The Copperbelt Province is one of the 10 provinces found in Zambia. The name Copperbelt is derived from the copper mining activities that have been associated with the area since the pre-colonial and post-independence Zambia. The activities have for years designed Copperbelt as an economic hub of the nation, with the dawn of economic diversification as a national agenda. Copperbelt is endeavoring to promote tourism as an economic activity that is able to contribute to sustainable livelihoods of Zambians.

The Copperbelt Province covers approximately 31,328 sq kms and is the second smallest in the country. It is boarded by Central Province in the south, North-Western in the west while in the north there is an international boundary between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Administratively, the province has 10 districts namely; Ndola the Provincial Headquarters, Kitwe, Mufulira, Chingola, Chililabombwe, Kalulushi, Luanshya and 3 rural districts, Lufwanyama, Mpongwe and Masaiti.

It has a population of 1,972,317 (CSO 2010) and a Population Density of 63.0 persons per square kilometre. Of this population, 80.9% live in urban areas, while 19.1% live in Rural Areas; with 981,887 males and 990,430 females.

The Province has a tropical climate with three distinct seasons, the cool and dry season, the hot and dry season and the hot and wet season.

The mean temperatures during the hottest months (September and October) are about 22.6 degrees Celsius and during the coolest months (June and July) are about 14.5 degrees Celsius. The mean maximum temperature in October exceeds 30 degrees Celsius. The most notable feature of the temperature regime is the occurrence of frost particularly in June and July, and occasionally in August in some parts of the province. The mean number of frost days per year is about 17 and the lowest ever-recorded minimum temperature is -3.8 degrees Celsius in June.

The average rainfall patterns are normal to above normal ranging from 1200mm and above.

Natural resources consist of Wildlife/ Bird sanctuary, Forest, arable land, copper, emerald and other minerals.

The Kafue River is the only major river found in the province. In addition, the province has twenty four tributary streams that feed into the Kafue River, 4 of which are perennial and a large number of the remainder being near perennial. It flows through the Province in a wide current and enters Central Province near Lukanga Swamps. There are several sites for large dams on the Kafue River. In addition tributary streams on the Copperbelt offer 100 dam sites of 250,000,000 litre capacity.

Underground water is normally obtainable with little difficulty, particularly around “Dambos”. Strong springs and artesian wells are rare.