Kazembe (or Kasembe) is a name used for Mwata Kazembe's town in the

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 ...

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 ...

, especially on maps and in the Zambian postal service (as PO Kazembe). The other name for the town is Mwansabombwe ("where Mwansa works") and this is the one used by its or

Luba Luba may refer to: Geography *Kingdom of Luba, a pre-colonial Central African empire * Ľubá, a village and municipality in the Nitra region of south-west Slovakia *Luba, Abra, a municipality in the Philippines *Luba, Equatorial Guinea, a town ...

or Chibemba-speaking inhabitants. They may refer in English to "Kazembe's Village" or just "Kazembe", as traditionally a settlement is named after the chief or headman, rather than the location. The Luba-Lunda shared with many tribes the custom (now discontinued) of moving to another village or a new site on the death of the chief. Historical references to a village or town may actually be to a different location. For instance when the explorer

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 ...

visited Mwata Kazembe in 1867 and 1868, "Casembe's town", as he wrote it, was further north at the town now called

Kanyembo Kanyembo is the principal centre of the population on the Mofwe Lagoon, the largest of several lagoons in the Luapula River swamps south of Lake Mweru, in the Luapula Province of Zambia. It takes its name from its traditional ruler, Chief Kanyembo, ...

. Mwansabombwe is situated where the Ngona River enters the swamps of 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 ...

south of

Lake Mweru Lake Mweru (also spelled ''Mwelu'', ''Mwero'') is a freshwater lake on the longest arm of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. Located on the border between Zambia and Democratic Republic of the Congo, it makes up of the total length of th ...

. A number of channels through the swamps and lagoons connect to the main river channel about 5 km away, facilitating fishing and trade (mainly illicit) with

DR 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 ...

. The town lies close to the middle point of the main artery of the Luapula Province, the tarred road informally known as the 'Valley Road' running from

Mansa Mansa may refer to: Places In India * Mansa, Gujarat, a town in northern Gujarat, Western India; the capital of: ** Mansa, Gujarat Assembly constituency ** Mansa State, a princely state under the Mahi Kantha Agency in India * Mansa district, ...

Nchelenge Nchelenge is a town in the Luapula Province of northern Zambia, lying on the south eastern shore of Lake Mweru. It is contiguous with Kashikishi, and they are sometimes referred to as Nchelenge-Kashikishi. Nchelenge is the administrative centre ...

, and connecting southwards first to the "Samfya Road" (from Mansa to Serenje) and then to the Great North Road at

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 ...

. A tarred road also connects eastwards via

Mbereshi Mbereshi (also spelled and pronounced Mbeleshi) is a village in the Luapula Province of Zambia, named after the Mbereshi River on its north side. It is the site of a large mission founded in 1900 by the London Missionary Society. In 1915 the missio ...

to the northern Zambian plateau at

Kawambwa Kawambwa is a town in the Zambian province of Luapula located on thedge of the northern Zambian plateau above the Luapula valley at an altitude of 1300 m. It was chosen as an administrative district of the same name by the British colonial author ...

. These features and its status since the 1890s as Mwata Kazembe's capital make Mwansabombwe one of the largest centres of trade, population and culture in the Luapula Valley with a population estimated at 50,000. It retains a rural and traditional African character relatively unmarked by the colonial era leading to it being called the "largest village in central Africa".

References

*David M. Gordon: "History on the Luapula Retold: Landscape, Memory and Identity in the Kazembe Kingdom". ''Journal of African History'', 47 (2006), pp. 21–42. Cambridge University Press. *Robert Cancel: "Asserting/inventing traditions on the Luapula: the Lunda Mutomboko Festival". ''African Arts'', Autumn, 2006. {{coord, 9, 49, S, 28, 45, E, display=title Luapula River Populated places in Luapula Province

See also

References