2019-07-30 Tue

Zambia, in southern Africa, is a landlocked country of rugged terrain and diverse wildlife, with many parks and safaris. On its border with Zimbabwe is famed Victoria Falls – indigenously called Mosi-oa-Tunya, or "Smoke That Thunders” – plunging a misty 108m into narrow Batoka Gorge. This thundering smoke also adorns the banknotes of Zambia.

Zambia is such a beautiful country that there are 14 ecosystems in Zambia with approximately 12,505 identified species—63% animal species, 33% plant species, and 4% bacterial and microorganism species. There are an estimated 3,543 species of wild flowering plants, consisting of sedges, herbaceous plants, and woody plants.

The kwacha is the currency of Zambia. It is subdivided into 100 ngwees. The Zambian kwacha was first issued in 1968 to replace the Zambian pound. Today we are discussing a 500 kwacha banknote issued from 2003 to 2011.

The obverse has African Baobab (Adansonia digitata); African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer); Eagle feathers and the flying white dove as a see-through register. The reverse has the African elephant (Loxodonta africana); Women picking cotton and the Freedom Statue "Chainbreaker" in Lusaka. This beautiful note sports Olive brown, burlywood and tan colours!

Image Courtesy: Allnumis