Southern Province is one of Zambia's ten provinces, and home to Zambia's premier tourist attraction, Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls), shared with Zimbabwe. The centre of the province, the Southern Plateau, has the largest area of commercial farmland of any Zambian province, and produces most of the maize crop.
The Zambezi River is the province's southern border, and Lake Kariba, formed by the Kariba Dam, lies along the province's south-eastern edge. The eastern border is the Kariba Gorge and Zambezi, and the north-east border is the Kafue River, forming its border with Lusaka Province. The Kafue Flats lie mostly within the province's northern border with Central Province. In the north west lies part of the famous Kafue National Park, the largest in Zambia. The south-western border with Western Province runs through the teak forests around Mulobezi which once supported a commercial timber industry and for which the Mulobezi Railway was built.
The provincial capital is Choma. Until 2011 the provincial capital was Livingstone City. The Batonga are the largest ethnic group in the Province. A rail line and the Lusaka-Livingstone road form the principal transport axis of the province, running through its centre and its farming towns: Kalomo, Choma, Pemba, Monze, and Mazabuka. In addition to maize, other commercially important activities include sugar cane plantations at the edge of the Kafue Flats, and cattle ranching.
Southern Province has the only large source of fossil fuel in Zambia, the Maamba coal mine in the Zambezi valley, served by a branch line of the railway.
Demographics
As per the 2010 Zambian census, Southern Province had a population of 1,589,926 accounting to 12.08% of the total Zambian population of 13,092,666. There were 779,659 males and 810,267 females, making the sex ratio to 1,039 for every 1,000 males, compared to the national average of 1,028. The literacy rate stood at 71.20% against a national average of 70.2%. The rural population constituted 75.33%, while the urban population was 24.67%. The total area of the province was 85,283 km2 and the population density was 18.60 per km2. The population density during 2000 Zambian census stood at 18.60. The decadal population growth of the province was 2.80%. The median age in the province at the time of marriage was 20.6. The average household size was 5.4, with the families headed by females being 4.6 and 5.7 for families headed by men. The total eligible voters in the province was 64.10%. The unemployment rate of the province was 12.10%. The total fertility rate was 6.1, complete birth rate was 6.2, crude birth rate was 37.0, child women population at birth was 807, general fertility rate was 160, gross reproduction rate was 2.5 and net reproduction rate was 1.8. The total labour force constituted 55.00% of the total population. Out of the labour force, 64.1% were men and 46.7% women. The annual growth rate of labour force was 4.4%. Tonga was the most spoken language with 74.70% speaking it. Albinism is a condition where the victims do not have any pigment in their skin, hair or eyes. The total population in the province with the condition stood at 3,068. The life expectancy at birth stood at 56 compared to the national average of 51.
Economy and agriculture
Agriculture is the primary economic activity in Southern Province with a mix of small holder and commercial maize farms across the province. Compared to other major agricultural regions, such as Eastern Province, Southern Province has more abundant land and access to water, but receives less rainfall. Southern Province is also home to the "Sweetest Town in Zambia", Mazabuka, where sugarcane farming and sugar processing are a major business. The total area of crops planted during the year 2014 in the province was 360,160.32 hectares which constituted 18.98% of the total area cultivated in Zambia. The net production stood at 688,122 metric tonnes, which formed 16.89% of the total agricultural production in the country. Sorghum was the major crop in the province with 4,695 metric tonnes, constituting 40.62% of the national output.
Mazabuka grows 90% of sugar grown in Zambia with an estimated 430 tons produced annually. Sugarcane fields in Mazabuka are among the most productive in the world by hectare and low production costs allow production to compete on international markets. Around 60% of sugar is exported to Europe and other markets. However, the export industry is limited due to high transport costs linking processed sugar to export markets. Nationally, the sugar industry in Mazabuka contributes to around 4% of GDP each year.