| Lake Bangweulu | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Luapula Province and Northern Province |
| Coordinates | |
| Primary inflows | Chambeshi |
| Primary outflows | Luapula River |
| Basin countries | Zambia |
| Surface area | 15,100 km² |
| Water volume | 5,000 mio m³ |
| Surface elevation | 1140 m |
Bangweulu — 'where the water sky meets the sky' — is one of the world's great wetland systems, comprising Lake Bangweulu, the Bangweulu Swamps and the Bangweulu Flats or floodplain. Luapula Province is one of Zambia 's nine provinces, and is located in the north of the country Northern Province is one of Zambia 's nine provinces. It covers approximately one fifth of Zambia in land area In Hydrology, the inflow of a Body of water is the source of the Water in the body of water The Chambeshi River (also known as the Chambezi River) is a River in northeastern Zambia. In Hydrology, the discharge or outflow of a River is the volume of Water transported by it in a certain amount of time The Luapula River is a section of Africa 's second-longest river the Congo. A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, [1] Situated in the upper Congo River basin in Zambia, the Bangweulu system covers an almost completely flat area roughly the size of Connecticut or East Anglia, at an elevation of 1,140 m straddling Zambia's Luapula Province and Northern Province. The Congo River (for a time known as the Zaire River) is the largest River in Western Central Africa. The Republic of Zambia (ˈzæmbɪə is a Landlocked country in Southern Africa. Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. East Anglia is often used as a shorthand for the Kingdom of the East Angles. Luapula Province is one of Zambia 's nine provinces, and is located in the north of the country Northern Province is one of Zambia 's nine provinces. It covers approximately one fifth of Zambia in land area It is crucial to the economy and biodiversity of northern Zambia, and to the birdlife of a much larger region, and faces environmental stress and conservation issues. To conserve habitat life for wild species and prevent their Extinction or reduction in range is a priority of a great many groups that cannot be easily characterized in terms [2]
With a long axis of 75 km and a width of up to 40 km, Lake Bangweulu's permanent open water surface is about 3,000 km², which expands when its swamps and floodplains are in flood at the end of the rainy season in May. A swamp is a Wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water A wet season or rainy season is a Season in which the average Rainfall in a region is significantly increased The combined area of the lake and wetlands reaches 15,000 km². The lake has an average depth of only 4 m. [3][4]
The Bangweulu system is fed by about seventeen rivers of which the Chambeshi (the source of the Congo River) is the largest, and is drained by the Luapula River. The Chambeshi River (also known as the Chambezi River) is a River in northeastern Zambia. The Luapula River is a section of Africa 's second-longest river the Congo. [1]
Contents |
Sections of Lake Bangweulu
- Numbers in round brackets like so — (12) — refer to locations on the satellite image.
A notable feature of the Bangweulu system is a series or parallel sandy ridges running south-west to north-east. These are particularly striking in satellite photographs and are easily seen along the north-western shore, the Lifunge Peninsula (2), Mbalala Island (3), Chilubi Island (6), and the Kapata Peninsula (10). They divide the lake into three sections parallel to its main axis. One divides off a section called Lake Chifunabuli (1), 50 km long but only 5 km wide. Its entrance through a gap in the sand spits (at the end of Lifunge Peninsula) is only 250 m wide. Another sandy ridge, Mbabala Island, divides off a section called Lake Walilupe (4), 30 km long by 13 km wide. The main, middle section of the lake between Lifunge and Mbalala is known only as Bangweulu. [5]
There are numerous bays, inlets, smaller lakes and lagoons around Lake Bangweulu, connected by open water, narrow channels or swamps. The largest is Lake Kampolombo (9), 30 km by 5 km, south of Lake Walilupe and connected to it by a 7 km channel. The 32 km long Kapata Peninsula lies between Lake Kampolombo and the swamps; at its tip on the eastern side is the 15 km long Lake Kangwena (11). [5]
Only the western side of the lake and some of the islands have a well defined shore, with sandy beaches in places especially around Samfya, though even there, some of the bays and inlets are swampy. [3][6]
The Bangweulu Swamps
The Bangweulu Swamps, larger than the lake, extend from the north-west clockwise around to the south. The main part covers an area of roughly 120 km by 75 km and they are normally not less than 9,000 sq km. [4][3]
The swamps act as a check on annual flooding downstream in the Luapula by releasing water slowly through many lagoons and channels. They help prevent the Luapula valley being flooded excessively in the rainy season.
Rivers and channels through the swamps
The Bangweulu swamps are fed mainly from the north-east by the Chambeshi River, and drain to the south into the Luapula River. The Chambeshi River (also known as the Chambezi River) is a River in northeastern Zambia. The Luapula River is a section of Africa 's second-longest river the Congo. The lake is connected to these rivers, and them to each other, by a complex mass of channels through the swamps which may become choked by vegetation and change their course; there is no easy navigation between them. Floating beds of papyrus may close up the channels to a width allowing only dugout canoes to pass. Motorised vessels are hampered by their width as well as by vegetation clogging propellers. Since colonial times attempts have been made to improve navigation and alter drainage patterns by cutting channels through the swamp. In 1942, attempts were made, with limited success, to cut an outlet from Lake Walilupe to the Luapula's exit from the swamps, to allow motor boats to transport cassava and other produce from the northern area of the lake to Kapalala Ferry on the Luapula and from there to the Copperbelt. The Copper Belt or Copperbelt (usually spelled as one word is the Copper mining area of Zambia, around the towns of Ndola, Kitwe, [7][6]
Lagoons
There are numerous lagoons in the swamps, the more prominent ones are: Lake Chali (12) in the south-west, Lake Chaya (13) in the east at the mouth of the Lulingilla River in the east, Lake Wumba (14) in the north-east at the confluence of the Chambeshi and Luansenshi (20) Rivers, and the Pook Lagoon (15) in the East near Nsalushi Island (25). [5]
Other features of the swamps
On the northern side there are several wide swampy estuaries where rivers enter the lake or swamps, going from north-west to north-east they are: Lupososhi Estuary (16), Luena Estuary (17), Lukuto Estuary (18), Chambeshi Estuary (19) (and Luansenshi Estuary which feeds into it). [5]
On the eastern and south-eastern sides the swamps are fed by the Munikashi, Luitikila, Lumbatwa, Lukulu and Lulimala rivers. [5] The estuaries of the last three are the main dry season grazing grounds of the Black Lechwe.
In the main part of the swamps, just south of Chilubi Island, is a large area which is very shallow in the flood season and may become fairly dry at the end of the dry season, called the Lunga Bank (27).
Floodplains
Large grassy floodplains with an area of about 3,000 km² lie mainly south of the swamps, but also in the north-north-east, acting as an extension of the region in the wet season. The southern floodplains are famous for large herds of the near-endemic black lechwe. The Lechwe, or Southern Lechwe, ( Kobus leche) is an Antelope found in Botswana, Zambia, south-eastern Democratic Republic Further information on wildlife of the wetlands is found on the Bangweulu Wetlands ecosystem page. The Bangweulu Wetlands Ecosystem covers a large area exhibiting great Biodiversity which is under Environmental stress and in need of conservation
European exploration
The lake was known to Europeans from reports by chiefs such as Kazembe and from Swahili traders, and it was sometimes referred to as 'Lake Bemba' from the name of the dominant tribe. For more than 250 years Kazembe has been an influential kingdom or chieftainship of the Chibemba-speaking Lunda people of south-central Africa (also The Swahili are a people and culture found on the coast of East Africa, mainly the coastal regions and the islands of Kenya and Tanzania, and north In 1868 explorer and missionary David Livingstone was the first European to see the lake at the north end of the Lake Chifunabuli section. Year 1868 ( MDCCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Dr David Livingstone (19 March 1813 &ndash 1 May 1873 was a British Congregationalist pioneer medical Missionary with the London Missionary Society He was taken by canoe as far as Mbabala Island. His last expedition a few years later foundered in the swamps and their maze of shifting channels as he struggled to discover the rivers draining in and out of the lake. He died in 1873 in Chief Chitambo's village on the edge of the southern flood plain, about 100 km from the lake itself. [8] The spot is marked by the Livingstone Memorial (see map). The Livingstone Memorial built in 1902 marks the spot where missionary explorer David Livingstone died on 1 or 4 May 1873 in Chief Chitambo's village at Ilala near the edge of
It was a desire for the riches of Bangweulu's fisheries and game-rich floodplain which motivated King Leopold II of Belgium to insist, in border negotiations between his Congo Free State and the British in Northern Rhodesia, on a land corridor reaching Bangweulu from Katanga. Leopold II (Léopold Louis Philippe Marie Victor Leopold Lodewijk Filips Maria Victor (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909 was King of the Belgians. The Congo Free State was a Corporate state privately controlled by Leopold II King of the Belgians through a dummy non-governmental organization the The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by Katanga is a southern province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This resulted in the shape of the Congo Pedicle (34) which, as it turned out, does not penetrate the area enough to be of the desired value. The Congo Pedicle (at one time referred to as the Zaire Pedicle; in French la botte du Katanga, meaning Katanga boot) refers to the southeast
The first Christian missions in Bangweulu were founded in the early 1900s under the authority of Bishop Joseph Dupont of the Catholic White Fathers who was based north of Kasama. See also Evangelism, Christianization A Christian mission has been widely defined since the Lausanne Congress of 1974 as that which Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". The Missionary Society known as " White Fathers " ( Pères Blancs in French after their dress, is a Roman Catholic Kasama is the capital of the Northern Province of Zambia, situated on the central-southern African plateau at an elevation of about 1400 m
Human settlement
The area of the lake is inhabited by Bemba people and affiliated tribes who also speak Chibemba. The Bemba (or 'BaBemba' using the Ba- prefix to mean 'people of' and also called 'Awemba' or 'BaWemba' in the past belong to a large group of peoples mainly in the Northern This article refers to the Bemba language For other uses see Bemba (disambiguation. The Bemba heartland of Paramount Chief Chitimukulu lies to the north-east, around Kasama. The Chitimukulu is the Paramount Chieftainship of the Bemba, the largest ethnic group in Zambia. Kasama is the capital of the Northern Province of Zambia, situated on the central-southern African plateau at an elevation of about 1400 m
The Bangweulu fishery
The lake supports a seasonal fishing industry and the population may increase markedly during the season. For the computer security term see Phishing. Fishing is the activity of catching Fish. In 1989 the average annual catch was estimated at 11,900 tonnes, caught by 10,300 people using 5305 dugout canoes, 114 plank and fibreglass boats, and only 54 outboard motors. A dugout is a Boat which is basically a hollowed tree trunk Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. An outboard motor is a propulsion system for smaller Boats General uses Outboard motors for a Boat are developed as a self-contained In 2000 the catch was 13,500 t. [9]
Natural gas pipeline
In early 2004 a private European natural gas company finished preliminary plans to lay a pipeline which would cut directly through the Southeast portion of the Lake. Part of this plan was a proposed dam to allow for partial drainage of the required part of the lake. This plan was met with harsh opposition from the local people as well as environmental activists. After much court-wrangling and lengthy hearings on the project, the plan was disposed of by the European company as they built a detour for their pipeline in the surrounding province.
Towns and districts
The largest town, Samfya lies on the south western shore and is the principal base for road and boat transport and tourism, as well as being the administrative centre for Samfya District covering about three-quarters of the lake and swamps. Samfya is a town located in the Zambian province of Luapula, and an administrative district Chilubi District covers most of the rest, its boma is on Chilubi Island (6), which is bordered by the swamps to the east. Chilubi is a settlement on an island in Lake Bangweulu and its swamps and is headquarters of an administrative District of the same name in the Northern Province A boma is a Livestock enclosure a Stockade or kind of Fort, or a district Government office Luwingu District just touches the lake at Nsombo, which is the principal town at the northern end of the lake. Mpika and Kasama districts just touch the eastern and southern margins of the floodplain, and Serenje District and the Congo Pedicle just reach the southern margin of the floodplain. Mpika is a town in the Northern Province of Zambia, lying at the junction of the Great North Road to Kasama and Mbala and the Kasama is the capital of the Northern Province of Zambia, situated on the central-southern African plateau at an elevation of about 1400 m Serenje is a town in Zambia, lying just off the Great North Road and TAZARA Railway, north east of Mkushi.
Islands
There are numerous inhabited islands in the Bangweulu system. [5]
On the lake they are:
- Chilubi Island (6), the largest, partly in the lake and mainly in the swamps
- Mbabala Island (3), a sand spit dividing off the Lake Walilupe section
- Chishi Island (5), in the middle of the northern part of the lake
- Lifunge Mwenzi Island (7), dividing off the northern part of Lake Chifunabuli
- Small Islands: Chindo and Ibula Islands near the north-west shore, and Chibwe Ngombe Island, a tiny sliver north-west of Chilubi Island. Chilubi is a settlement on an island in Lake Bangweulu and its swamps and is headquarters of an administrative District of the same name in the Northern Province
In the swamps:
- Nsumbu Island (8) east of Chilubi Island
- In the eastern swamps: Chisale Island, Panyo Island (24), Nsalushi Island (25), Nsumpa Island, Matonga Island and Kawulu Island
- Near the Chambeshi River where it enters the eastern swamps: Mutwamina Island and Munyanga Island
- In the southern swamps: Ncheta Island (26) (with the village of Bwalya Mponda), and Mbo, east of the Luapula's exit from the swamps
- Kasoma village on the south-east edge of the Lunga Bank
- Kalimakonde village on the banks of the Churchill Channel
Flood season islands: on the edge of the swamps, connected to the mainland in the dry season:
- In the north-east: Kasansa Island (23), Chichile Island (22), Luangwa Island, Mbishi Island, and Munkanta at the edge of Lake Chaya, where the Lulingila River enters the eastern swamps. The Chambeshi River (also known as the Chambezi River) is a River in northeastern Zambia.
- In the south: Kasenga (28), close to the outlet of Lake Kangwena, Kataba (29), and Yongolo, and Itulo at the edge of south-east swamps.
Other settlements
- Lubwe (30) on Lake Chifunabuli has a Catholic mission and hospital
- Kasaba (31), a Catholic mission in the north-west
- Santa Maria, a mission on Chilubi Island
- Mpanta, east of Samfya on the channel draining out of Lake Walilupe
- Twingi (32), with a mission, at the south end of the Kapata Peninsula
- Chaba (33), in the north-east
- Mofu, in the north-east.
See also
- Bangweulu Wetlands ecosystem
- Samfya
- Chilubi
- Chambeshi River
- Luapula River
- Water transport in Zambia
- David Livingstone
- Livingstone Memorial
- Congo Pedicle
References
- ^ a b Camerapix: Spectrum Guide to Zambia. The Bangweulu Wetlands Ecosystem covers a large area exhibiting great Biodiversity which is under Environmental stress and in need of conservation Samfya is a town located in the Zambian province of Luapula, and an administrative district Chilubi is a settlement on an island in Lake Bangweulu and its swamps and is headquarters of an administrative District of the same name in the Northern Province The Chambeshi River (also known as the Chambezi River) is a River in northeastern Zambia. The Luapula River is a section of Africa 's second-longest river the Congo. Water transport, and the many navigable inland waterways, in Zambia has a long tradition of practical use in Zambia except in parts of the south Dr David Livingstone (19 March 1813 &ndash 1 May 1873 was a British Congregationalist pioneer medical Missionary with the London Missionary Society The Livingstone Memorial built in 1902 marks the spot where missionary explorer David Livingstone died on 1 or 4 May 1873 in Chief Chitambo's village at Ilala near the edge of The Congo Pedicle (at one time referred to as the Zaire Pedicle; in French la botte du Katanga, meaning Katanga boot) refers to the southeast Camerapix International Publishing, Nairobi, 1996.
- ^ Halls, A. J. (ed. ), 1997. "Wetlands, Biodiversity and the Ramsar Convention: The Role of the Convention on Wetlands in the Conservation and Wise Use of Biodiversity". Ramsar Convention Bureau, Gland, Switzerland
- ^ a b c Google Earth (http://earth.google.com) accessed 31 January 2007.
- ^ a b ILEC Data Summary: Lake Bangweulu. Website accessed 30 January 2007
- ^ a b c d e f NRZAM.org website: Directorate of Colonial Surveys: Map of Bangweulu Swamps (1952). Accessed 24 April 2007.
- ^ a b Terracarta/International Travel Maps, Vancouver Canada: "Zambia, 2nd edition", 2000
- ^ [W. V. Brelsford: "Making an Outlet from Lake Bangweulu in Northern Rhodesia". The Geographical Journal, Vol. 106, No. 1/2 (Jul. - Aug. , 1945), pp. 50-58.
- ^ David Livingstone & Horace Waller (Ed): “The Last Journals of David Livingstone in Central Africa from 1865 to his Death”. (Two Volumes). John Murray, 1874.
- ^ Jul-Larsen, E. et al: "Management, co-management or no management? Major dilemmas in southern African freshwater fisheries. Part 2: Case studies". FAO Fisheries Technical Papers T426/2 (2003) ISBN 9251050325. Website accessed 24 April 2007.
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