The population of Zambia is about 10.3 million. The country's residents are 98.7% African, 1.1% European, and .2% other. Christians make up about 50-75% of the population; Muslims and Hindu represent 24-49%; and about 1% of the people uphold indigenous beliefs. Zambia is a republic.

Zambia remains among the world's poorer countries, with a per capita annual income of $273. It faces serious problems of unemployment and underemployment. Social indicators continue to decline, especially in life expectancy at birth (about 35 years) and maternal and infant mortality (99 per 1,000 live births). The high annual population growth rate of 1.52 percent makes it difficult for per capita income to increase. Despite progress in privatization and budgetary reform, Zambia's economy has a long way to go. In late 2000, Zambia was determined to be eligible for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, but Zambia has not yet finalized its Poverty Reduction Strategy paper. In 2000, it was estimated that Zambia was given $651 million in economic aid. Unemployment rates remain high, but GDP growth should continue at about 2.3 percent. Inflation should remain close to 21 percent. Maize (corn) is the principal cash crop as well as the staple food. Other important crops include soybean, cotton, rice, sugar, sunflower seeds, wheat, sorghum, millet, cassava, tobacco, and various vegetable and fruit crops.

Humanitarian Situation At the end of 2002, Zambia hosted approximately 250,000 refugees. This included about 190,000 from Angola, about 50,000 from Congo-Kinshasa, and nearly 7,000 from other African countries, mainly from Rwanda and Burundi. The number of refugees entering the country has put a strain on Zambia's humanitarian relief system. The refugee population is threatened by food shortages. Recent droughts have led Zambian officials to respond by limiting the number of refugees who receives food from the government. In July 2003, the first Angolan returnees departed from Zambian refugee camps totaling more than 20,000. Angolan refugees in Zambia make up approximately half the number of Angolans in the region. There have also been new arrivals from the Democratic Republic of Congo since January 2004. The Zambian authorities have granted automatic refugee status to an overwhelming majority of asylum seekers. However, the government has been criticized for limiting refugees' access to employment, lack of freedom of movement, and property rights.

Although the influx of refugees to Zambia has strained the economic and humanitarian relief system, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is continuing to grow and effect much of the population. In adults about 21.5 percent of the population has AIDS, and in 2001 about 1.2 million people were living with AIDS, and in that year about 120,000 people had died from it.