Chilanga is a township located 20 km south of
Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
's capital city,
Lusaka
Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...
. It is situated midway between Lusaka and
Kafue
Kafue is a town on the T2 road in the Lusaka Province of Zambia and it lies on the north bank of the Kafue River, after which it is named. It is the southern gateway to the central Zambian plateau on which Lusaka and the mining towns of Kabwe ...
on the
T2 road.
Notable features
Chilanga is home to a major
Lafarge cement plant, known as
Chilanga Cement, which dominates the skyline of the area. Chilanga is also home to
Baobab College,
Mount Makulu Research Station, the headquarters of the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute, Eureka Camping Park, Munda Wanga Environmental Park, KnowledgeBeat, and Sandy's Creations Garden Centre.
History and geography
Like most Zambian towns, Chilanga was historically a colonial settlement and the home of European expatriates. After Zambia gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964, most white settlers left, and local residents took over the land. By the beginning of the 1980s, almost all of Chilanga was resettled by African Zambians. Before 2011, Chilanga was a part of
Kafue District
Kafue District is a district of Zambia, located in Lusaka Province. The capital lies at Kafue
Kafue is a town on the T2 road in the Lusaka Province of Zambia and it lies on the north bank of the Kafue River, after which it is named. It is th ...
(although it was widely known as being part of Lusaka). In 2011, the president of Zambia,
Michael Sata
Michael Charles Chilufya Sata (6 July 1937 – 28 October 2014) was a Zambian politician who served as the fifth president of Zambia from 2011 until Death and state funeral of Michael Sata, his death in 2014. A social democrat, he led the Patrio ...
, made Chilanga its own town and
district
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
.
Chilanga District covers the area separating Lusaka from
Shibuyunji District
Shibuyunji District, also known as Sibuyunji District, is a district of Central Province, Zambia. As of the 2022 Zambian Census, the district had a population of 91,616 people. as well as the area in between Lusaka and Kafue along the
Great North Road, where the town centre is located.
Climate
Chilanga features a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Cwa''), with distinct wet and dry seasons. October and November are the hottest months. Winters are milder, with July being the coolest month. The wet season, from November to March, experiences significant rainfall. The dry season, from May to October, is marked by minimal precipitation.
Development
Since colonial times, Chilanga has grown in size and population due to new businesses, commercial farming, small farm holding settlements, and housing plots. Water supply is still a challenge for most settlers as the land is hilly and rocky and there is not a large enough municipal supply system to cater for the increased demand. Boreholes are common. Formerly government-owned houses are now privately owned as they and other government buildings around Zambia were sold in the mid 1990s. Since then, much construction has taken place.
Kafue Road
Kafue Road (T2) runs through the center of Chilanga. Once a quiet and rarely used two-lane road, it has now become a busy four-lane thoroughfare. A large volume of truck traffic moves through the town on a daily basis, including very large shipments travelling to the mines in
Copperbelt Province
Copperbelt Province is a province in Zambia which covers the mineral-rich Copperbelt, and farming and bush areas to the south. It was the backbone of the Northern Rhodesian economy during British colonial rule and fuelled the hopes of the imme ...
in the north. It is the main trunk road connecting Zambia with Zimbabwe through either
Chirundu or
Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls (Lozi language, Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "Thundering Smoke/Smoke that Rises"; Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe), Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, located on the border betwe ...
via the
T1 through
Livingstone. North of Lusaka, the T2 becomes the Great North Road, connecting southern Africa to central and eastern Africa.
Zambian railways
Zambian Railways
Zambia Railways (ZR) is the national railway company of Zambia and one of the two major railway organisations in Zambia. The other system is the binational TAZARA Railway (TAZARA) that interconnects with the ZR at Kapiri Mposhi and provides a link ...
operates a railroad yard within Chilanga, which serves as a transportation hub for the
Lafarge cement plant. Zambian Railways operates both
passenger trains
A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...
and cargo trains.
Languages
Traditionally, Chilanga is administered by one chiefdom. It is the home of the Soli people under chieftains Nkomesha Mukamambo II, it is for this reason that Soli is remains the indigenous tribe of the district.
However, because Chilanga is a transitional area between
Lusaka Province
Lusaka Province is one of the ten provinces of Zambia. It is the smallest in terms of land area, covering 21,896 km2. However, it is the most populated and densely populated province in Zambia, with a population of 3,079,964 as of 2022 and ...
and
Southern Province, both
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...
and
Nyanja
Chewa ( ; also known as Nyanja ) is a Bantu language spoken in Malawi and a recognised minority in Zambia and Mozambique. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for languages, so the language is often called or Chinyanja. In Malawi, the name wa ...
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu language, Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern, East Africa, Eastern and Southeast Africa, South ...
are spoken and understood, although, as with most of Zambia, many other tribal languages are also used. English is the official language of Zambia, and most people in Chilanga can communicate in English.
Agriculture
Travelling away from the centre of town, most of the land in Chilanga is used for sustenance agriculture. The areas away from the Great North Road are similar to most Zambian villages, with basic shelter for homes, and large maize fields surrounding them.
References
{{reflist
External links
Sandy's Creations official websiteEureka Camping Park official websiteBaobab College official website
Populated places in Lusaka Province