Geography of Zambia – The Ultimate Free Guide 2021
Learn facts and Geography of Zambia including Major Geographical Features, Natural resources, Region, area, Capital, Border countries, rivers in Zambia.
- Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa.
- The capital city of Zambia is Lusaka, located in the south-central part of Zambia.
- The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the north, the core economic hubs of the country.
- Zambia contains abundant natural resources, including minerals, wildlife, forestry, freshwater and arable land.
- In 2010, the World Bank named Zambia one of the world’s fastest economically reformed countries.
- The territory of Zambia was known as Northern Rhodesia from 1911 to 1964. It was renamed Zambia in October 1964 on its independence from British rule. The name Zambia derives from the Zambezi River.
- It has a total area of 752,618 square kilometers (slightly larger than France), of which 9 220 km2 is water.
Geography of Zambia
Region:
Southern Africa
Area:
752,617 km2
Capital:
Lusaka
Population:
17,351,708
Bordering Countries:
Bordering countries of Zambia are
- Angola,
- Malawi,
- Mozambique,
- Namibia,
- Tanzania,
- Zimbabwe,
- Botswana.
Total Size:
752,618 km2
Geographical Coordinates:
15°S 30°E
World Region or Continent:
Africa
General Terrain:
- The terrain of Zambia is mostly high plateau, with some hills and mountains.
- The lowest point is the Zambezi river, at 329 m (1,079 ft) above sea level, with the highest being Mafinga Central in the Mafinga Hills, at 2,339 m (7,674 ft) above sea level.
Geographical Low Point:
Zambezi River, 329 m
Geographical High Point:
Mafinga Central, Mafinga Hills 2,339 m
Climate:
- Zambia has a tropical climate, modified by the altitude of the country.
- There is a rainy season that runs from October/November to March/April.
- Zambia lies in the watershed between DR Congo and Zambezi river systems. Leaving two provinces, all other provinces lie in the country frontier formed between the continental divide separating the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, which traverses from DR Congo to the south of Tanzania.
Major cities:
- Lusaka
- Kitwe
- Ndola
- Kabwe
- Chingola
- Mufulira
- Livingstone
- Luanshya
- Kasama
- Chipata
Major Land forms:
- The general elevation of the nation as a whole is tended towards west to east from the Kalahari Basin. The level of land falls from the upper Congo towards the Zambezi depression in the South forming a plateau.
Major Rivers and Lakes:
Major rivers:
- The Kafue River
Major Lakes:
- Lake Bangweulu.
- Lake Kariba.
- Lake Kashiba.
- Lake Ishiba Ng’andu.
- Mofwe Lagoon.
- Lake Mweru.
- Lake Mweru Wantipa.
- Lake Tanganyika.
Natural Resources:
Natural Resources are copper, cobalt, silver, uranium, lead, coal, zinc, gold, and emerald.
Major Geographical Features:
Biomes & Ecosystems:
- 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 (or ecozone).
Topography:
- The general topography of the country is characterized by uplifted planation surfaces.
Oceans:
Indian Ocean
Islands:
- Kilwa Island
- Isokwe
- Chishi Island
- Chete Island
- Likoma Island
Mountain Ranges:
- Mwanda Peak
- Mount Mumpu
Provinces of Zambia:
- Lusaka
- Copperbelt
- Copperbelt
- Central
- Copperbelt
- Copperbelt
- Southern
- Copperbelt
- Northern
- Eastern
See Also:
World Map – The Ultimate Free Guide
References:
- Wikipedia – Geography of Zambia
- britannica.com – Geography of Zambia
- zambiatourism.com – Geography of Zambia
- victoriafalls-guide.net – Geography of Zambia
- Countryreports.org- Geography of Zambia
