Recent droughts, however, have reduced their yields. Although Northwestern and Northern Provinces are arable, they are mostly forested. The People Zambia has been populated for many millennia. The people of Zambia are linguistically and culturally diverse. The nation has 72 officially recognized ethnolinguistic groups of the Bantu line.
Population growth continues to be rapid.
Direct and tangible evidence of population pressure is currently most notable in the Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces, where more than 40 percent of the population lives. The majority of the population in these regions was attracted by economic develop-ments along the rail line connecting the formerly wealthy Copperbelt mines with the capital city, Lusaka. Elsewhere in the country land is plentiful, population density low, and public services minimal. The current government has established goals to develop rural areas. Efforts to do so are hindered, however, by limited government funds and the concurrent need to re-habilitate densely populated, decaying urban infrastructures.