The Kabompo River is one of the main
tributaries
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drain ...
of the upper
Zambezi River. It flows entirely in
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...
, rising to the east of the source of the Zambezi, in
North-Western Province along the watershed between the Zambezi and
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 discharg ...
basins which also forms the border between Zambia and
DR Congo. It is the second deepest river in Africa and one of the top five in the world.
Geography
The Kabompo River flows south-west through
miombo woodland
The Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located primarily in Central Africa. It includes four woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) characterized ...
, then a remote
Cryptosepalum dry forest ecoregion, with the
West Lunga National Park
West Lunga National Park is a remote wildlife haven in dense forest in the North-Western Province of Zambia. It lies between the West Lunga River and Kabompo River about 10 km north of the gravel road from Solwezi to Kabompo, and covers a ...
on its west bank. After flowing past the town of
Kabompo, it develops a swampy floodplain up to 5 km wide. The
Kabompo Ferry The Kabompo Ferry is a vehicle pontoon ferry at the Kabompo River near the village of Watopa, approx. 60 km east of the river mouth to Zambezi River.
The Kabompo River is dividing the Western and North-Western Provinces of Zambia.
The ferry wit ...
on its lower course carries the main north–south gravel highway on the eastern side of the Zambezi. The river enters the Zambezi north of the town of
Lukulu, at the north end of the
Barotse Floodplain. Its main tributaries are the Western Lunga River which flows from the north, and the Dongwe River from the east.
See also
*
List of rivers of Africa
This is a list of rivers in Africa. See below each river's article for its tributaries, drainage areas, etc.
Southern Africa
* Cuanza - Angola
* Great Fish River - South Africa
* Great Kei River - South Africa
:*Black Kei River - South Afric ...
References
Rivers of Zambia
Tributaries of the Zambezi River
Barotse Floodplain
{{Zambia-river-stub