Zambia is a landlocked nation in south central Africa, bordered by six nations: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola.

Hunter-gatherer and subsistence cultures traversed the area today known as Zambia for thousands of years. Due to its geographic position in the heart of south central Africa, European explorers did not visit Zambia until the late 19th century, when missionary and doctor David Livingstone reached the area and became the first European to see the Zambezi Falls. Later, Zambia fell under the control of the British, who named the area Northern Rhodesia to distinguish it from Southern Rhodesia. Upon independence, Northern Rhodesia became Zambia, and Southern Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. In recent years, Zambia, formerly dependent for its wealth on copper mining, has undergone significant economic hardship as a result of the collapse of copper prices worldwide. Zambia has also been hard hit by the AIDS epidemic.