Facts about Lusaka
Lusaka is the capital of Zambia. Lusaka is also the largest Zambian city. It is located in the southern part of the central plateau of the country. Lusaka has an elevation of 1300m (4256ft). According to the 2000 census, Lusaka has a population of 1,084,703. It is a commercial centre as well as centre of government. Four main highways of Zambia radiate north, south, east and west from it. Lusaka will host the 2011 All-Africa Games. As national capital, Lusaka is the seat of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, epitomised by the presence there of the National Assembly (parliament), State House (office of the President), and the High Court. The city is also capital of Lusaka Province, which is the smallest and second most populous of the country's nine provinces. Many years back Lusaka was the site of a village named after its headman Lusaaka, which, according to history, was located at Manda Hill, near where the Zambia's National Assembly building now stands. The area was expanded by European (mainly British) settlers in 1905 with the building of the railway. In the Nyanja language, Manda means graveyard. In 1935, due to its fairly central location, its situation on the railway and at the crossroads of the Great North Road and Great East Road, it was chosen to replace Livingstone as the capital of the British colony of Northern Rhodesia. After the federation of Northern and Southern Rhodesia in 1953, it was a centre of the civil disobedience movement that led to the creation of the independent state of Zambia. In 1964, Lusaka became the capital of the newly independent Zambia. The city is home to Lusaka International Airport and lies on the railway line from Livingstone to Kitwe. This airport is the hub of Zambian Airways. The airport is also used as a military airport as well as a public one. |
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