White people in Zambia

White people in Zambia or White Zambians are people from Zambia who are of European descent and who do not regard themselves, or are not regarded as, being part of another racial group. Many are of British ancestry and are descendants of people whom worked in the Copperbelt Province.[1] Other whites were also being recruited into the new Zambia as expatriates by the mid-1960s such as Irish people, Italians and Eastern Europeans, as well as white Americans and white Canadians.[2]

White people in Zambia
Total population
40,000 (0.3%)
Regions with significant populations
Lusaka and in the copperbelt
Languages
English, Afrikaans
Religion
Christianity, Judaism
Related ethnic groups
White people in Botswana, White people in Zimbabwe, White South Africans

Background

The first Europeans to discover Zambia were the Portuguese in the late 1700s.[3]

In the 1960s, White Zambians tended to favour white-minority rule in Rhodesia and the apartheid system in South Africa, although small numbers prevented them from establishing a similar form of government in Zambia. At the Copperbelt mines, 6,500 expatriate workers held South African citizenship. White Zambians made up the second-largest group of immigrants moving to South Africa by 1967, fearful of the changing political climate in Zambia.[4] The migration of White Zambians to South Africa did not stop until the late 1970s, by which point there were only about 10,000 Whites left in Zambia who held Zambian citizenship.

Between 1964 and 1972, white Zambians were disproportionately represented in the officer corps of the Zambian Defence Force.[5] Upon independence, most of the senior officer corps, including the chief of staff of the Zambian Army, were White Zambians.[5] By 1972, sufficient numbers of qualified black Zambian personnel had been trained to replace them, and many of the white senior officers retired.[6] For a number of years afterwards, white Zambians were explicitly barred from enlisting in the national military and received a blanket exemption from conscription.[6]

In 1966, Over half the whites lived on the Copperbelt, 18% lived in Lusaka, and some 95% lived in all near the line of rail from the Copperbelt to the Victoria Falls.[7]

Modern day

In 2014, Zambia had a White population of European origin which numbered approximately 40,000.[8] Since independence, the community has never exceeded 1.1% of Zambia's population. Many long-term residents had voluntarily retained South African or British nationality. However, only about 40,000 hold Zambian citizenship. Guy Scott, a White Zambian citizen and former Vice President, became Acting President of Zambia after the unexpected death of President Michael Sata.[9]

Population chart
White Population of Zambia, 1911–2015
Government Year Whites Change Natives Percentage of Whites
British South

Africa Company

(1891–1924)

 1911 1,497 - n/a n/a
1923 3,750 +2,253 1,753,000[10] 0.2%
1924 4,000 +250 n/a n/a
British

Protectorate of

Northern

Rhodesia

(1924–1953)

 1925 4,624 +624 n/a n/a
1931 13,846 +9,222 n/a n/a
1932 10,553 -3,293 n/a n/a
1933 11,278 +725 n/s n/a
1935 10,000 -1,278 n/a n/a
1940 15,188 +5,188 2,099,000[10] 0.7%
1943 18,745 +3,537 n/a n/a
1945 21,371 +2,626 n/a n/a
1946 21,919 +548 n/a n/a
1951 37,221 +15,302 n/a n/a
Federation of

Rhodesia and

Nyasaland

(1953–1963)

 1954 60,000 +22,779 n/a n/a
1956 64,800 +4,800 n/a n/a
1960 76,000 +11,200 3,082,627 0.2%
1961 75,000 -1,000 3,269,151 0.2%
1963 74,000 -1,000 3,368,961 0.2%
Republic of

Zambia

(1964–present)

 1964 70,000[11] -4,000 3,472,843 0.2%
1966 25,000 -35,000 3,692,409 0.2%
1977 10,000[8] -15,000 5,288,891 0.01%
2014 40,000[8] +35,000 14,950,544 0.2%

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to White people of Zambia.
  1. "The African Christian Diaspora: New Currents and Emerging Trends in World Christianity".
  2. "Political Power and Colonial Development in British Central Africa 1938-1960s".
  3. Tembo, Felix (6 March 2019). A Guide to Agribusiness in Zambia.: Untapped Opportunities. ISBN 9781796019025.
  4. Kaplan, Irving. South Africa: A Country Study. p. 846.
  5. Fischer & Morris-Jones 2012, pp. 206–207.
  6. Southern Africa Political & Economic Monthly. Southern African Political Economy Series (SAPES) Publications Project. 1994.
  7. "Politics in Zambia". p. 355.
  8. Ahmed, Beenish (29 October 2014). "An African Country That's 0.3 Percent White Now Has A White President". thinkprogress.org. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  9. Zambia's Guy Scott makes history as white president in sub-Saharan Africa CNN. 29 October 2014
  10. Morier-Genoud 2012, p. 196.
  11. "1964: President Kaunda takes power in Zambia". BBC. 25 October 1964. Retrieved 2015-09-02.

Further reading
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