Lake Kisale is a lake in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
(DRC), in
Bukama Territory,
Haut-Lomami District
Haut-Lomami District was a district of the pre-2015 Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The district dates back to the days of the Belgian Congo.
At its greatest extent it roughly corresponded to the northern part of the cu ...
.
At about in area, it is the second largest of the lakes in the
Upemba Depression
The Upemba Depression (or Kamalondo Depression) is a large marshy bowl area ( depression) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo comprising some fifty lakes, including 22 of relatively large size including Lake Upemba (530 km) and Lake Kisale ...
(Kamolondo Depression), an extensive marshy area partly within the
Upemba National Park
Upemba National Park is a large national park in Haut-Lomami, Lualaba Province & Haut-Katanga Province (formerly in Katanga Province) of the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire.
Geography
At the time of the creation of Upem ...
.
Geography
The
Lualaba River
The Lualaba River flows entirely within the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides the greatest streamflow to the Congo River, while the source of the Congo is recognized as the Chambeshi. The Lualaba is long. Its headwaters are in ...
enters the Upemba Depression about after leaving
Lake Nzilo
Lake Nzilo (formerly Lake Delcommune, also Lac del Commune) is a reservoir formed by a hydroelectric dam on the Lualaba River in the Haut-Lomami Province of the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
It is about northeast of the major copper ...
(Delcommune reservoir).
The depression is a trough-like
graben
In geology, a graben () is a depressed block of the crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults.
Etymology
''Graben'' is a loan word from German, meaning 'ditch' or 'trench'. The word was first used in the geologic contex ...
about long and wide, running from the southwest to the northeast. The trough is about above sea level at its southwest end, sloping steeply down to an elevation of , where it flattens out and is filled by lakes and marshes for a distance of in a belt that is wide on average.
The river generally flows through the marshes between the lakes, to which it is connected by narrow channels. However, as it flows through lakes
Lake Kabwe
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...
and Lake Kisale, these may be seen as expansions of the river bed.
History
In 1957 pottery and metal objects were excavated from an Iron Age cemetery discovered at Sanga on the northern shore of the lake.
The site provides evidence for the origins of the
Luba people
The Luba people or Baluba are an ethno-linguistic group indigenous to the south-central region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The majority of them live in this country, residing mainly in Katanga, Kasai and Maniema. The Baluba Tribe c ...
of present-day Zambia and the DRC, thought to be one of the first groups to work with iron in Central Africa.
By 800 CE they were living in permanent settlements by the lakes, marshes and rivers of the region.
The soil is fertile, supporting productive farms for crops such as sorghum and millet, while fish and game provided sources of protein. The population grew and society became more complex. Grave goods include copper artifacts which must have been obtained by trading with people of the copper belt further to the south.
References
Kisale
Haut-Lomami
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