Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, landlocked republic, southern Africa, bordered on the north-west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo; on the north-east by Tanzania; on the east by Malawi; on the south-east by Mozambique; on the south by Zimbabwe, Botswana, and the Caprivi Strip of Namibia; and on the west by Angola. Formerly the British colony of Northern Rhodesia, then part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Zambia became independent on October 24, 1964. The area of Zambia is 752,614 square kilometres (290,586 square miles). Lusaka is the capital of the nation.