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, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

, running north from

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the 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 about 3.3 milli ...

through Kabwe, Kapiri Mposhi (the road continues by way of a right turn just north of Kapiri Mposhi), Serenje, Mpika (where it makes a left turn), Kasama, Mbala and Mpulungu. 82km North of Mpika is a signposted right turn onto a well maintained gravel road leading to Shiwa Ng'andu (12km) and Kapishya Hot Springs (32km). The road from Zambia's border with

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

at Chirundu to Lusaka is now regarded as being part of the Great North Road; but this is only since the opening of the Chirundu Bridge in 1939 - before that, the Great North Road ran from

Livingstone Livingstone may refer to: * Livingstone (name), a Scottish surname and a given name. **David Livingstone (1813–1873), Scottish physician, missionary and explorer, after whom many other Livingstones are named Places *Livingstone Falls, on the Con ...

to Lusaka, as part of the original Cape to Cairo Red Line by Cecil John Rhodes. The portion from Mbala to Mpulungu could be regarded as a spur linking to the

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. T ...

steamer service which was popular with travellers up to the 1950s. When the Mpika-

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

highway (the Tanzam Highway) via Tunduma was upgraded in the 1960s and provided a good route through to Dar es Salaam and

Arusha Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census). Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern b ...

, 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''. In the centre of Lusaka, the Great North Road is named Cairo Road and this became the city's business and commercial centre, and busiest thoroughfare, now by-passed by heavy goods vehicles for through traffic by Lumumba Road.

Street name

There are areas where the road may have a specific street name, like Cairo Road and Kafue Road in

Lusaka Province Lusaka Province is one of the ten provinces of Zambia. Its capital is Lusaka, which is also the national capital. It is the smallest province in Zambia, with an area of 21,896 km2. Lusaka is also Zambia's most populated and most densely po ...

and Mosi-oa-Tunya Road and Lusaka Road in

. For areas without a street name, like quiet areas in between towns, the road is simply named as the Great North Road on Maps.

Old and new routes

The Great North Road of Zambia used to consist of three routes, namely the T1 Road, T2 Road and M1 Road, from

, through Kafue and Mpika, to Mbala. But today, Zambia's Great North Road is formed by only one route, which is the T2 Road from Chirundu, though Kafue and Mpika, to Nakonde. The middle section from Kafue to Mpika remains part of the Great North Road while the northern section is now from Mpika to Nakonde (no-longer from Mpika to Mbala) and the southern section is now from Kafue to Chirundu (no-longer from Kafue to Livingstone). Therefore, the T2 now forms the entire Great North Road of Zambia.

The old and new route in southern Zambia

As sources may show, there are two roads in Southern

which are named ''Great North Road'', one going south-west and one going south-east. The first one is the T1 Lusaka–Livingstone road, which goes south-west from Kafue, through Choma, to

and the

Victoria Falls Victoria Falls (Lozi language, Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "The Smoke That Thunders"; Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe), Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River in southern Africa, which provides hab ...

. It was part of the original Cape to Cairo Red Line made at the time of

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his B ...

and is also known as the ''old route''. The second one is the direct road to Chirundu from Kafue, as part of the T2 Road. After the Chirundu Bridge was completed in 1939 to provide access to

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its ...

(Capital of

), it became the new ''Great North Road''. As of 2019, both roads, from Chirundu/

and from Livingstone/

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...

, are still named ''Great North Road'' by people and businesses. The Road proceeding through Harare is part of the Cape to Cairo Road while the road proceeding to Livingstone is part of the Cairo-Cape Town Highway (both routes have

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

as their endpoint).

The old and new route in northern Zambia

As sources may show, there are two roads in Northern Zambia which are named ''Great North Road''. The first one is the north–south road from Mpika, through Kasama, to Mbala, designated as the M1 Road. The other one is the northeast–southwest road from Mpika, through Isoka, to Nakonde, which is part of the T2 Road. When the Mpika-

Highway via Nakonde and Tunduma was upgraded in the 1960s and provided a good route through to Dar es Salaam and

, this section became known as the Great North Road rather than the Mpika-Mbala section. Because of this, the Mpika-Mbala section may be referred to as the ''Old Great North Road''. The route through Nakonde is part of both the Cape to Cairo Road (famed road) and the Cairo-Cape Town Highway (proposed Trans-African Highway network route), which makes it more suited to use the name ''Great North Road''.

The Hell Run

During the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia). The conflict pitted three forc ...

the border with

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...

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

References

External links

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

an border to Tunduma on the

n border. {{Africa-road-stub Road infrastructure in Zambia Roads in Zambia Trunk Roads in Zambia Transport in Zambia