Kasama is a town in the Northern Province 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 ...

. It serves as the provincial capital and the headquarters of

Kasama District Kasama District is a district of Northern Province, Zambia Northern Province is one of Zambia's ten provinces. It covers approximately one-sixth of Zambia in land area. The provincial capital is Kasama. The province is made up of 12 distric ...

Location

It is situated on the central-southern African plateau, approximately , by road, north-east of

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 ...

, the capital and largest city in Zambia. Kasama is located on the M1 road (old Great North Road) from

Mpika Mpika is a town in the Muchinga Province, Zambia, Muchinga Province of Zambia, lying at the junction of the M1 road (Zambia), M1 road to Kasama, Zambia, Kasama and Mbala, Zambia, Mbala and the Tanzam Highway (Great North Road, Zambia, Great North ...

in the south to Mbala and

Mpulungu Mpulungu is a town in the Northern Province of Zambia, at the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika.Camerapix: "Spectrum Guide to Zambia." Camerapix International Publishing, Nairobi, 1996. From Mpulungu, boats reach DR Congo, Tanzania and Burundi. Th ...

, at the tip of

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

, in the north.

Population

The city population grew considerably in the 1970s and 1980s after construction of 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 ...

through the city, and the tarring of the old Great North Road. Its population, according to

Encyclopedia Britannica An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...

, was 74,243 in 2000 and had increased to 113,779 in 2010.

History

The 1898/1899 interregnum on the Mwamba throne, the then second in rank from the Chitimukulu, made it possible for Catholic Bishop Joseph 'Moto Moto' Dupont to facilitate the establishment of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

colonial administration of

North-Eastern Rhodesia North-Eastern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in south central Africa formed in 1900.North-Eastern Rhodesia Order in Council, 1900 The protectorate was administered under charter by the British South Africa Company. It was one of what were ...

under Administrator Robert Codrington. The first BSAC administrative boma was established at Kasama. Due to the town's central location as well as its closeness to Chitimukulu's and Mwamba's courts, it eventually became the largest and dominant town of the north-eastern lobe of

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...

, then later, Zambia.

Economic activities

The town has a few modern facilities, among them are a Shoprite Checkers branch, Budget Stores, a local supermarket called PJT and four bakeries. The town has branches of Zambian

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...

s including

Zambia National Commercial Bank Zambia National Commercial Bank, commonly referred to by the name "Zanaco", is a commercial bank in Zambia. It is licensed by Bank of Zambia, the central bank and national banking regulator. In 2021, Zanaco became the first bank in Zambia to r ...

, National Savings & Credit Bank,

Atlas Mara Bank Zambia Limited Atlas Mara Bank Zambia Limited (AMBZL), commonly referred to as ''Atlas Mara Zambia'', is a commercial bank in Zambia. Established on December 1, 2016 from the merger of BancABC Zambia Ltd. with Finance Bank Zambia Ltd., it is licensed by the Ban ...

, Standard Chartered Zambia, Cavmont Bank, Barclays Bank of Zambia, Access Bank Zambia and Indo-Zambia Bank Limited. The town has VISA and ATM services. Most people in Kasama are not formally employed, and they run small businesses to earn a living. The hospital is the

Kasama General Hospital Kasama may refer to: *Kasama, Ibaraki, Japan *Kasama, Zambia Kasama is a town in the Northern Province, Zambia, Northern Province of Zambia. It serves as the provincial capital and the headquarters of Kasama District. Location It is situated ...

, that provides locals with health services. The city has a police station and several police posts. The available mobile telephone operators include

MTN Group MTN Group Limited (formerly M-Cell) is a South Africa, South African multinational corporation and mobile telecommunications provider. Its head office is in Johannesburg. MTN is among the List of mobile network operators, largest mobile netwo ...

, Airtel Zambia and Zamtel. There are several Agri Based industries in Kasama, which include Northern Coffee Company Limited (NCCL), a subsidiary of Olam International, growing coffee at Kateshi Estates, and Kalungwishi Estates growing sugar cane and producing the Kasama Sugar brand.

Ethnic groups

Kasama is in the heartland of the

Bemba Bemba may refer to: Languages and ethnic groups * Bemba language, or Chibemba, a Bantu language spoken in Zambia * Bemba people, or AbaBemba, of Zambia * Bemba, a dialect of the Buyu language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo People * Jea ...

ethnic group, whose

Paramount Chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for a king or queen or the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a Chiefdom, chief-based system. This term is used occasionally ...

Chitimukulu maintains his headquarters from Malole in

Mungwi District Mungwi District is a district of Zambia, located in Northern Province. The capital lies at Mungwi. As of the 2022 Zambian Census, the district had a population of 205,096 people.

, which is east of the Kasama city center.

Suburbs

Kasama has the following residential compounds within the district council boundaries: * Central Town (the largest) * New Town or Mbulo * Location * Mukulumpe * Chikumanino The compounds below are out of the council boundary: * Mulenga Hills * Jazz * Tazara * Misamfu * Milima * Chiba * Chitamba * Brown * Winberg * Kasama Village * Kungu * Mutale/Milenge * Chisanga * Soft Katongo * Lua Luo

Transport

Kasama is served by a good network of highways. It is on the M1 road, which goes south to

and north to Mbala. The M3 road connects Kasama with Luwingu,

Mansa ''MANSA'' is a scale used to assess quality of life. Its name is short for ''Manchester, Short Assessment of Quality of Life''. It was developed by Priebe et al. References Notes References Further reading * * External links * {{Latin ...

and the

Congo Pedicle The Congo Pedicle (at one time referred to as the Zaire Pedicle; in French, ', meaning 'Katanga boot') is the southeast salient of the Haut-Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which divides neighbouring Zambia into two lobe ...

in the west. The D18 road connects Kasama with Mungwi and

Isoka Isoka is a town located in the Muchinga Province of Zambia near the borders with Tanzania and Malawi. It lies on the T2 road (Zambia), T2 road (Tanzam Highway; Great North Road, Zambia, Great North Road). Area The area of the district now (2020) ...

in the east. The gauge TAZARA Railway connects

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 ...

to the north-east via Kasama, with

Zambia 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 li ...

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 ...

to the south-west. Air transport is accessible through Kasama Airport. It can accommodate small aircraft, and it is undergoing an upgrade to be able to accommodate larger aircraft. It was expected to be ready by the end of 2017, but was complete in 2023.

Rivers

Kasama District has five main rivers, namely:

Chambeshi The Chambeshi (or Chambezi) River of northeastern Zambia is the most remote headstream of the Congo River (in length) and therefore it is considered the source of the Congo River. (However, by volume of water, the Lualaba River provides a greater ...

, Lukulu, Lukupa, Lubansenshi and Luombe. The Chishimba Falls are found across the Luombe River and are one of the major tourist attractions in

. The falls host the 15 megawatts Chishimba Hydroelectric Power Station.

Climate

Kasama 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''), close to a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

: ''Aw''), with clear wet and dry seasons. October and November are the hottest months, while June and July are the coolest months. The

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

, from November to April, experiences high levels of humidity and rainfall, while the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

, from May to September, is nearly rainless.

World War I

At the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, when it consisted of a handful of government offices and a dozen stores, it was evacuated by its British population of a couple of dozen in the face of a surprise raid from the north-east by

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Portugu ...

n forces under General

Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck (20 March 1870 – 9 March 1964), popularly known as the Lion of Africa (), was a general in the Imperial German Army and the commander of its forces in the German East Africa campaign. For four years, with a force ...

. Not knowing that the

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

had occurred in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

the day before, the Germans took the abandoned town on 12 November 1918 and continued south-west (there was no

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

at Kasama since the British imperial forces were at

Abercorn Abercorn ( Gaelic: ''Obar Chùirnidh'', Old English: ''Æbbercurnig'') is a village and civil parish in West Lothian, Scotland. Close to the south coast of the Firth of Forth, the village is around west of South Queensferry. The parish had a ...

), agreeing a

cease-fire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...

at the

Chambeshi River The Chambeshi (or Chambezi) River of northeastern Zambia is the most remote headstream of the Congo River (in length) and therefore it is considered the source of the Congo River. (However, by volume of water, the Lualaba River provides a greater ...

on 14 November when they were informed of the German surrender in Europe. For further details, see Von Lettow-Vorbeck Memorial.

Art

Kasama is known for the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

rock art In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

in the surrounding area.

Notable people

Alexander Chikwanda Alexander Bwalya Chikwanda (24 December 1938 – 3 May 2022) was a Zambian politician. He was a member of the National Assembly during the 1960s and again in the 2010s, also serving as Minister of Finance from 1973 to 1976 and again from October ...

- Minister of Finance, 2011-2016, born in Kasama.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Northern Province, Zambia Provincial capitals in Zambia