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Livingstone
Main street
Main street
Livingstone (Zambia)
Livingstone
Livingstone
Location in Zambia
Coordinates: 17°51′S 25°52′E / -17.85, 25.867
Country Zambia
Admin. The Republic of Zambia (ˈzæmbɪə is a Landlocked country in Southern Africa.  division Southern Province
Population (2000)
 - Total 97,000

Livingstone is a historic colonial city and present capital of the Southern Province of Zambia, a tourism centre for Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls) lying 10 km south on the Zambezi River, and a border town with road and rail connections to Zimbabwe on the other side of the Falls. Southern Province is one of Zambia 's nine provinces, and home to Zambia's premier tourist attraction Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls shared with Zimbabwe Southern Province is one of Zambia 's nine provinces, and home to Zambia's premier tourist attraction Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls shared with Zimbabwe The Republic of Zambia (ˈzæmbɪə is a Landlocked country in Southern Africa. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders is a Waterfall situated in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between The Zambezi (also spelled Zambesi) is the fourth-longest River in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa See also Great Zimbabwe National Monument. For information about the March and June 2008 presidential elections see Zimbabwean presidential election Its population was estimated in 2002 at 97,000[1].

Contents

History

Pre-colonial History

Mukuni, 10 km to the south-east, was the largest village in the area before Livingstone was founded. Its Baleya inhabitants, originally from the Rozwi culture in Zimbabwe, were conquered by Chief Mukuni who came from the Congo in the 18th Century. The Tokaleya people are indigenous to the area surrounding Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Rozwi Empire or Rozvi Empire (1684 - 1834 was established on the Zimbabwean Plateau by the famous Changamire Dombo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (République démocratique du Congo often referred to as DR Congo, DRC or RDC, and formerly known or referred to Another group of Baleya under Chief Sekute lived near the river west of the town. The most numerous people in the area, though, were the Batoka under Chief Musokotwane based at Senkobo, 30 km north. The Tokaleya people are indigenous to the area surrounding Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe. These are southern Tonga people but are culturally and linguistically similar to the Baleya and grouped with them as the 'Tokaleya'. For the related ethnic group see Tonga people of Zambia and Zimbabwe. [2]

Memorial to David Livingstone
Memorial to David Livingstone

The Tokaleya paid tribute to the Lozi of Barotseland but in 1838 the Kololo, a Sotho tribe from South Africa displaced by Zulu wars, migrated north and conquered the Lozi. Dr David Livingstone (19 March 1813 &ndash 1 May 1873 was a British Congregationalist pioneer medical Missionary with the London Missionary Society Barotseland is a region in the western part of Zambia, and is the homeland of the Lozi people or Barotse who were previously known as Luyi or Aluyi The Makololo are a people of Southern Africa, closely related to the Basotho, from which they separated themselves in the early 19th century The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa The Kololo placed chiefs of their subordinate Subiya people of Sesheke over the Tokaleya. Sesheke is a border town in the Western Province of Zambia, and a district of the same name In 1855 Scottish missionary explorer David Livingstone became the first European to explore the Zambezi in the Livingstone vicinity and to see Victoria Falls when he was taken there by the Subiya/Kololo Chief Sekeletu. A missionary is a member of a Religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith someone who proselytizes. Dr David Livingstone (19 March 1813 &ndash 1 May 1873 was a British Congregationalist pioneer medical Missionary with the London Missionary Society [3]

In 1864 the Lozi threw off their Kololo masters and re-established their dominance over the Subiya and the Tokaleya in the vicinity of the Falls, which became the south-eastern margin of the greater Barotseland kingdom. [2]

Colonial history

In the 1890s Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company established imperial rule north of the Zambezi and launched a wave of mineral prospecting and exploitation of other natural resources such as timber, ivory and animal skins in the territory it called North-Western Rhodesia. Cecil John Rhodes, PC DCL (5 July 1853 &ndash 26 March 1902 was an English -born Businessman mining Magnate, and Politician The British South Africa Company (BSAC was established by Cecil Rhodes through the amalgamation of the Central Search Association and the Exploring Company Ltd North-Western Rhodesia in south central Africa was formed and administered from 1891 under charter by the British South Africa Company which in 1890 had signed a treaty The main crossing point of the Zambezi was above the falls at the Old Drift, by dugout canoe, later an iron boat propelled by eight Lozi paddlers, or a barge towed across with a steel cable. The Batoka Gorge and the deep valley and gorges of the middle Zambezi (now flooded by the Kariba Dam) meant there was no better crossing point between the Falls and Kariba Gorge, 500 km north-east. The Kariba Dam is a Hydroelectric Dam in the Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi river basin between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Kariba Gorge is a large natural Gorge through which flowed the Zambezi River on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, Africa. As the Old Drift crossing became more used, a settlement sprang up there and around 1897 it became the first municipality in the country and is sometimes referred to as 'Old Livingstone'. A municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a City, Town, or Village, or Proximity to mosquito breeding areas caused deaths from malaria, so after 1900 the Europeans moved to higher ground known as Constitution Hill or Sandbelt Post Office, and as that area grew into a town it was named Livingstone in honour of the explorer. Mosquitoes are insects in the family Culicidae. They have a pair of scaled wings a pair of Halteres, a slender body and long legs Malaria is a vector -borne Infectious disease caused by Protozoan Parasites It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions including [4]

In the mid 1890s Rhodesian Railways had reached Bulawayo in Southern Rhodesia spurring industrial development there, fuelled by the coal mines at Hwange just 110km south-east of Mosi-oa-Tunya. Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, after the capital Harare, with a population of 676000 (UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator Zimbabwe 2005 now estimated Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British Colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa, and known today as Zimbabwe Hwange is a town in western Zimbabwe, in the province of Matabeleland North. The railway was extended to Hwange for the coal, but Rhodes' vision was to keep pushing north to extend the British Empire, and he would have built it to Cairo if he could. The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. In 1904 the railway reached the Falls on the southern side and construction of the Victoria Falls Bridge started. The Victoria Falls Bridge crosses the Zambezi River just below the Victoria Falls and is built over the Second Gorge of the falls Too impatient to wait for its completion, Rhodes had the line from Livingstone to Kalomo built and operations started some months in advance of the bridge using a single locomotive which was conveyed in pieces by temporary cableway across the gorge next to the bridge building site. Kalomo is a town in southern Zambia, lying north east of Livingstone, on the main road and Railway line to Lusaka. [5]

With the new Bridge open in September 1905, Livingstone boomed and the British South Africa Company moved the capital of the territory there in 1907. The British South Africa Company (BSAC was established by Cecil Rhodes through the amalgamation of the Central Search Association and the Exploring Company Ltd [4] In 1911 the company merged the territory with North-Eastern Rhodesia as Northern Rhodesia. Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year North-Eastern Rhodesia in south central Africa was formed by and administered by the British South Africa Company as the other half with North-Western Rhodesia 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

Livingstone prospered from its position as a gateway to trade between north and south sides of the Zambezi, as well as from farming in the Southern Province and commercial timber production from forests to its north-west. A number of colonial buildings were erected which still stand. [3] Although the capital was moved to Lusaka in 1935 to be closer to the economic heartland of the Copperbelt, industries based on timber, hides, tobacco, cotton (including textiles) and other agricultural products grew up. Lusaka is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is located in the southern part of the central plateau of the country at an elevation Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Copper Belt or Copperbelt (usually spelled as one word is the Copper mining area of Zambia, around the towns of Ndola, Kitwe, A hydroelectric plant was built taking water from the Eastern Cataract of the Falls. The town of Victoria Falls in Southern Rhodesia had the tourist trade, but many supplies were bought from Livingstone. The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders is a Waterfall situated in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British Colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa, and known today as Zimbabwe

Of all the towns in Northern Rhodesia, colonial Livingstone took on a character most like those of Southern Rhodesia or South Africa at that time, with a strongly marked segregation which while not being officially enshrined as an apartheid policy, had similar practical effects. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa The north and western halves of the town and the town centre were reserved for the colonial government and white-owned businesses and associated residential areas, while African townships such as Maramba (named after the small Maramba River flowing nearby) were in the east and south. Asians and people of mixed race owned businesses in the middle, on the eastern side of the centre.

As independence approached and for a few years after, many whites in the town moved to Rhodesia or South Africa.

Post-independence

At Independence Livingstone had the benefit of some spending by the new government on development such as a vehicle assembly plant, and the benefit of tourism spending by the army of expatriates hired to assist those projects, as well as by Zambians experiencing for the first time the pride and freedom of their own country. However, from the late 1960s, when the Rhodesian UDI crisis forced Zambia to close the border at Livingstone (see the main article on Victoria Falls for details) the town suffered economic decline due to a fall in tourism and the loss of trade to the south. Rhodesia was the name adopted when the formerly British colony of Southern Rhodesia declared itself independent ( Unilateral Declaration of Independence The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders is a Waterfall situated in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between The timber industry ended as the forests around Mulobezi were used up, and the manufacturing industry suffered from the inefficiencies of state-run enterprises. Mulobezi is a small town in the Western Province of Zambia, and the centre of its timber industry which extends into neighbouring Southern Province In the 1970s and 80s this was exacerbated by national economic woes brought on by low copper prices and the failure of the government's economic management, so that when trade to the south re-started with Zimbabwean independence in 1980, Livingstone could not take advantage of it. The town seemed stuck in a time warp and was unable to afford new development or maintain the existing infrastructure. Although this meant that historic colonial buildings were not replaced by new development, it also meant the town could not afford to adequately preserve those that it had. [6]

In the 1981 movie The Grass is Singing (based on the Doris Lessing novel of that name) and starring Karen Black, John Thaw and John Kani, Livingstone was used as the location for a Southern Rhodesian town around 1950, for which year some of the streets in Livingstone could pass without modification. The Grass Is Singing is the first novel published in 1950, by British Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing. Doris May Lessing, CH, OBE (née Tayler; born 22 October 1919) is a British Writer, author of works such Karen Black (born July 1, 1939) is an American actress, Screenwriter, Singer and Songwriter. John Edward Thaw CBE ( 3 January, 1942 &ndash 21 February, 2002) was an English Actor, who made his début Bonsile John Kani (1943 - is a South African Actor, director and Playwright. [7]

In the last ten years, although manufacturing industry has continued to decline with the closure of textile businesses unable to compete with Asian imports,[8] Livingstone has experienced a resurgence in tourism at Zimbabwe's expense. However it is also under considerable environmental pressure − since the decline in the copper industry and some agricultural sectors, more people have moved to the town than can be employed. As a result there are crime and urban waste problems. [9]

Apart from tourism, the other hope on Livingstone's horizon is development stimulated by the Walvis Bay Corridor with the opening of the Katima Mulilo Bridge and completion of the Transcaprivi Highway 200 km east, which funnels more trade through the town. The Katima Mulilo Bridge (also known as Bridge 508 in the Namibian Bridge Register carries the TransCaprivi Highway over the Zambezi River between The TransCaprivi Highway opened in 1999 runs from Rundu, in north eastern Namibia, along the Caprivi Strip to Katima Mulilo on the

The name Maramba predates Livingstone as the name of the river flowing on the eastern outskirts and the large township next to it. The name is used for a number of places and features in Livingstone and has been proposed as a new or alternative name for the city as a whole. Livingstone is the only non-African name for a town or city town in Zambia not changed since independence, largely due to the influence of first president Kenneth Kaunda, whose father was educated by Scottish missionaries who followed in David Livingstone's footsteps. Kenneth David Kaunda, commonly known as KK (born April 28, 1924) served as the first President of Zambia, from 1964 to 1991 However several websites (including some United Nations ones) and some maps jumped the gun on any decision, and wrongly report that it is now called Maramba. [10] The town's recent tourism success may mean that any change is less likely as businesses are likely to resist anything which would affect recognition of the town as an international tourist destination.

Livingstone's transport links

See the main article Transport in Zambia for more details. Railways in Zambia Total 2164 km (1995 Zambia Rail Network Map Railtracker (ACIS/UNCTAD Zambia Railway Network Diagram Principal lines

Features and attractions of Livingstone

Livingstone's main places of interest are:[3]

For details of adventure activities, safaris, flights, river cruises, fishing, boating, resorts and accommodation see the external links below.

External links

References

  1. ^ City Population website accessed 10 March 2007
  2. ^ a b Livingstone Tourism website accessed 10 March 2007.
  3. ^ a b c Camerapix: "Spectrum Guide to Zambia. " Camerapix International Publishing, Nairobi, 1996.
  4. ^ a b ‘’The Northern Rhodesia Journal” online, B. L. Hunt: “Kalomo to Livingstone in 1907”. Vol IV No 1 (1959) p16. Accessed 28 February 2007.
  5. ^ Horizon magazine: "Zambia's Second Industry", February 1965, pp4-11.
  6. ^ Times of Zambia website accessed 10 March 2007
  7. ^ IMDB Internet Movie Database accessed 10 March 2007.
  8. ^ Times of Zambia website accessed 10 March 2007
  9. ^ S Hanyona: "Zambia's Ecotourism Venture Clouded by Ecotroubles." March 5, 2002. ENS website accessed 9 March 2007,
  10. ^ United Nations Environment Programme: Protected Areas and World Heritage World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Website accessed 1 March 2007.

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