The Great North Road is a major route 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. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, running north from

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 ...

through

Kabwe Kabwe is the capital of the Zambian Central Province and the Kabwe District, with a population estimated at 288,598 at the 2022 census. Named Broken Hill until 1966, it was founded when lead and zinc deposits were discovered in 1902. Kabwe also ...

Kapiri Mposhi Kapiri Mposhi is a Zambian town and the seat of the Kapiri Mposhi District in Central Province. Located north of Lusaka, it stands on the Great North Road and is significant for the railway connection between the Zambia Railways line from Kitw ...

(the road continues by way of a right turn just north of Kapiri Mposhi),

Serenje Serenje is a town in Serenje District, Central Province, 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 ...

, Mpika, Isoka and Nakonde to the border with

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. The entire route is designated as the T2 road on Zambia's road network. It forms the Zambian section of the Tanzam Highway. Originally, the ''Great North Road'' continued as the route from Mpika northwards, through Kasama, to Mbala. Then, when the route from Mpika to Nakonde and Tanzania (the Tanzam Highway) was upgraded in the 1960s and provided a good route through to

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

and

Arusha Arusha is a city in Tanzania. The city is the Capital city, capital of the Arusha Region. It has a population of 617,631 people.

, this section became known as the Great North Road rather than the Mpika-Mbala section which might be referred to as the ''Old Great North Road''. Originally, the Lusaka–Livingstone Road was regarded as part of the ''Great North Road'' & the southern terminus of the route was Livingstone. After the capital of the

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

ceased to be Livingstone and became

in 1935, Lusaka was regarded as the southern terminus of the Great North Road (the route south of Lusaka was no-longer regarded as being part of the route).

History

The original Great North Road of Zambia consisted of three current routes, namely the T1 road, T2 road and M1 road, from Livingstone, through Choma,

, Mpika and Kasama, to Mbala. But today, Zambia's Great North Road is formed by only one route, which is the T2 road from Lusaka, through Kabwe, Serenje and Mpika, to Nakonde. The original Great North Road of Zambia continued from Mpika as the route northwards, through Kasama, to Mbala. Then, when the route from Mpika north-east to Nakonde and Tanzania, designated as part of the T2, was upgraded in the 1960s and provided a good route through to

(as part of the Tanzam Highway) and

Arusha Arusha is a city in Tanzania. The city is the Capital city, capital of the Arusha Region. It has a population of 617,631 people.

(as part of the Cape to Cairo Road), this section became known as the Great North Road. So, the section from Mpika to Mbala (currently designated as the M1 road) may now referred to as the ''Old Great North Road''. The Great North Road of Zambia initially started further south of Lusaka, at Livingstone (which was the capital of the

before 1935) and then headed north-east from there, past Choma 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 ...

, to reach Lusaka. Then, after the capital of the nation became Lusaka in 1935, Lusaka was regarded as the southern terminus of the Great North Road and the road connecting Lusaka to Livingstone (currently designated as the T1 road) was no-longer regarded as part of the route. So, the current Great North Road of Zambia is the section of the T2 road from the Cairo Road/

Great East Road The Great East Road is a major road in Zambia and the main route linking its Eastern Province with the rest of the country. It is also the major link between Zambia and Malawi and between Zambia and northern Mozambique.Terracarta: ''Zambia, 2nd ...

junction in

, through

and Mpika, to the border post with

at Nakonde (the entire Zambian section of the Tanzam Highway).

Route

The Great North Road of Zambia is the section of the T2 from the border with

at Nakonde to the Cairo Road/

junction in

, that is the Zambian section of the Tanzam Highway. The entire route is part of the Cairo–Cape Town Highway and the section between Lusaka and

is part of the Beira–Lobito Highway.

The Hell Run

During the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country U.D.I. ...

the border with

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

was closed, disrupting the importation of goods and fuel to landlocked Zambia and the export of copper. The Great North Road was the only route by which goods and fuel could be imported, from the port of Dar es Salaam. Because of the bad condition of the road from

to Tanzania and the many accidents that occurred the truck drivers called this stretch of the Great North Road "The Hell Run". Later, the Tazama Pipeline, commissioned in 1968, and the

TAZARA Railway The Tazara Railway, also called the Uhuru Railway or the Tanzam Railway, is a railway in East Africa linking the port of Dar es Salaam in east Tanzania with the town of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia's Central Province. The single-track railway is ...

, opened in 1975, meant the use of the Great North Road for the transport of cargo destined for Zambia was much reduced.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Map at www.greatnorthroad.org
showing the Great North Road in Zambia from Chirundu on the

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

an border to

Tunduma Tunduma is a city in Songwe Region, Tanzania, on the border between Tanzania and Zambia. It has border posts for both the Tanzam Highway and the TAZARA railway (for which it has a station) linking the two countries. It is located 103 km southwest ...

on the

n border. Roads in Zambia