In many respects Zambia is an African success story. From a territory whose borders were drawn with minimal attention either to the ethnic geography of the day or to natural features that combined and sometimes divided dozens of distinct ethnic groups rose a nation with a long record of peace that has enjoyed decades of constitutional rule and even in recent years an increasingly competitive democracy. Perhaps most improbably the country has forged a national identity. Unfortunately peace constitutionalism democracy and nationhood constantly face challenges such as in the elections of 2006 when the ugly language of ethnic confrontation found renewed currency. Moreover Zambias economic record and prospects have been on the decline. After over four decades per capita incomes are lower than they were at the dawn of independence and 95 percent of its people live on less that 2 per day. Despite repeated efforts to diversify the economy copper exports and foreign assistance are the main sources of the vast majority of Zambias foreign exchange earnings. And most devastating at all the AIDS pandemic has already lowered the average life expectancy below 40. For a country one might regard as heading in the right direction Zambia has a long way to go. The third edition of Historical Dictionary of Zambia through its chronology introductory essay appendixes map bibliography and hundreds of crossreferenced dictionary entries on important persons places events and institutions and significant political economic social and cultural aspects provides an important reference on this African country. show more