Zambia is one of Sub-Saharan Africa's most highly urbanized countries. About one-half of the country's 11.5 million people are concentrated in a few urban zones strung along the major transportation corridors, while rural areas are under-populated. Unemployment and underemployment are serious problems. National GDP has actually doubled since independence, but due in large part to high birth rates and AIDS per capita annual incomes are currently at about two-thirds of their levels at independence. This low GDP per capita, which stands at $1400, places the country among the world's poorest nations. Social indicators continue to decline, particularly in measurements of life expectancy at birth (about 50 years) and maternal and infant mortality (85 per 1,000 live births). The high population growth rate of 2.3% per annum makes it difficult for per capita income to increase. The country's rate of economic growth cannot support rapid population growth or the strain which HIV/AIDS-related issues (i.e., rising medical costs, street children, and decline in worker productivity) places on government resources.

Zambia ( /ˈzæmbiə/), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west. The capital city is Lusaka, located in the south-central part of the country. The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the northwest.

Originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region which comprises modern Zambia was colonised during the Bantu expansion of the thirteenth century. After visits by European explorers in the eighteenth century, Zambia became the British colony of Northern Rhodesia towards the end of the nineteenth century. For most of the colonial period, the country was governed by an administration appointed from London with the advice of the British South Africa Company.

On 24 October 1964, the country declared independence from the United Kingdom and then-prime minister Kenneth Kaunda became the inaugural president. Kaunda's socialist United National Independence Party (UNIP) maintained power from the 1964 until 1991. From 1972 to 1991 Zambia was a single-party state with the UNIP as the sole-legal political party, with the goal of uniting the nation under the banner of 'One Zambia, One Nation'. Kaunda was succeeded by Frederick Chiluba of the social-democratic Movement for Multi-Party Democracy in 1991, during which the country saw a rise in social-economic growth and increased decentralisation of government.

The Greek is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Bill Raymond. The Greek is the head of an international criminal organization involved in narcotics and human trafficking. The Greek is a mysterious figure involved in numerous criminal activities. His given name is never mentioned on the show, and though he is known only as "The Greek", he has stated (in the episode Port in a Storm) that he is not actually Greek. A quiet and unassuming man, the Greek prefers to keep a low profile, operating all of his business through his lieutenant Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos. His smuggling organization operated from a small diner in Baltimore for years, and while Vondas would conduct business the Greek would listen in quietly at the counter. Nick Sobotka, upon seeing the Greek identify himself, was amazed that the shadowy figure had been in plain sight the entire time.

Despite his calm appearance, the Greek is cunning and ruthless, and only interested in facts that make him more money. Series creator David Simon has said that The Greek is an embodiment of raw unencumbered capitalism. Anyone interfering in this process is eliminated immediately, and he prefers to leave victims headless and handless to hinder identification.

Chisha Folotiya (born 7 October 1970) is a Zambian entrepreneur whose business enterprises over the years have encompassed the fields of entertainment, media, publishing, retail and investments. A graduate of the University of Nottingham where he obtained a Civil Engineering Honours Degree in 1992, Folotiya is presently the Managing Director at Laurence Paul Investment Services Ltd, Managing Director at Mondo Music Corporation Limited and Executive Chairman at Rhodes Park Schools Limited. The latter was founded by his late father, a prominent Lusaka lawyer. Rhodes Park is today one of Zambia's top private schools with over 1000 students and 57 staff members. Over the past decade, Folotiya has established a number of businesses, most notably a record company called Mondo Music Corporation which is often credited as being responsible for resuscitating the Zambian music industry.

Chisha Folotiya is the first born son of the late Mwansa Folotiya, a Lawyer and Lydia Folotiya, a school teacher who founded one of Zambias pre-eminent private schools, Rhodes Park School, in 1973. A young Folotiya attended the International School of Lusaka in his early years where among other things he developed a love for break-dancing and rap music. While still in his teens, his parents sent him to the United Kindgdom to complete his education. Between 1985 and 1989 he went to Stonyhurst College where he completed his O and A Levels and later a Civil Engineering Degree which he studied for at the University of Nottingham. Folotiya worked for a financial services company before returning to Zambia after the death of his father. Within a year of his fathers death, his mother also died, leaving Folotiya then aged 22 as the head of the household and family businesses.