was founded in 1905 as a station on a railway that served copper mines. In 1924 the area, which by then was called Northern Rhodesia, became a British colony. The British moved the capital of the colony from Livingstone (also called Maramba) to Lusaka in 1935.
The city was a center of the movement for independence. Activists in Lusaka began the Northern Rhodesian Congress in 1948. They also led a protest movement after Northern Rhodesia was combined with Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland to form a new colony in 1953. Thanks to that movement, Northern Rhodesia became the independent state of Zambia in 1964. Lusaka was made the national capital. Since then the city, like many African capitals, has grown rapidly. Population (1990 census), city, 982,362; (1999 estimate), metropolitan area, 1,577,000.
