Bangweulu — 'where the water sky meets the sky' — is one of the world's great wetland systems, comprising Lake Bangweulu, the

Bangweulu Swamps 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 Intern ...

and the Bangweulu Flats or floodplain.Camerapix: ''Spectrum Guide to Zambia.'' Camerapix International Publishing, Nairobi, 1996. Situated in the upper

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

basin in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

, the Bangweulu system covers an almost completely flat area roughly the size of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

, at an elevation of 1,140 m straddling Zambia's

Luapula Province 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 2010 Zambian census, the Province had a population of 991,92 ...

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 Stress, either physiological, biological or psychological, is an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition. Stress is the body's method of reacting to a condition such as a threat, challenge or physical and psych ...

and

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

issues.Halls, A.J. (ed.), 1997. "Wetlands, Biodiversity and the Ramsar Convention: The Role of the Convention on Wetlands in the Conservation and Wise Use of Biodiversity". Ramsar Convention Bureau, Gland, Switzerland With a long axis of 75 km and a width of up to 40 km, Lake Bangweulu's permanent open water surface is about 3,000 km², which expands when its swamps and

floodplains A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

are in flood at the end of the

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * ''T ...

in May. The combined area of the lake and wetlands reaches 15,000 km². The lake has an average depth of only 4 m,Google Earth (http://earth.google.com) accessed 31 January 2007.ILEC Data Summary: Lake Bangweulu.
Website accessed 30 January 2007 and a maximum depth of 10 m.Lake Profile: Bangweulu.
Accessed 8 September 2021. The Bangweulu system is fed by about seventeen rivers of which the Chambeshi (the source of the Congo River) is the largest, and is drained by the

Luapula River The Luapula River is a section of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. It is a transnational river forming for nearly all its length part of the border between Zambia and the DR Congo. It joins Lake Bangweulu (wholly in Zambia) to Lake Mwe ...

Sections of Lake Bangweulu

:''Numbers in round brackets like so — (12) — refer to locations on the satellite image''. A notable feature of the Bangweulu system is a series of parallel sandy ridges running south-west to north-east. These are particularly striking in satellite photographs and are easily seen along the north-western shore, the Lifunge Peninsula ''(2)'', Mbalala Island ''(3)'', Chilubi Island ''(6)'', and the Kapata Peninsula ''(10)''. They divide the lake into three sections parallel to its main axis. One divides off a section called Lake Chifunabuli ''(1)'', 50 km long but only 5 km wide. Its entrance through a gap in the sand spits (at the end of Lifunge Peninsula) is only 250 m wide. Another sandy ridge, Mbabala Island, divides off a section called Lake Walilupe ''(4)'', 30 km long by 13 km wide. The main, middle section of the lake between Ifunge and Mbabala is known only as Bangweulu.NRZAM.org_website:_Directorate_of_Colonial_Surveys
:_''Map_of_Bangweulu_Swamps''_(1952)..html" ;"title="Directorate of Colonial Surveys">NRZAM.org website: Directorate of Colonial Surveys
: ''Map of Bangweulu Swamps'' (1952).">Directorate of Colonial Surveys">NRZAM.org website: Directorate of Colonial Surveys
: ''Map of Bangweulu Swamps'' (1952).Accessed 24 April 2007. There are numerous bays, inlets, smaller lakes and lagoons around Lake Bangweulu, connected by open water, narrow channels or swamps. The largest is Lake Kampolombo ''(9)'', 30 km by 5 km, south of Lake Walilupe and connected to it by a 7 km channel. The 32 km long Kapata Peninsula lies between Lake Kampolombo and the swamps; at its tip on the eastern side is the 15 km long Lake Kangwena ''(11)''. Only the western side of the lake and some of the islands have a well defined shore, with sandy beaches in places especially around Samfya, though even there, some of the bays and inlets are swampy.Terracarta/International Travel Maps, Vancouver Canada: "Zambia, 2nd edition", 2000 It was found that infection with Schistosoma haematobium on the western shores of Lake Bangweulu, Zambia, is higher than previously reported.

The Bangweulu Swamps

The Bangweulu Swamps, larger than the lake, extend from the north-west clockwise around to the south. The main part covers an area of roughly 120 km by 75 km and they are normally not less than 9,000 km². The swamps act as a check on annual flooding downstream in the Luapula by releasing water slowly through many lagoons and channels. They help prevent the Luapula valley being flooded excessively in the rainy season.

Rivers and channels through the swamps

The Bangweulu swamps are fed mainly from the north-east by the

Chambeshi River The Chambeshi (or Chambezi) River of northeastern Zambia is the most remote headstream of the Congo River (in length) and therefore it is considered the source of the Congo River. (However, by volume of water, the Lualaba River provides a greater ...

, and drain to the south into the

. The lake is connected to these rivers, and they to each other, by a complex mass of channels through the swamps that may become choked by vegetation and change their course; there is no easy navigation between them. Floating beds of papyrus may close up the channels to a width allowing only dugout canoes to pass. Motorised vessels are hampered by their width as well as by vegetation clogging propellers. Since colonial times attempts have been made to improve navigation and alter drainage patterns by cutting channels through the swamp. In 1942, attempts were made, with limited success, to cut an outlet from Lake Walilupe to the Luapula's exit from the swamps, to allow motor boats to transport cassava and other produce from the northern area of the lake to

Kapalala Ferry Kapalala is an administrative ward in Songwe District, Songwe Region, Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes re ...

on the Luapula and from there to the

Copperbelt The Copperbelt () is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining. Traditionally, the term ''Copperbelt'' includes the ...

Lagoons

There are numerous lagoons in the swamps, the more prominent ones are: ''Lake Chali (12)'' in the south-west, ''Lake Chaya (13)'' in the east at the mouth of the Lulingilla River in the east, ''Lake Wumba (14)'' in the north-east at the confluence of the Chambeshi and Luansenshi ''(20)'' Rivers, and the ''Pook Lagoon (15)'' in the East near Nsalushi Island ''(25)''.

Other features of the swamps

On the northern side there are several wide swampy estuaries where rivers enter the lake or swamps, going from north-west to north-east they are: Lupososhi Estuary ''(16)'', Luena Estuary ''(17)'', Lukuto Estuary ''(18)'', Chambeshi Estuary ''(19)'' (and Luansenshi Estuary which feeds into it). On the eastern and south-eastern sides the swamps are fed by the Munikashi, Luitikila, Lumbatwa, Lukulu and Lulimala rivers. The estuaries of the last three are the main dry season grazing grounds of the Black Lechwe. In the main part of the swamps, just south of Chilubi Island, is a large area which is very shallow in the flood season and may become fairly dry at the end of the dry season, called the Lunga Bank ''(27)''.

Floodplains

Large grassy floodplains with an area of about 3,000 km² lie mainly south of the swamps, but also in the north-north-east, acting as an extension of the region in the wet season. The southern floodplains are famous for large herds of the near-endemic

black lechwe The lechwe, red lechwe, or southern lechwe (''Kobus leche'') is an antelope found in Wetland, wetlands of south-central Africa. Range The lechwe is native to Botswana, Zambia, southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, northeastern Namibia, ...

. Further information on wildlife of the wetlands is found on the

Bangweulu Wetlands 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 Internati ...

page.

Water parameters

Water temperatures at the surface of the Bangweulu system ranged from 25.8 to 28.3 °C in November 1993 and from 23.7 to 27.1 °C in February 1994.AR Bos and HJ Ticheler: "A limnological update of the Bangweulu fishery, Zambia"
'DoF/BF/1996/Report' no.26. 25 pp. (1996). Accessed 12 December 2015. The conductivity of the Bangweulu system is unusually low and varies between 20 and 40 μS/cm. Transparency of the water ranges from 0.35 to 0.60 m in most water bodies of the system, but in the Tuchingo lagoon the transparency is much larger (>1.70 m) allowing the bottom to be seen.

European exploration

The lake was known to Europeans from reports by chiefs such as

Kazembe Kazembe is a traditional kingdom in modern-day Zambia, Southeastern Congo. For more than 250 years, Kazembe has been an influential kingdom of the Kiluba- Chibemba, speaking the language of the Eastern Luba- Lunda people of south-central Afric ...

and from Swahili traders, and it was sometimes referred to as 'Lake Bemba' from the name of the dominant tribe. In 1868 explorer and missionary

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

was the first European to see the lake at the north end of the Lake Chifunabuli section. He was taken by canoe as far as Mbabala Island. His last expedition a few years later foundered in the swamps and their maze of shifting channels as he struggled to discover the rivers draining in and out of the lake. He died in 1873 in Chief Chitambo's village on the edge of the southern flood plain, about 100 km from the lake itself.

and Horace Waller (ed.): ''The Last Journals of David Livingstone in Central Africa from 1865 to his Death''. Two volumes, John Murray, 1874. The spot is marked by the

Livingstone Memorial The Livingstone Memorial, built in 1899, marks the spot where missionary explorer David Livingstone died on 1 May 1873, in Chief Chitambo's village at Chipundu (today in Chitambo District), near the edge of the Bangweulu Swamps in Zambia. His bod ...

(see map). The lake was partially surveyed in 1883 by the French traveller, Victor Giraud, and first circumnavigated by Poulett Weatherley in 1896. It was a desire for the riches of Bangweulu's fisheries and game-rich floodplain which motivated King

Leopold II of Belgium * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ...

to insist, in border negotiations between his

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leopo ...

and the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...

, on a land corridor reaching Bangweulu from Katanga. This resulted in the shape of the

Congo Pedicle The Congo Pedicle (at one time referred to as the Zaire Pedicle; in French ', meaning 'Katanga boot') is the southeast salient of the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which divides neighbouring Zambia into two lobes. In a ...

''(34)'' which, as it turned out, does not penetrate the area enough to be of the desired value. The first

Christian missions A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...

in Bangweulu were founded in the early 1900s under the authority of Bishop Joseph Dupont of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

White Fathers The White Fathers (french: Pères Blancs), officially the Missionaries of Africa ( la, Missionarii Africae) abbreviated MAfr), are a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right (for Men) Founded in 1868 by then Ar ...

who was based north of Kasama.

Human settlement

The area of the lake is inhabited by the Bisa in Chilubi and Mpika, the Bemba in Luwingu, the Unga in Lunga District, the Kabende in Samfya, the Ngumbo in Lubwe, the BenaMukulu in Chungu and affiliated tribes who all speak Chibemba. The Bemba heartland of Paramount Chief

Chitimukulu The Chitimukulu is the King(Paramount Chief) of the Bemba people, Bemba, the largest ethnic group in Zambia. The King is named after Chiti Muluba, who changed his name to Chiti Mukulu (Chiti the Great) who in the 18th century led the Bemba out ...

lies to the north-east, around Kasama.

Fishery

The National Archives UK - CO 1069-122-3

The lake supports a seasonal

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

industry and the population may increase markedly during the season. In 1989 the average annual catch was estimated at 11,900 tonnes, caught by 10,300 people using 5305

dugout canoes A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek – ''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' (t ...

, 114 plank and fibreglass boats, and only 54

outboard motor An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting of a self-contained unit that includes engine, gearbox and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside of the transom. They are the most common motorised method ...

s. In 2000 the catch was 13,500 t.Jul-Larsen, E. et al.: "Management, co-management or no management? Major dilemmas in southern African freshwater fisheries. Part 2: Case studies".
FAO Fisheries Technical Papers T426/2 (2003) . Website accessed 24 April 2007.

Natural gas pipeline

In early 2004 a private European natural gas company finished preliminary plans to lay a pipeline which would cut directly through the Southeast portion of the Lake. Part of this plan was a proposed dam to allow for partial drainage of the required part of the lake. This plan was met with harsh opposition from the local people as well as environmental activists. After much court-wrangling and lengthy hearings on the project, the plan was disposed of by the European company as they built a detour for their pipeline in the surrounding province.

Towns and districts

The largest town,

Samfya 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 (the northern, eastern ...

lies on the south western shore and is the principal base for road and boat transport and tourism, as well as being the administrative centre for Samfya District covering about three-quarters of the lake and swamps.

Chilubi District 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 lak ...

covers most of the rest, its boma is on Chilubi Island ''(6)'', which is bordered by the swamps to the east.

Luwingu District Luwingu District is a Districts of Zambia, district of Zambia, located in Northern Province, Zambia, Northern Province. The capital lies at Luwingu. As of the 2000 Zambian Census, the district had a population of 80,758 people. References

...

just touches the lake at Nsombo, which is the principal town at the northern end of the lake.

Mpika Mpika is a town in the Muchinga Province of Zambia, lying at the junction of the M1 Road to Kasama and Mbala and the Tanzam Highway ( Great North Road) to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in the north-east and Lusaka in the south-west. It also has a ra ...

and Kasama districts just touch the eastern and southern margins of the floodplain, and

Serenje Serenje is a town of Serenje District, Zambia, lying just off the Great North Road and TAZARA Railway. Serenje has a railway station on the TAZARA railway. Serenje is approximately 191 km from Kapiri Mposhi on the Great North Road. Mkus ...

District and the Congo Pedicle just reach the southern margin of the floodplain.

Islands

There are numerous inhabited islands in the Bangweulu system. On the lake they are: * '' Chilubi Island (6)'', the largest, partly in the lake and mainly in the swamps * ''Mbabala Island (3)'', a sand spit dividing off the Lake Walilupe section * ''Chishi Island (5)'', in the middle of the northern part of the lake * ''Lifunge Mwenzi Island (7)'', dividing off the northern part of Lake Chifunabuli * Small Islands: ''Chindo'' and ''Ibula Islands'' near the north-west shore, and ''Chibwe Ngombe Island'', a tiny sliver north-west of ''Chilubi Island'', Minswa Island and Ngwishi Island In the swamps: * ''Nsumbu Island (8)'' east of Chilubi Island * In the eastern swamps: ''Chisale Island'', ''Panyo Island (24)'', ''Nsalushi Island (25)'', ''Nsumpa Island'', ''Matongo Island'' and ''Kabulu Island'' *Near the

where it enters the eastern swamps: ''Mutwamina Island'' and ''Munyanga Island'' *In the southern swamps: ''Ncheta Island (26)'' (with the village of ''Bwalya Mponda''), and ''Mbo'', east of the Luapula's exit from the swamps *''Kasoma'' village

the seat of the new Lunga District ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

on the south-east edge of the Lunga Bank *''Kalimakonde'' village on the banks of the Churchill Channel Flood season islands: on the edge of the swamps, connected to the mainland in the dry season: *In the north-east: ''Kasansa Island (23)'', ''Chichile Island (22)'', ''Luangwa Island'', ''Mbishi Island'', and ''Munkanta'' at the edge of Lake Chaya, where the Lulingila River enters the eastern swamps. * In the south: ''Kasenga (28)'', close to the outlet of Lake Kangwena, ''Kataba (29)'', and ''Yongolo'', and ''Itulo'' at the edge of south-east swamps.

Other settlements

*''Lubwe (30)'' on Lake Chifunabuli has a Catholic mission and hospital * ''Kasaba (31)'', a Catholic mission in the north-west * ''Santa Maria'', a mission on Chilubi Island * ''Mpanta'', east of Samfya on the channel draining out of Lake Walilupe *''Twingi (32)'', with a mission, at the south end of the Kapata Peninsula *''Chaba (33)'', in the north-east * ''Mofu'', in the north-east.