Chilubi is a settlement on an island in Lake Bangweulu and its swamps, and is headquarters of Chilubi District in the Northern Province of Zambia.
Chilubi is a settlement on an island in Lake Bangweulu and its swamps, and is headquarters of Chilubi District in the Northern Province of Zambia.
Chilubi Island lies just north of the centre of the eastern side of the lake. It has an unusual zig-zag shape of about five segments, each about 12 km long and 1.5 to 3 km wide. It resembles a Chinese dragon with its head (at the north-west end) just in the open lake and its body and tail (south-east end) in the swamps. The shortest distance on land from nose to tail is 25 km, and it has about 100 km of shoreline. [1] The smaller Nsumbu Island lies 1 km south-east of Chilubi Island. Satellite image:
The shores of Chilubi Island are lined with villages while the interior consists of patches of wooded grassland. The soil is largely sandy and not so fertile, and the only food that grows well in it is cassava, which is the staple of the people on the island. The main settlements on Chilubi Island are Muchinshi, Bukotelo (headquarters of the chief of Chief Chiwanangala, Yombwe, Kashitu, Kapampa, Muule, and Santa Maria, a Catholic mission. [2]
The island is served by passenger ferries from Samfya and Nsombo in Luwingu District and Chaba at the north end of the lake, and there is an airstrip at the mission, which in the past has mostly served the flying doctors' service.
The main occupation of the island is fishing and subsistence farming, with some employment provided by schools, a health centre, the District Council and the mission.
The town or large village is situated at the most north-westerly tip of the island. Chilubi is 45 km across the lake from Samfya, 28 km from Chaba and 38 km from Nsombo. Chilubi is unique in Zambia, being the only one of the 116 district headquarters or bomas on an island, with no road connections. [1]
During the colonial era, the island was visited regularly but infrequently by the local Government representative, who would hold discussions with the local chiefs and sub-chiefs, to learn of their problems and to explain Government Policies, as well as to take a census, and collect taxes. Their reports were similar in style & content to those in the Domesday Book. [3]
A boma was first established at the southern tip of the island, [4] but it was burned down in March 1959 during "The Chilubi Incident". [5]
This article is about the Transport in Zambia.
Lake Mweru is a freshwater lake on the longest arm of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. Located on the border between Zambia and Democratic Republic of the Congo, it makes up 110 kilometres (68 mi) of the total length of the Congo, lying between its Luapula River (upstream) and Luvua River (downstream) segments.
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. 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. 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.
The Luapula River is a north-flowing river of central Africa, within the Congo River watershed. It rises in the wetlands of Lake Bangweulu (Zambia), which are fed by the Chambeshi River. The Luapula flows west then north, marking the border between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo before emptying into Lake Mweru. The river gives its name to Zambia's Luapula Province.
Mbala is Zambia's most northerly large town and seat of Mbala District in Northern Province, occupying a strategic location close to the border with Tanzania and controlling the southern approaches to Lake Tanganyika, 40 km by road to the north-west, where the port of Mpulungu is located. It had a population of about 20,000 in 2006. Under the name Abercorn, Mbala was a key outpost in British colonial control of this part of south-central Africa.
Mansa is the capital of the Luapula Province of Zambia, and headquarters of Mansa District. It takes its name from the local Chief Mansa and the small Mansa River which flows west to the Luapula River. During British rule the city was named Fort Rosebery.
Samfya is a town located in the Zambian province of Luapula. It is the centre of Samfya District. The town is located on the south-western shore of Lake Bangweulu, on the longest stretch of well-defined shore of that lake. Samfya has a few guesthouses and a number of white sandy beaches which are used for recreation, although the lake does have crocodiles.
Luapula Province is one of Zambia's ten provinces located in the northern part of the country. Luapula Province is named after the Luapula River and its capital is Mansa. As per the 2022 Zambian census, the Province had a population of 1,519,478, which accounted for 7.72 per cent of the total Zambian population.
Kazembe is a name used for Mwata Kazembe's town in the Luapula Province of Zambia, especially on maps and in the Zambian postal service. The other name for the town is Mwansabombwe and this is the one used by its or Luba or Chibemba-speaking inhabitants. They may refer in English to "Kazembe's Village" or just "Kazembe", as traditionally a settlement is named after the chief or headman, rather than the location. The Luba-Lunda shared with many tribes the custom of moving to another village or a new site on the death of the chief. Historical references to a village or town may actually be to a different location. For instance when the explorer David Livingstone visited Mwata Kazembe in 1867 and 1868, "Casembe's town", as he wrote it, was further north at the town now called Kanyembo.
The Livingstone Memorial, built in 1899, marks the spot where missionary explorer David Livingstone died on 1 May 1873, in Chief Chitambo's village at Chipundu, near the edge of the Bangweulu Swamps in Zambia. His body was embalmed and his heart was buried there under a mpundu tree by his followers, now led by his loyal attendants Chuma and Susi, who then departed for the coast carrying his body. In their party was an Indian-educated African man named Jacob Wainwright who carved the inscription "LIVINGSTONE MAY 4 1873" and the names of the attendants on the tree.
The Congo Pedicle is the southeast salient of the Haut-Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which divides neighbouring Zambia into two lobes. In area, the pedicle is similar in size to Wales or New Jersey. 'Pedicle' is used in the sense of 'a little foot'. 'Congo Pedicle' or 'the Pedicle' is also used to refer to the Congo Pedicle road, which crosses it.
The Congo Pedicle road crosses the Congolese territory of the Congo Pedicle and was constructed by and is maintained by Zambia to connect its Copperbelt and Luapula Provinces. Both the road and the territory may be referred to as ‘the Pedicle’. It is designated as the N36 Route on the Congolese Road Network.
This article gives lists of the National Monuments and other historic sites of Zambia, with a one- or two-line description providing links to details given on other pages.
Water transport and the many navigable inland waterways in Zambia have a long tradition of practical use except in parts of the south. Since draught animals such as oxen were not heavily used, water transport was usually the only alternative to going on foot until the 19th century. The history and current importance of Zambian waterways, as well as the types of indigenous boats used, provide information on this important aspect of Zambian economy.
Chiengi or is a historic colonial boma of the British Empire in central Africa and today is a settlement in the Luapula Province of Zambia, and headquarters of Chiengi District. Chiengi is in the north-east corner of Lake Mweru, and at the foot of wooded hills dividing that lake from Lake Mweru Wantipa, and overlooking a dambo stretching northwards from the lake, where the Chiengi rivulet flows down from the hills.
Milenge District with headquarters at Milenge, Zambia is the most southerly district in the Luapula Province and was carved out of Mansa District. As of the 2000 Zambian Census, the district had a population of 28,790 people. It is rural and undeveloped, lacking roads and infrastructure. Its southern boundary is the Luapula River which divides it from DR Congo and the district lies roughly between the Chembe Ferry to Mansa road in the west and the Kapalala Ferry to Samfya road in the east. A single dirt road runs through the central part of the district from Chembe in the west following the north-west bank of the Lwela River, passing through Milenge Boma, Milambo and Lwela Mission, eventually connecting to the provincial capital, Mansa in the north-west. Most of the population of the district lives along the shallow valley of the Lwela River. The district is gently undulating flat plateau with an elevation of about 1200 m, consisting of woodland and wooded grassland interspersed with dambos.
Chilubi District with headquarters at Chilubi is located in Northern Province, Zambia. It covers the north-east Lake Bangweulu and Bangweulu Wetlands containing several islands including Chilubi Island, and some of the mainland northeast of the lake. As of the 2000 Zambian Census, the district had a population of 66,338 people.
Chiengi District with headquarters at Chiengi is the smallest and most northerly district in the Luapula Province of Zambia and was carved out of Nchelenge District after Zambia's independence. As of the 2010 Zambian Census, the district had a population of 109,147 people. Most of its population live in fishing villages along the 70 km (approx.) of the north-east shore of Lake Mweru which lies within the district. The largest settlement is Puta, 5 km south of Chiengi town, named after Chief Puta. The district is bounded by the DR Congo border in the north, Kaputa District in the east and the Kalungwishi River in the south.
Samfya District is located in Luapula Province, Zambia. The headquarters is at Samfya.
The M3 road is a road in northern Zambia that connects Kasama in the Northern Province with the Congo Pedicle border at Chembe in the Luapula Province via Luwingu and Mansa. The road contains two tollgates between Kasama and Mansa.
