Zambezi River: Difference between revisions

 

The '''Zambezi''' (also spelled '''Zambeze''' and '''Zambesi''') is the [[List of rivers by length|fourth-longest]] [[river]] in [[Africa]], the longest east flowing river in Africa  and the largest flowing into the [[Indian Ocean]] from Africa. The area of its [[drainage basin|basin]] is {{convert|1390000|km2}}, slightly less than half that of the [[Nile]]. The {{convert|2574|km|mi|adj=mid|-long river}} rises in [[Zambia]] and flows through eastern [[Angola]], along the eastern border of [[Namibia]] and the northern border of [[Botswana]], then along the border between [[Zambia]] and [[Zimbabwe]] to [[Mozambique]], where it crosses the country to empty into the [[Indian Ocean]].

There are two main sources of [[hydroelectric]] power on the river, the [[Kariba Dam]], which provides power to Zambia and Zimbabwe, and the [[Cahora Bassa Dam]] in Mozambique, which provides power to Mozambique and South Africa. There is also a smaller power station at Victoria Falls.

The region drained by the Zambezi is a vast broken-edged plateau 900–1200 m high, composed in the remote interior of [[metamorphic rock|metamorphic]] beds and fringed with the [[igneous]] rocks of the Victoria Falls. At [[Shupanga]], on the lower Zambezi, thin strata of grey and yellow [[sandstone]]s, with an occasional band of [[limestone]], crop out on the bed of the river in the dry season, and these persist beyond [[Tete]], where they are associated with extensive seams of [[coal]]. Coal is also found in the district just below Victoria Falls. [[Gold]]-bearing rocks occur in several places.

The river is frequently interrupted by rapids and so has never been an important long-distance transport route. [[David Livingstone#Zambezi expedition|David Livingstone's Zambezi Expedition]] attempted to open up the river to navigation by [[paddle steamer]], but was defeated by the [[Cahora Bassa rapids]]. Along some stretches, it is often more convenient to travel by [[canoe]] along the river rather than on the unimproved roads which are often in very poor condition due to being regularly submerged in flood waters, and many small villages along the banks of the river are only accessible by boat. In the 1930s and 40s a paddle barge service operated on the stretch between the Katombora Rapids, about {{convert|50|km|mi}} upstream from Livingstone, and the rapids just upstream from Katima Mulilo. However, depending on the water level, boats could be paddled through—[[Lozi people|Lozi]] paddlers, a dozen or more in a boat, could deal with most of them—or they could be pulled along the shore or carried around the rapids, and teams of oxen pulled barges {{convert|5|km|mi}} over land around the Ngonye Falls.<ref>[http://www.nrzam.org.uk/NRJ/V1N2/V1N2.htm (On www.nrzam.org.uk website accessed 26 February)] E. C. Mills: "Overlanding Cattle from Barotse to Angola", ''The Northern Rhodesia Journal'', Vol 1 No 2, pp 53–63 (1950).</ref>