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.
The ChambeshiRiver of northeastern Zambia is the most remote headstream of the Congo River and therefore it is considered the source of the Congo River.
The lechwe, red lechwe, or southern lechwe is an antelope found in wetlands of south-central Africa.
Northern Province is one of Zambia's ten provinces. It covers approximately one-sixth of Zambia in land area. The provincial capital is Kasama. The province is made up of 12 districts, namely Kasama District, Chilubi District, Kaputa District, Luwingu District, Mbala District, Mporokoso District, Mpulungu District, Mungwi District, Nsama District, Lupososhi District, Lunte District and Senga Hill District. Currently, only Kasama and Mbala have attained municipal council status, while the rest are still district councils. It is widely considered to be the heartland of the Bemba, one of the largest tribes in Zambia.
The Bangweulu Wetlands is a wetland ecosystem adjacent to Lake Bangweulu in north-eastern Zambia. The area has been designated as one of the world's most important wetlands by the Ramsar Convention and an "Important Bird Area" by BirdLife International. African Parks began managing Bangweulu in partnership with Zambia's Department of National Parks and Wildlife with the establishment of the Bangweulu Wetland Management Board in 2008.
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.
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.
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.
The wildlife of Zambia refers to the natural flora and fauna of Zambia. This article provides an overview, and outline of the main wildlife areas or regions, and compact lists of animals focusing on prevalence and distribution in the country rather than on taxonomy. More specialized articles on particular groups are linked from here.
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 2022 Zambian Census, the district had a population of 114,011 people.
The biomes and ecoregions in the ecology of Zambia are described, listed and mapped here, following the World Wildlife Fund's classification scheme for terrestrial ecoregions, and the WWF freshwater ecoregion classification for rivers, lakes and wetlands. Zambia is in the Zambezian region of the Afrotropical biogeographic realm. Three terrestrial biomes are well represented in the country . The distribution of the biomes and ecoregions is governed mainly by the physical environment, especially climate.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Zambia:
The Bangweulu tsessebe is a population and possible taxon of Damaliscus lunatus, which are large African antelopes of the grasslands. This population is presently restricted to northern Zambia in the wild, although it was recorded as occurring in neighbouring southernmost Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 1940s. Also seen as the northernmost population belonging to the nominate southern sassaby subspecies, in 2003 it was described as a new species, only to be downgraded to a subspecies a few years later. Its taxonomic status is unclear as of 2021. As an individual sassaby of this taxon cannot be clearly distinguished from populations to the south, the taxon was defined using an experimental suite of statistical techniques applied to a sample set, based on multivariate analysis, and recognised under an experimental new taxonomy. Nominate sassaby antelopes become progressively darker on average in the northern populations, and on average have slightly thicker horns at the base of the skull, but those of northern Zambia are the darkest and with the most robust horns on average.
The Mambatuta Falls is a steep waterfall on the Luapula River, which originates in Lake Bangweulu and flows through Zambia and along the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo into Lake Mweru.
Muchinga Province is one of the ten provinces of Zambia. It is located in the northeast of the country and borders with Tanzania in the north, Malawi in the east, Eastern Province in the south, Central Province in the southwest, Luapula Province in the west, and Northern Province in the northwest. The administrative center of the province is Chinsali.
Lavushi Manda National Park is a national park in the Muchinga Province of Zambia with an area of 1,500 sq km. It is the 11th largest of the 20 National Parks in Zambia. The park was initially gazetted as a Game Reserve in 1941, and was declared a National Park in 1972. It is located in a district of the same name (Lavushimanda), with the South Luangwa National Park in the neighbouring Mpika District. It is adjacent to Bangweulu Game Management Area to the northwest, Kafinda Game Management Area lies further west. The chiefdom of Chiundaponde is in the northwest, north lies Luchembe, northwest Chikwanda, east Mpumba, and south lies Muchinka chiefdom. It covers a small range of mountains and hills, and is principally covered in miombo woodlands, with a number of rivers and streams, and a few areas of grassland, both on drier land or in the form of seasonally wet dambos. There are few large mammals, due to poaching in the previous century, but fishing and hiking are possible. Certain antelope species retreat upland to the park from the Bangweulu swamps to the northwest during the rainy season.
Zambia 