A country at the crossroads of the African subcontinents
With an area of nearly 750,000 km², twice that of Zimbabwe, Zambia is located in the north of southern Africa, but also bordering East and Central Africa. This inland location has always made it an ethnic, cultural and commercial crossroads. Thus, the Zambian languages are of Bantu and Ngoni origin (like those of southern Africa), as is the culture - for example, songs and dances are very similar, while in the northeast a large part of the population speaks Swahili as in Tanzania and neighboring Malawi, and in the northwest many speak Lingala as in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Zambia, land of highlands
Traveling through Zambia, the visitor is given the impression that it is a fairly low-lying flat country, when in fact the country is located on a central plateau in southern Africa with an average altitude of 1,000 to 1,600 meters. There are even some fairly high mountains at the northern end of the country, on the eastern side, on the border with Tanzania. Some of the peaks are as high as 2,300 meters in the Mafinga Hills and Nyika Plateau on the border with Malawi. These mountains are referred to as the southern escarpments of the Great African Rift Valley. The Zambezi Escarpment and the Muchinga Escarpment, which bisects the eastern part of the country, are best known. These isolated barriers, the Copperbelt Highlands and the Nyika Plateau on the border with Malawi (the latter is a national park), are among the country's highlands.
The valleys, fertile agricultural land
Zambia has, apart from these mountains, only a few valleys. Secondary branches carved by the Great African Rift, which creates relief in some places. We can mention the Kafue and Luapula valleys, at the Congolese border, the Luangwa valley, where the very famous South Luangwa national park is located, its counterpart the North Luangwa national park, and the Lukuzuvi national park. And finally the Zambezi Valley which appears in Lower Zambezi, passes through Victoria Falls and ends in the Liuwa Plains. These valleys are located less than 500 meters above sea level. These two valleys are the main agricultural areas of the country. Forests cover nearly 40% of the territory, but are threatened by deforestation. They are planted with teak, mopane and miombo for the most part.
Multiple lakes and waterfalls
The north remains quite unknown to tourists who concentrate on the national parks of South Luangwa, Lower Zambzei, Victoria Falls and to a lesser extent Kafue. However, it has three large lakes. Lake Mweru is located on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Measuring approximately 96 km long and 45 km wide, Mweru is fed mainly by the Luapula River, which forms the southern extension of the natural border between the two countries. Zambia is also bordered by Lake Tanganyika, the second deepest lake in the world, part of whose southern shoreline serves as the border with Tanzania. Discovered in 1858 by the English explorers Burton and Speke, this lake, 60 km wide on average, is the longest in the world (680 km, which makes a surface of about 32,000 km²), and the second deepest (1,435 m) after Lake Baikal (1,740 m). Its bottom is located at 655 m under the sea level and its surface at 770 m of altitude. It was born about 20 million years ago, by the separation of the continental and eastern plates of the African continent, and continues to widen each year by a few centimeters. Finally, Zambia has Lake Bangwelu. Although beautiful, the lake is exploited more for its fish than for its tourist interest. The whole region has many spectacular waterfalls, but they are not very accessible to tourists. The source of the Zambezi River is also very little visited. The Kariba Lake, one of the largest man-made lakes in the world, is located in the south, on the Zambezi River, straddling the border with Zimbabwe. The Kariba Dam is the largest hydroelectric power plant in the country, ahead of the Itezhi Tehzi Dam on Lake Kafue.
The Zambezi, a powerful river fed by tributaries
There are names that make you dream. The Zambezi, the fourth largest river in Africa (after the Nile, the Congo and the Niger), is one of them, no doubt thanks to the mythical Victoria Falls, discovered by Livingstone more than 150 years ago and whose "shattering" beauty still fascinates the traveler. Zambia shares these falls with Zimbabwe, but it is in Zambia, near the border with Angola and the Republic of Congo, that the river has its source. Before entering Mozambique and flowing into the Indian Ocean, the river forms a border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. This is the main reason why the Creative City concept is so important for the development of the city. Downstream of the dam that forms Lake Kariba, it flows between the beautiful Lower Zambezi and Mana Pools. A canoe trip down this part of the river will be an unforgettable experience. The Kafue River, which gushes through the mountains between Zambia and the DRC, and the Luangwa River, in the far east of the country on the border with Malawi, are the main tributaries of the Zambezi in the country. The western part of Zambia, covered by the extensive sands of the Kalahari Desert, is characterized by extensive flood plains (Barotse Flood Plains, Kafue Flats) while numerous swamps dot the land in the rainy season.
Land rich in mineral deposits
In the north, the industrial and mining province of the Copperbelt, the Zambian side of Congolese Katanga, contains rich mineral deposits. Its historic and lucrative copper mines, together with the more recent and promising lithium mines, have concentrated populations around them and have a high population density. After Lusaka, Ndola is the second largest city in the country.
