The history of Zambia holds forth features of a settlement that originated some 3 million years ago. However, modern communities and groups appear to have settled in A.D 800 when some Bantu-speaking people arrived here. The first of the modern ethnic groups, probably arrived from Angola and Congo between the 16th and the 18th century to Zambia. It is from this period that the history of Zambia deserves a mention.
As the chronology of Zambia goes following the 18th century, group of traders including the Arabs, Swahili and other Africans penetrated into the coastal region of the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. They began exporting Copper, Wax and Slaves. This began to draw the attention of the outside world. In 1835, the Ngoni of South Africa entered East Zambia and the Kololo moved in to West Zambia and established the Lozi Kingdom of Barotseland.
The area that comprises modern Zambia was first explored by the Scottish explorer Davis Livingstone in 1851, who visited the famous Victoria Falls in 1855. After his death in 1873, agents of Cecil Rhode’s British South African Company entered into an agreement with several African leaders and proceeded to administer some Zambian regions which were divided into Northwestern and Northeastern Rhodesia. These two were later joined in the year 1911 to form Northern Rhodesia.
The Zambian history took a turn when Copper and Lead began to be mined in the early 1990s. In the late 1920s a thick copper deposit was earthed and the area came to be known as Copperbelt which forced some 4000 European and 20,000 African laborers to engage in mining. It was during this time that the African laborers began to protest against the discrimination meted out to them which resulted in strikes in 1935, 1940 and 1956. Some self help groups brought together people from different ethnic groups thereafter.
The representatives from these groups met in Lusaka in 1946 and formed the federation of African Welfare Societies. This was transformed into Northern Rhodesian African Congress in 1948. The extensive copper mining during this period drew about 72,000 Europeans to Northern Rhodesia and this was the time when the African laborers began to feel the domination of the Europeans. This led to a more organized movement which was headed by Kenneth Kaunda who formed a new part called United national Independence party (UNIP). It started with massive civil disobedience which won them a larger voice in the protectorate affairs. As a result on October 24, 1964, Northern Rhodesia became independent as the Republic of Zambia and Kauna was elected as its first president.
The history of Zambia following independence was directed more to the progress and development of the country. Zambia has made steady progress since then. Though there was some political unrest in the period between 1975 and 1990, later a settlement was arrived at. Later, Peaceful ambiance of the region consequently gave a great boost to tourism in the Zambia.
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