General Geography
Zambia's 752 617 square kilometres makes it a large country - comparative to the combined areas of France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland. It takes its name from the Zambezi River, whose source is in the north west of the country, and which forms part of the southern border.
Much of Zambia consists of a high plateau, with an average height of between 1 060 and 1 363 meters above sea level. There are isolated mountain ridges rising to just over 1 800 metres (with some peaks over 2 000 metres) on the eastern border, and area called the Nyika Plateau. Over most of the country the surface tends to be flat, broken by small hills, the result of aeons of undisturbed erosion of the underlying crystalline rocks. These rocks contain the bulk of the country's wealth in the form of minerals and the 90 mile long corridor known as the Copperbelt, along the north-western part of the country.
The plateau is broken by the huge valleys of the Upper Zambezi and its major tributaries, of which the Kafue and Luangwa rivers are the largest. A result of the overall plateau falling off to the south is the generally is the swift discharge of water towards the east coast of Africa and the interruption of the rivers by waterfalls and rapids.
With the exception of the Northern and Luapula provinces which are part of the Congo basin, Zambia lies on the watershed between the DRC and Zambezi River systems. The three great natural lakes of the country, Bangweulu, Mweru and the southern end of Lake Tanganyika (the second deepest natural lake in the world) are all in the north and are part of the headwaters of the Zaire River. Lake Bangweulu, which with its swamps covers an area of about 9 800 square kilometres, is drained by the Luapula River.
Much of Zambia consists of a high plateau, with an average height of between 1 060 and 1 363 meters above sea level. There are isolated mountain ridges rising to just over 1 800 metres (with some peaks over 2 000 metres) on the eastern border, and area called the Nyika Plateau. Over most of the country the surface tends to be flat, broken by small hills, the result of aeons of undisturbed erosion of the underlying crystalline rocks. These rocks contain the bulk of the country's wealth in the form of minerals and the 90 mile long corridor known as the Copperbelt, along the north-western part of the country.
The plateau is broken by the huge valleys of the Upper Zambezi and its major tributaries, of which the Kafue and Luangwa rivers are the largest. A result of the overall plateau falling off to the south is the generally is the swift discharge of water towards the east coast of Africa and the interruption of the rivers by waterfalls and rapids.
With the exception of the Northern and Luapula provinces which are part of the Congo basin, Zambia lies on the watershed between the DRC and Zambezi River systems. The three great natural lakes of the country, Bangweulu, Mweru and the southern end of Lake Tanganyika (the second deepest natural lake in the world) are all in the north and are part of the headwaters of the Zaire River. Lake Bangweulu, which with its swamps covers an area of about 9 800 square kilometres, is drained by the Luapula River.
