Guide - Population

Population

NORTHERN Rhodesia's European population increased tremendously between the years 1946 and 1951. A census, taken in May, 1951, showed that there were then 37,221 Europeans, comprising 20,153 males and 17,068 females in the Territory. -European immigrant s continue to enter the country at the rate of about 7,000 a year.

The Western Province, with its highly industrialised Copper-belt, supports just under two-thirds of the total European population of Northern Rhodesia. Lusaka and Broken Hill together make up practically the entire European population of the Central Province, while Livingstone, in the far south, is responsible for two-thirds of the Southern Province's quota of Europeans. The greatest contrasts, however, are provided by the Western Province. The district of Luanshya, with an area of only 425 square miles, has a European population of well over 4,000, while only 27 Europeans live in the remote western district of Kasempa, which is over 25,000 square miles in extent—one European to every 926 square miles !

The following table illustrates the growth in population, European, Asiatic, Coloured and African, since the first census in the country was taken in 1911:

Census Date                European       Asiatic    Coloured              African

                                                                                                 (estimated)

7th May, 1911    ...            1,497            39           —                             820,000

3rd May, 1921    ...            3,634            56           145                          980,000

5th May, 1931    ...            13,846         176         425                         1,330,000

15th Oct., 1946  ...            21,907        1,117       804                         1,660,000

8th May, 1951    ...            37,221        2,529     1,092                        1,800,000

Swimming Pool at Lusaka