Heroes’ Day of Zambia 2023: Date, History, Facts about Zambia

Zambia won its independence from Britain in 1964, but only after years of arduous struggle. The colonial authorities brutally suppressed and killed protestors during these years of turmoil and unrest.

Heroes’ Day in Zambia is celebrated annually on the first Monday of July, which falls on July 3 this year. This day honours those who fought in Zambia’s protracted independence struggle. Recent additions to the list of heroes include those who may not have been directly involved in the struggle but who nonetheless made heroic contributions to the nation’s advancement, such as the 18 members of the Zambian football team who perished in a 1993 plane accident off the coast of Gabon.

The background of Heroes’ Day of Zambia

After European explorers discovered Zambia in the 18th century, the British colonised the region as the Barotseland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia protectorates, which endured until the end of the nineteenth century. Northern Rhodesia was formed from the merger of these two protectorates in 1911, and its administration was entrusted to the British Colonial Office in 1924.

Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland (now Malawi) were grouped together to establish the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland as a single autonomous region. This was opposed by a significant portion of the population, who demonstrated against it between 1960 and 1962. Under the direction of President Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda, the United National Independence Party (UNIP) took up and spearheaded the campaign.

A two-stage election was conducted in October and December 1962, resulting in an African majority in the legislative council; however, the coalition between the two African nationalist parties was an uneasy one.

The federation was dissolved on December 31, 1963, and Kaunda won the only election for Northern Rhodesia’s prime minister in January 1964. On October 24, 1964, Northern Rhodesia became the Republic of Zambia, with Kaunda as its first president. On the tenth anniversary of independence, Kaunda unveiled the Zambian Freedom Statue in Lusaka’s central business district in 1974. The statue of imprisoned Zambian freedom fighter Zanco Mpundu Mutembo honours all those who fought for Zambia’s independence.

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5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ZAMBIA

The height of Victoria Falls in Zambia is 354 feet, nearly double that of Niagara Falls in Canada.

The traditional local name for Victoria Falls is ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya,’ which translates to “the smoke that thunders.”

Zambia is bordered by Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.

Copper is Zambia’s primary export, amounting to approximately 1.5 million tonnes per year.

Although English is the official language of Zambia, over 72 other languages are also spoken, with Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi, Lunda, Kaonde, and Luvale being the most extensively spoken.