Add Your Voice to CARE's Blog

Facts

Angola

  • Slightly smaller than twice the size of Texas (approximately 481,000 square miles), Angola is bordered by Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia and the Atlantic Ocean. It is divided into 18 provinces, with the city of Luanda as its capital. The country became independent from Portugal November 11, 1975.
  • As of July 2001, Angola’s population was estimated to be 10,366,000. Religion here is split roughly between indigenous beliefs and Christianity, while predominant languages include Portuguese, Bantu and a variety of other African tongues. Only 42 percent of the population is literate; the average life expectancy is 38.6 years.
  • The land rises east from a narrow coastal plain to a vast interior plateau; the country’s highest point is Morro de Moco, at approximately 8,600 feet. Angola’s climate ranges from semiarid in the southern and coastal areas to cool, dry winters and hot, rainy summers in the north. Nearly all the land is desert or savanna, with hardwood forests in the northeast. Only 2 percent of the country is arable, though it has abundant natural resources, including petroleum, gold, diamonds and iron ore.
  • Despite its natural resources, Angola remains one of the poorest countries in the world, largely the result of a quarter-century of civil war that has devastated the economy. Today, 85 percent of the population depends on subsistence agriculture for its livelihood. Oil production and related activities account for 45 percent of the gross domestic product.

Lesotho

  • Lesotho is a landlocked country entirely surrounded by South Africa. Formerly known as Basutoland, it was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the United Kingdom in 1966.
  • The country is slightly smaller than Maryland and is home to approximately 2.2 million people.
  • With more than 80 percent of the country at least 5,900 feet above sea level, Lesotho is known as the Mountain Kingdom. The Maluti Mountains, spurs of the Drakensberg range, extend north and south; the highest point is Thabana Ntlenyana (11,425 feet). The sources of two of the principal rivers in South Africa, the Orange and the Tugeld, are in these mountains. Tributaries of the Caledon River, which forms the country's western border, also rise here.
  • Lesotho’s major natural resource is water, often referred to as "white gold" by the Basotho people. Completion of a major hydropower facility in January 1998 now permits the sale of water to South Africa, generating royalties that will be an important source of income for Lesotho.
  • The national economy is based on subsistence farming and animal husbandry as well as small-scale industries that include clothing, footwear, textiles, food processing and construction. The small manufacturing base depends largely on farm products to support the milling, canning, leather and jute industries. The great majority of households earn a living from subsistence farming and migrant labor, with a large portion of the adult male workforce employed in South African mines (although the number of such mine workers has declined steadily over the past years).
  • CARE began working in Lesotho in 1968. Today, about 445,000 people -- 20 percent of the population -- need emergency food aid.

Malawi

  • At 45,200 square miles, the east-central African country of Malawi is slightly smaller than North Carolina and is home to more than 9 million people. It borders Zambia in the west, Tanzania in the north, and Mozambique in the east, south and southwest. Lilongwe is the capital and Blantyre is its largest city.
  • Malawi is long and narrow, and about 20 percent of its total area is made up of Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi). Several rivers flow into Lake Nyasa from the west, and the Shire River (a tributary of the Zambezi) drains the lake in the south. Both the lake and the Shire lie within the Great Rift Valley. Much of the rest of the country is made up of a plateau that averages 2,500 to 4,500 feet in height. However, elevations can reach 8,000 feet in the north and almost 10,000 feet in the south.
  • About 90 percent of Malawi’s population is rural. About 75 percent is Christian (mostly Presbyterian and Roman Catholic) and roughly 20 percent is Muslim; the rest follow traditional beliefs. English and Chichewa are the official languages, while other languages hold regional importance.
  • Malawi is among the world's least-developed countries, with most of the population involved in subsistence agriculture. The principal crops are corn, cotton, millet, rice, peanuts, cassava and potatoes. Tea, tobacco, sugarcane and tung oil are produced on large estates.
  • Deforestation has become a problem in Malawi as the growing population uses more wood (the major energy source) and forests are cleared for farms. Practically no minerals are extracted, but there are unexploited deposits of bauxite, uranium and coal. Malawi's few manufactures are limited to basic goods, such as processed food and beverages, lumber, textiles, construction materials and small consumer goods.
  • According to a recent World Food Programme (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) assessment, 3.2 million people in Malawi need food aid, owing to, among other things, several poor harvests, low stocks of maize and rapidly rising food prices.

Mozambique

  • Located in southeast Africa, Mozambique borders the Indian Ocean and is home to some 19 million people. Maputo, the capital city, lies at the southern tip of the country.
  • Nearly twice the size of California and divided into 10 provinces, Mozambique ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world in 1994 but achieved one of the highest economic growth rates in the world in 1997-98. The country is still struggling to recover from a 16-year civil war that ended in 1992.
  • A tropical region, Mozambique is prone to severe droughts as well as floods and devastating cyclones in the central and southern provinces. The coastal lowlands rise to higher plateaus in the northwest and to mountains in the west.
  • Residents of Mozambique have an average life expectancy of nearly 46 years and an average literacy rate of 40 percent. Portuguese is the official language.
  • The country's economy is largely dependent on agriculture, which employs 80 percent of the population. Major crops include cotton, cashew nuts, sugarcane, tea, cassava, corn, rice and tropical fruits.
  • Through the first half of 2002, almost no rain fell in the southern half of Mozambique. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, almost 207,000 acres of crops have been lost this season and 69,900 households have been severely affected.

Zambia

  • With 9.4 million people, the central African country of Zambia encompasses 290,584 square miles and borders on The Democratic Republic of Congo in the north, Tanzania in the northeast, Malawi and Mozambique in the east, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia in the south, and on Angola in the west. Lusaka is the capital and largest city.
  • Zambia is largely made up of a highland plateau, which rises in the east and ranges in elevation from 3,000 to 5,000 feet; the country's highest point, 7,120 feet, is in the Muchinga Mountains.
  • The Zambezi River drains much of the western part of the country and forms a large part of Zambia’s southern boundary. The impressive Victoria Falls and the huge Lake Kariba (formed by Kariba Dam), both on the border with Zimbabwe, are part of the Zambezi in the south. There are several large swamps, or flats, in Zambia, which are noted for their concentration of wildlife. The country also has numerous national parks.
  • Zambia is divided into nine provinces. The country's population is made up almost entirely of members of the Bantu ethnic and linguistic group. English is the official language, and approximately 75 African languages and dialects are spoken, including Nyanja, Bemba, Tonga, Lozi, Lunda and Luvale. Most of the population follows traditional African beliefs; about 20 percent are Christian, equally divided between Protestants and Catholics.
  • Some 85 percent of Zambians work the country's relatively infertile soil as subsistence farmers; commercial agriculture is mostly confined to a small number of large farms. The leading crops are corn, sorghum, rice, peanuts, sunflower seeds, tobacco, sugarcane and cotton. Zambians also raise cattle and other livestock, and support a small fishing industry.
  • The average life expectancy in Zambia is 37 years. The country has an infant mortality rate of 112 per 1,000 live births and a maternal mortality rate of 650 per 100,000 live births.
  • CARE began operations in Zambia in January 1992. An estimated 550,000 people have since benefited from our programs, which are managed by CARE Canada.

Zimbabwe

  • Zimbabwe is a 150,803 square-mile country in south-central Africa, bordered on the north by Zambia, on the northeast and east by Mozambique, on the south by South Africa and on the southwest and west by Botswana. Harare is the capital and largest city.
  • Zimbabwe’s terrain is mainly a plateau of four regions. The high veldt (above 4,000 feet) crosses the country from southwest to northeast. On each side lies the middle veldt (3,000 to 4,000 feet) and beyond is the low veldt, below 3,000 feet. The fourth region, the Eastern Highlands, is a narrow, mountainous belt along the border with Mozambique, where the highest point in Zimbabwe, Mt. Inyangani (8,503 feet), stands.
  • Zimbabwe's official language is English, with Shona and Ndebele being the prominent African languages. About half of all Zimbabweans practice a blend of Christian and indigenous religions; the balance of the population is split nearly evenly between the two.
  • Zimbabwe's economy is basically agricultural, with tobacco the principal cash crop and corn the chief food source. Other products include cotton, sorghum, peanuts, wheat, sugarcane, soybeans and coffee. There also are numerous tea plantations in the country, and dairy production is important in the high veldt. Forests in southeastern Zimbabwe yield valuable hardwoods, including teak and mahogany.
  • The central Midlands plateau has not seen a drop of rain since November, translating into poor harvests and subsequent shortages of maize meal – the staple of the local diet.
  • According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), there has been a 54 percent reduction in the area planted for maize on large-scale commercial farms, leading to a significant decline in the overall maize harvest. Up to half a million people face severe hunger, according to World Food Programme (WFP). Despite government-imposed attempts to control prices, the cost of maize has increased from 100 to 300 percent in recent months.