Talk:Zambia/Archive 1

Primary Education
The section on education says that "UNESCO estimated that 80% of children of primary school age in 2002 were enrolled." This is incorrect. If you read the report that is cited, it actually says that the primary net enrolment rate was 65.1% in 2001, and that, "[t]he strategic plan has set a number of targets for the sub-sector to be achieved by 2007, including an increase in net enrolment to 80% for Grades 1-7." If you go to UIS (UNESCO Institute for Statistics) and search their database, it says that in 2004, primary NER was 83%. And in 2005 and 2006, 92%. The reason I'm not editing the article to make this correction is that I don't know how to cite a database, or whether it's allowed. Hopefully someone will eventually see this note and know what to do. Sarah 205.252.179.11 (talk) 20:56, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

History
The history section seems to be more detailed than the History of Zambia article. I think it would be better if a summary of the history was used in this section. If anyone is willing to summarise the history, please do; I don't trust myself with editing something that big. ;-) Mokupo 18:20, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

Mining History. Many lessons were learned from a mining disaster that occured in the early seventies in Mufulira, Copperbelt province; a massive section of a decline collapsed from 500m level downwards. A large "sink hole" on surface bears the scars of the disaster, a constant reminded of the carnage. Many people died, and subsequently mining methods for this particular rock type and ore body route have been revisited. In Zambia and in many places of the world this was seen as the worst African mining disaster on record. Would it be remotely possible to have this researhed and added to the page/link?

Map
A controversy has erupted over the choice of map for this article. The two candidates are shown here, along with any others that other Wikipedians may choose to enter. Feel free to make any comments. The lower map may also appear in the corresponding Geography article for this country. Kelisi 17:02, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)



The lower one would of course be reduced but could be enlarged by clicking. Kelisi 17:02, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * Ow ow ow, the lower one made my eyes hurt, now I can barely see what I'm typing. :-) I'm not a graphic designer, but even I know it's a big no-no to use large areas of saturated color in a map. Stan 17:57, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * The top one is simple, but I like the detail of the lower one. The international development agency I work for operates in the eastern part of Zambia and its nice to see some of those communities represented.  Is there a place for both maps?   Tim Graff 00:28, July 12, 2005 (UTC)


 * The difficulty is that in order to see that detail, it needs to be presented at 5-600 pixels. On the smallest screens (640x480), this mucks things up, which is why pictures on wikipedia are usually no more than 400px. Perhaps a link could be added with appropriate note ("click here for bigger, more detailed map"). Rd232 17:25, 14 July 2005 (UTC)


 * 'Mumpolokoso': as far as I'm aware this is an alternative spelling for Mporokoso which is about 60 km north of the Kalungwishi not on its southern bank. It could be a little village associated with the Chief but there is no town at that location worthy of inclusion -- and it is not listed on my 2001 1:1500000 map of Zambia. Needs to be replaced by 'Mporokoso' at the correct location.  Rexparry sydney 13:50, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

info request
Is The University of Zambia (in Lusaka) still working? I remember they tried to close it a while ago, and the website is not working now. Thank you. Gala.martin 22:46, 4 March 2006 (UTC)


 * I do not watch this page anymore. If you ever answer, please do on my talk page. Thank you. gala.martin ( what? ) 17:18, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

GDP
$10billion. i don't think so. Check your facts more. $4~$6 billion is more accurate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sabuj001 (talk • contribs) 22:07, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Well, if you checked YOUR facts, maybe you'd know that the World Monetary Fund puts Zambia's GDP at $10 billion. DUHHHHHHHH DJDavis92 04:09, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

UNITA and Zambia
Mentioning UNITA is not really a good choice when citing "anti-colonial" forces supported by Zambia. See Democratic International and then see if you really believe UNITA was "anti-colonial" or if it was just a puppet of neo-cons in the US. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thomas.macmillan (talk • contribs) 21:26, 11 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm afraid you're being anachronistic. Movements can change their political line, and very few have had so radical transformations as the UNITA; this was created in 1966 to fight against the Potuguese, and of the three libertation movements, believe it or not, the UNITA was the most radical and leftist, more even than the MPLA, with strong ties with China, where Savimbi and most of the UNITA leaders had military and ideological training. This was till 1975, when Angola became independent and the MPLA assumed control of the capital; and from that moment the movement started moving right, obtaining in the 80s strong US support. But this is of no interest in this article, as with the indep. of Angola Zambia ceased supporting UNITA.--Aldux 22:07, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

I wish to dispute that claim. Zambia did not cease supporting UNITA what everafter Angolan independence. In the 1990's non-UNITA Angola threatened to invade Zambia if Zambia did not stop supporting UNITA, I was in Zambia then and remember the article in the papers, I am still here. Zambia only stopped supporting UNITA after Savimbi was killed. It was a strange choice of ally as the UNIP regime supported leftist movements, UNITA was the exception that proved the rule. Due to the confusion of the cold war in the region it is not a huge stretch of the imagination that Zambia should support UNITA. UNITA was the puppet of the US and apartheid South Africa.Richardczam 12:50, 21 January 2007 (UTC)Richard


 * Could you cite specific references that others can check? -Pgan002 04:47, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

Proposed WikiProject
In my ongoing efforts to try to include every country on the planet included in the scope of a WikiProject, I have proposed a new project on Eastern Africa at WikiProject Council/Proposals whose scope would include Zambia. Any interested parties are more than welcome to add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest to start such a project. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 16:31, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

cleaning up of the culture section
Please forgive me if i have wrongly edited the culture section as i am not born in Zambia. I was wondering if anyone would know the prodecures or explanation of the Zambia traditional ceremonies, rituals and arts. (Luffy487 09:30, 16 January 2007 (UTC))

Number of languages
There is a discrepancy in the article about number of languages spoken in Zambia. In the Languages section, the first sentence says 78, but the last says 72, while the page linked from the last sentence lists only 70. -Pgan002 04:53, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

Higher education

 * "In the late 1970s a second university opened on the copperbelt, taking over most of what previously was the Zambia Institute of Technology (ZIT) in Kitwe."

So this is a third university, but second on the copperbelt after the Copperbelt University? Also, can you say more about the ZIT -- when was it established, was it closed? -Pgan002 05:05, 22 January 2007 (UTC)


 * "Other places of learning include NIPA (Public administrations college, Zicas etc.)."

What is NIPA? What is Zicas? Can you say more instead of "etc."? -Pgan002 05:05, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

Ethnic groups in Zambia
The Guardian posted this article regarding the strong presence of ethnic Chinese in Zambia (and the locals complaints regarding loss of jobs due to the new immigration). May be able to some how tie this into the article? Thanks in advance. Vnv lain 17:50, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Religion section needs improving
Can I propose (1) a better survey of the common denominations, some prominent ones are missing (2) a revision of history -- French and French Canadian catholics were probably more influential than any from Portugal/Mozambique, and non-conformist missionaries were more widespread than Anglicans -- or perhaps 'history of missions in Zambia' should be a separate article (3) reduction of detail on Milingo, on grounds of relevancy, and of religions with less than, say, 1% of adherents. Rexparry sydney 22:46, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Demographics

 * There is nearly an entire paragraph talking about notable Jews in Zambia, while the Jewish community in Zambia is quite small, according to the same paragraph. Why do these Jewish notables merit a mention while there are no such notables from other sections of the population? --88.218.65.189 (talk) 07:45, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Languages
I notice on your list of ethnography on languages you have left out the language of the "Ba-ansa Clan known by the tribal name of "Bwile" from the NorthEastern tip of lake Mweru next to the Shila group. The Bwile have been misclassified as "Tabwa" or "Bemba" but they are in fact a very different strain from the Luba side of the Kola migration groups and are found on both sides of the Zambian Northern border frontier with Congo D R. with Chief Pweto of Congo as their Paramount Chief. They are acknowledged in the journals of the Africa Lakes Company and British South Africa Company employees such as Alfred Sharpe, Crawshay and JJ Johnston. They are sometimes referred to as Builile. And the Portuguese literature as well as Sharpe sometimes refers to them as Buirire". However, Bwile as a language form has linguistic features that suggest a long history of interaction with Arab slave traders and Arab settlers such Abdul Bin Suleiman and Nasoro Bin Suleiman, and Swahili speakers, CiBemba and CiLungu languages. According to Alfred Sharpe, he signed the first Concession for establishing North_Eastern Rhodesia (Rhodesia Post) with Chief Puta of the Bwile people after failing to secure such agreement with Chief Mushili of Katanga. Invariably, Zambia's history, is incomplete without reference to this Concession agreement. (Comment origianlly posted by 196.46.193.88 - 11:20, 22 July 2007 in the main article, moved here)

Administrative divisions
Can whoever added in the bit about 'calls to establish a tenth province' quote a source for this that we can check? In thirteen years of being in Zambia I've never heard of this movement. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.201.151.6 (talk) 19:30, August 26, 2007 (UTC)

Art and Culture
Removed the paragraph on "well known artists" as part of the improvement of this article. I suggest that these can appear in a separate article "Zambian Artists". comment added by Alexham 14:10, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

External links - charity pages
I've just removed all external links to charities.

Whilst these may or may not be legitimate charities, an ecyclopedia is not teh place for them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JimmyDodger (talk • contribs) 09:44, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Perhaps a general country article is not the right place for the material, but I don't agree that Wikipedia is not the place to mention and list charities, and I don't agree that external links to should not be given. I think if they were put into articles on, say, Health in Zambia, Development in Zambia, Societies in Zambia, or Charities in Zambia, etc, it would be acceptable.Rexparry sydney 23:45, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Geography section revised in line with other articles
I made some revisions to bring the geography section in line with other articles, notably the Zambezi River article which shows that the Cuando/Chobe (while a major system for Angola and Caprivi Strip) is insignificant as a tributary of the Zambezi discharging only 2 m³/s at Kazungula because most of its water is lost to evaporation and to sinking in Kalahari sands in the Caprivi strip and Botswana. The Kabompo, which was not mentioned, is a major river which often discharges more than the Zambezi headwaters, depending on the exact rainfall distribution, and the Lungwebungu also discharges more than the Cuando.Rexparry sydney 23:39, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

HIV/AIDS virus
I've recently learned from a missionary to Zambia that the ratio for those with HIV/AIDS is every 1 in 3 people - should we put this in the section that mentions the HIV/AIDS virus? 75.20.239.93 (talk) 16:56, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

Sidebox size
Am I the only one seeing the sidebox as about 75% of the horizontal width of the page? I don't know how to fix it, but it seems set that way, (i.e. does not resize as I change the width of my browser). It looks ridiculous, though. Can we shrink it down? Nerrolken (talk) 20:34, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

Call for editors to collaborate on a new African history Wikiproject
All editors with a specific interest in African history are invited to help start a new African history Wikiproject. This is not a substitute for the Africa Wikiproject, but editors with a historian's perspective on African history articles (as opposed to a generalist interest in Africa) would collaborate on improving the historical quality of Wikipedia articles about Africa and African history. For more details click here or here here. —Preceding undated comment added 16:03, 11 August 2009 (UTC).

Schools
This article lists schools. I suggest a removal. Sarcelles (talk) 15:56, 24 December 2009 (UTC)