Zambezi Region

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Zambezi Region
Zambezi in Namibia.svg
Location of the Zambezi Region in Namibia
Country Namibia
Seat Katima Mulilo
Government
  Governor Lawrence Sampofu [1]
Area
[2]
  Total14,785 km2 (5,709 sq mi)
Population
 (2023 census)
  Total142,373
  Density9.6/km2 (25/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+2 (CAT)
HDI (2017)0.628 [3]
medium · 8th

The Zambezi Region is one of the 14 regions of Namibia. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country. It is largely concurrent with the major Zambezi River after which it was named. The region has eight constituencies and its capital is the town of Katima Mulilo. The self-governed village of Bukalo is also situated in this region. [4] The Zambezi Region had a population of 90,596 in 2011. [5] As of 2020, it had 47,884 registered voters. [6] At the time of the 2023 census, 142,373 people lived in the region. [7]

Contents

Politics

The region comprises eight electoral constituencies:

In the 2015 regional elections SWAPO won in all eight constituencies [8] and obtained 77.5% of all votes (2010: 80%). In the 2020 regional election SWAPO still had the vast majority of votes (45.4%) but lost four of the eight constituencies, three to independent candidates and one to the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020. [6]

Geography and Climate

The Zambezi Region can be classified as a tropical area, with high temperatures and high rainfall during the December-to-March rainy season, making it the wettest region in Namibia. The terrain mostly consists of swamps, floodplains, wetlands and woodland.

In addition to the Zambezi River, the Caprivi Region also holds the Kwando River, which marks the border with Botswana. Tributaries include the Linyanti and the Chobe. The Kwando meets the Zambezi in the far east of the region.

Katima Mulilo is the largest town, with other notable villages and settlements, including Chefuzwe, Lusese, Bukalo, Kalimbeza, Isize, Luhonono, Mafuta, Liselo, Musanga, Kongola, Chinchimane, Bukalo, Sibinda, and Impalila, along with Kayuo, Wenela, Mapulanga, Sambeso, Katembo, Siambiza, Luzibalule, Sachona, Lubuta, Mulanga, Mashambo, Omega Ill, Chetto, Bwabwata, Gaucha, Geusha, Yishesha, Sekrige, Singalamwe, Choi, Ngonga, Muneambuanas, Dipito, Sangwali, Photo, Sikwalo, Matengu, Yaka, Linyati, Muketela, Sibbinda,Makanga, Mahachana Chengere, Sebukis, Katonga, and Sachinga.

Borders

The Zambezi Region is almost entirely bordered by foreign countries. Its only domestic border is a with the Kavango East Region in the west.

The Namibia-Zambia-Botswana tripoint lies less than 100 metres from the Zimbabwe border - causing Namibia sometimes erroneously thought to border Zimbabwe.

Flora and fauna

The region is home to 450 animal species, including elephants, making the Zambezi Region a popular game-watching spot. Wildlife is protected by several national parks, Bwabwata National Park, Nkasa Rupara National Park (previously known as Mamili National Park), and Mudumu National Park; animals travel freely across the unmarked border with Botswana, where the Chobe National Park lies. The Caprivi strip is also a prime bird-watching area, with almost 70 percent of bird species found in Namibia being recorded here.

Population

Over 90,000 people live in the Zambezi Region of Namibia, [2] about four percent of Namibia's population. The population is mostly composed of subsistence farmers who make their living on the banks of the Zambezi, Kwando, Linyanti and Chobe Rivers. 33,000 are part of the Subia people [ citation needed ] and about 17,000 are part of the Lozi people amongst other ethnic groups such as Mafwe, Mbalangwe, Yeyi and Totela. According to Ethnologue, Silozi is the lingua franca. [9]

Economy and infrastructure

According to the 2012 Namibia Labour Force Survey, unemployment in the Zambezi Region is 28.0%. [10] Zambezi has 102 schools with a total of 39,808 pupils. [11]

Tourism

Bwabwata National Park is 6,100 square kilometres (2,400 sq mi) and extends for about 180 km (110 mi) from the Kavango River River in the west to the Kwando River in the east. Deciduous woodlands are dominated by trees such as wild seringa, copalwood and Zambezi teak. While the park is sanctuary to 35 large and numerous small game species, visitors are not likely to see many of these animals, as vehicles are restricted to the road between Kavango and Eastern Caprivi. Animals likely to be seen are elephant, roan and kudu. Buffalo occur towards the west. As many as 339 bird species have been recorded in the west of the Zambezi Region.

The wild and little visited Nkasa Rupara National Park (formerly Mamili National Park) is Namibia's equivalent of the Okavango Delta, a watery wonderland of wildlife rich islands, river channels and wetlands. The focal points of the 320 km2 (120 sq mi) national park are Nkasa and Lupala, two large islands in the Kwando/Linyati river. During the dry season the islands can be reached by road but after the rains 80% of the area becomes flooded, cutting them off from the mainland.

Mudumu National Park is a vast 1,000 km2 (390 sq mi) expanse of dense savannah and mopane woodland with the Kwando River at its western border. The park is home to small populations of sitatunga and red lechwe while spotted neck otter, hippo and crocodile inhabit the waterways. Animals to be encountered are elephant, buffalo, roan, sable, kudu, impala, oribi, zebra, wild dog as well as some 430 species of birds.

The Namibian Wetland Route, established in 2005, is a local tourism association of businesses along a route from Divundu to Impalila.

History

Until the end of the 19th century, the area was known as Itenge, and it was under the rule of the Lozi kings. In the late 19th century the strip of land was administered as part of the British protectorate of Bechuanaland (Botswana). The German Empire in 1890 laid claim to the British-administered island of Zanzibar; Britain objected and the dispute was settled at the Berlin Conference later that year. On 1 July 1890, the British acquired Zanzibar and Germany acquired the territory which became known as the Caprivi Strip. Caprivi was named after German Chancellor Leo von Caprivi, who negotiated the land in an 1890 exchange with the United Kingdom. Leo von Caprivi arranged for the Caprivi strip to be annexed to German South West Africa in order to give Germany access to the Zambezi River as part of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty. The German motivation behind the swap was to acquire a strip of land linking German South West Africa with the Zambezi River, providing easy access to Tanganyika (Tanzania) and an outlet to the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately for the Germans, the British colonisation of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe and Zambia) stopped them well upstream of Victoria Falls, which proved a considerable barrier to navigation on the Zambezi.

During World War I, the Caprivi Strip again came under British rule and was governed as part of Bechuanaland but it received little attention and became known as a lawless frontier. The region became of geopolitical importance during the 1980s when it was used as a jumping off point and re-supply route for South African support for the UNITA movement in Angola.

Caprivi Region became one of Namibia's thirteen regions when the country gained independence in 1990.

Renaming

In August 2013, following a recommendation of the fourth Delimitation Commission for the Electoral Commission of Namibia, the Caprivi Region was renamed the Zambezi Region in a step to eliminate names of colonial administrators from Namibia's maps. [12] Alternative proposals for the region's name had included Iyambezi, Linyandi, Itenge, and others. [13] The name of the Zambezi town of Schuckmannsburg was also changed to Luhonono as part of the same process.

The renaming was not without controversy, however. The group Concerned Caprivians (or Caprivi Concerned Group) released a press statement expressing concern over the name change as well as Delimitation Commission boundary and constituency demarcation changes. [14] Caprivi African National Union (CANU) party secretary general Robert Sililo argued that the renaming was motivated by a desire to dilute Caprivian identity and history. [14] A statement from Concerned Caprivians read, "the name change from Caprivi to Zambezi is destined to destroy our identity and history as a symbol of renaissance, the dilution of political foundations in the identity of CANU party". [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caprivi Strip</span> Geographical area of northeastern Namibia

The Caprivi Strip, also known simply as Caprivi, is a geographic salient protruding from the northeastern corner of Namibia. It is bordered by Botswana to the south and Angola and Zambia to the north. Namibia, Botswana and Zambia meet at a single point at the eastern tip of the Strip, which also comes within 150 m (490 ft) of Zimbabwe thus nearly forming a quadripoint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zambesia</span> Proposed country in Southern Africa

Zambesia, historically known as Sebitwane country, Makololo country, and Sekeletu country, is a region with deep cultural and historical significance situated in southern Africa. The area's history predates the establishment of British and German protectorates in the late 19th century. However, following the colonial divisions and the subsequent independence of neighboring states, the Zambesi peoples found themselves divided among multiple countries, leading to cultural fragmentation and struggles for recognition and self-determination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuando River</span> River in south-central Africa

The Cuando River is a river in south-central Africa flowing through Angola and Namibia's Caprivi Strip and into the Linyanti Swamp on the northern border of Botswana. Below the swamp, the river is called the Linyanti River and, farther east, the Chobe River, before it flows into the Zambezi River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katima Mulilo</span> Town in Zambezi Region, Namibia

Katima Mulilo or simply Katima is the capital of the Zambezi Region in Namibia. It had 46,401 inhabitants in 2023, and comprises two electoral constituencies, Katima Mulilo Rural and Katima Mulilo Urban. It is located on the B8 national road on the banks of the Zambezi River in the Caprivi Strip in lush riverine vegetation with tropical birds and monkeys. The town receives annual average rainfall of 654 millimetres (25.7 in).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luhonono</span> Settlement in Zambezi Region, Namibia

Luhonono, until 2013 Schuckmannsburg, is a settlement in the Caprivi Strip in northeastern Namibia with a population of about 800. It belongs to the Kabbe North electoral constituency of the Zambezi Region. During the time of German colonialism, it was the capital of the Caprivi Strip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caprivi conflict</span> Rebellion in northeast Namibia

The Caprivi conflict was an armed conflict between the Namibian government and the Caprivi Liberation Army, a rebel group that waged a brief insurrection in 1999 for the secession of the Caprivi Strip.

Articles related to Namibia include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mishake Muyongo</span> Namibian politician currently living in exile in Denmark (born 1944)

Albert Mishake Muyongo is a Namibian politician and former Member of Parliament who is currently living in exile in Denmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caprivi Liberation Army</span> Namibian rebel and separatist group

Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA) is a Namibian rebel and separatist group which was established in 1994 to separate the Caprivi Strip, a region mainly inhabited by the Lozi people. It operates only in the Caprivi strip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sioma Ngwezi National Park</span> National park in Zambia

Sioma Ngwezi National Park is a 5,000-square-kilometre park in the south west corner of Zambia. It is undeveloped and rarely visited, lacking roads and being off the usual tourist tracks, but this may change in the future.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeyi people</span> Bantu-speaking people in Botswana and Namibia

The MaYeyi are Bantu-speaking people of north-western Botswana and north-eastern Namibia. The Yeyi immigrated to the area in the 18th century from the north, and lived in close cooperation with the San people, or Basarwa, in particular, the Xanikhwe who had lived in the area previously. They speak ShiYeyi, a language that was influenced by the San and exhibits the characteristic clicks.

Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area is the second-largest nature and landscape conservation area in the world, spanning the international borders of five countries in Southern Africa. It includes a major part of the Upper Zambezi River and Okavango basins and Delta, the Caprivi Strip of Namibia, the southeastern part of Angola, southwestern Zambia, the northern wildlands of Botswana and western Zimbabwe. The centre of this area is at the confluence of the Zambezi and Chobe Rivers where the borders of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe meet. It incorporates a number of notable national parks and nature sites, including Chobe National Park, Hwange National Park, and the Victoria Falls. The region is home to a population of approximately 250,000 animals, including the largest population of African Elephants in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bwabwata National Park</span> Namibian national park

Bwabwata National Park is a protected area in northeastern Namibia that was established in 2007 and covers 6,274 km2 (2,422 sq mi). It was created by merging Namibia's Caprivi Game Park and Mahango Game Park. It is situated in the Zambezi and Kavango East regions, extending along the Caprivi Strip. It is bounded by the Okavango River to the west and the Kwando River to the east. Angola lies to the north and Botswana to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinchimane</span> Settlement in Zambezi Region, Namibia

Chinchimane is a settlement in Namibia's Caprivi Strip. It is situated approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) southwest of the regional capital Katima Mulilo. Chinchimane belongs to the Sibbinda Constituency in Namibia's Zambezi Region.

The Masubia are a tribe in Caprivi Strip whose traditional authority (ikuta) is based in Bukalo.

The Mayuni Conservancy is a conservation area in Linyanti Constituency, in Namibia's northeastern Caprivi Region, along the eastern bank of the Cuando River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mudumu National Park</span> National park in Namibia

Mudumu is a National Park in Caprivi Region of north-eastern Namibia. Established in 1990, the park covers an area of 737 square kilometres (285 sq mi). The Kwando River forms the western border with Botswana. Various communal area conservancies and community forests surround Mudumu National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nkasa Rupara National Park</span> National park of Namibia

Nkasa Rupara National Park, also Nkasa Lupala National Park, formerly Mamili National Park, is a national park in Namibia. It is centered on the Nkasa and Rupara islands on the Kwando/Linyanti River in the south-western corner of East Caprivi. Botswana lies to the west, south and east, and Sangwali village to the north. It is Namibia's largest formally protected wetland area. It is one of Namibia’s protected areas that benefits local communities surrounding parks. The unfenced park forms a trans-boundary link for wildlife migration between Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia. Nkasa Rupara is part of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.

The M10 road is a road in Zambia. It goes from Livingstone, through Sesheke and Senanga, to Mongu. The road is approximately 508 kilometres and follows the Zambezi River for its entire length.

References

  1. "President announces governors". The Namibian . 10 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Namibia's Population by Region". Election Watch. Institute for Public Policy Research (1): 3. 2013.
  3. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  4. "New Bukalo village council eyes development". Namibian Sun. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  5. "Zambezi (Region, Namibia) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Regional Council 2020 Election Results". Interactive map. Electoral Commission of Namibia. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  7. "Zambezi (Region, Namibia) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  8. "Regional Council Election Results 2015". Electoral Commission of Namibia. 3 December 2015. pp. 22–23.
  9. "Lozi" . Ethnologue.
  10. Duddy, Jo Maré (11 April 2013). "Unemployment rate still alarmingly high". The Namibian .
  11. Miyanicwe, Clemans; Kahiurika, Ndanki (27 November 2013). "School counsellors overstretched". The Namibian . p. 1.
  12. Nakale, Albertina (9 August 2013). "President divides Kavango into two". New Era . Archived from the original on 22 October 2014 via via allafrica.com. Alt URL.
  13. Mubita, Charles (16 August 2013). "From Caprivi to Zambezi – a historic journey through time". Namibian Sun. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  14. 1 2 Sankwasa, Faith (29 August 2013). "Zambezi residents to protest name change". Namibian Sun. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  15. Sanzila, George (30 August 2013). "Namibia: Name Change Demo Flops". New Era. Retrieved 1 September 2013 via AllAfrica.com.

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