White Zambians
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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 who worked in the Copperbelt Province.
Background
The first Europeans to discover Zambia were the Portuguese in the late 1700s.
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.
Between 1964 and 1972, white Zambians were disproportionately represented in the officer corps of the Zambian Defence Force. Upon independence, most of the senior officer corps, including the chief of staff of the Zambian Army, were White Zambians. By 1972, sufficient numbers of qualified black Zambian personnel had been trained to replace them, and many of the white senior officers retired. For a number of years afterwards, white Zambians were explicitly barred from enlisting in the national military and received a blanket exemption from conscription.
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.
Modern day
In 2014, Zambia had a White population of European origin which numbered approximately 40,000. 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. This made him the first head of state of White European descent in Africa since F. W. de Klerk in 1989.
Population chart
| 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 | 0.2% | |
| 1924 | 4,000 | +250 | n/a | n/a | |
| British Protectorate ofNorthernRhodesia(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 | 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 andNyasaland(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 | 2% | |
| 1961 | 75,000 | -1,000 | 3,269,151 | 2% | |
| 1963 | 74,000 | -1,000 | 3,368,961 | 2% | |
| Republic of Zambia(1964–present) | 1964 | 70,000 | -4,000 | 3,472,843 | 0.2% |
| 1966 | 70,000 | - | 3,692,409 | .2% | |
| 1970 | 35,000 | -35,000 | 4,179,000 | .1% | |
| 1977 | 10,000 | -25,000 | 5,288,891 | .02% | |
| 2005 | 30,000 | +20,000 | 11,470,022 | .03% | |
| 2014 | 40,000 | +10,000 | 14,950,544 | .03% |
See also
- White Angolans – Ethnic and racial group in Angola
- White Zimbabweans – Ethnic group in Zimbabwe
- History of the Jews in Zambia
- White Africans of European ancestry
- Demographics of Zambia
- White people in Botswana – Minority ethnic group in Botswana
- White South Africans – South African citizens of European ancestry
- History of Zambia
- Fischer, Georges; Morris-Jones, W. H. (2012). . Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-27788-7.
- Morier-Genoud, Eric (2012). . BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-22261-8.
Further reading
- Molteno, Robert; et al. (1974). Tordoff, William (ed.). . University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-02593-6.
- Levinson, David (1998). . Oryx Press. ISBN 978-1-57356-019-1.