Victoria Falls, popularly known as Vic Falls, is a

resort town A resort town, resort city or resort destination is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding area. Sometimes ...

and city in the province of

Matabeleland North Matabeleland North is a province in western Zimbabwe. With a population of 827,645 as of the 2022 census, it is the country's second-least populous province, after Matabeleland South, and the least densely Zimbabwean populated province. Matabele ...

, Zimbabwe. It lies on the southern bank of the

Zambezi River The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

at the western end of

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 ...

themselves. According to the 2022 Population Census, the town had a population of 35,199.

History

The settlement began in 1901 when the possibility of using the waterfall for hydro-electric power was explored, and expanded when the railway from Bulawayo reached the town shortly before the

Victoria Falls Bridge The Victoria Falls Bridge crosses the Zambezi River just below the Victoria Falls and is built over the Second Gorge of the falls. As the river forms the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, the bridge links the two countries and has border post ...

was opened in April 1905, connecting

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

(later

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 ...

; now Zimbabwe) to

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 ...

(later

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 became the principal tourism centre for the Falls, experiencing economic booms from the 1930s to the 1960s and in the 1980s and early 1990s. Victoria Falls gained city status on 9 December 2020.

Geography

The town is located in the northwest of its province, along the border with

, separated from it by the

and the binational

in Southern Africa. It lies a few kilometers from Livingstone, and is surrounded by the

Zambezi The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

Mosi-oa-Tunya Victoria Falls ( Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "Thundering Smoke/Smoke that Rises"; Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is one of the world's lar ...

and

national parks.

Climate

Education

Victoria Falls has a number of

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

s with the number having increased since 2009. These include Chamabondo Primary School, Baobab Primary School, Chinotimba Primary School, Kings Primary School, Victoria Falls Primary School, Mkhosana Primary School, St Josephine Bakita Primary School, Mkhosana Adventist Primary School, Education Centre and Jacaranda Primary School. Mosi-oa-Tunya High School is the largest school in the town, and Mkhosana Adventist Secondary School (MASS) is the second largest secondary school. In addition there are private

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

s registered under the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education that provide secondary and high school education. These include Elite Independent College, Dadani Vocational Technical College, Lulu Academy (popularly known as College of charity), Herentals College and Oasis Christian Academy.

Economy

Victoria Falls' main industry is tourism, driven primarily by the waterfalls

Growth and affordability

The cost of residential housing in the Victoria Falls area is much higher than surrounding towns due to the town's reputation a tourist destination, its lack of industry and its desirability to travelers and investors. Victoria Falls is rated the second least affordable place in Zimbabwe to buy a property, behind

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

at the start of 2017.

Employment

The area's growth rate is one of the fastest in the country with the population growing 7.1% from 2018 to 2019 in a 12-month period. Most jobs in the city are travel or accommodation-related. A travel boom in recent years has seen strong employment growth, the highest of any area in Zimbabwe at 10.3% in the 2018 year, fueling the growth of the city as young people move to the area in search of employment opportunities.

Retail

Victoria Falls has a tourist-focused shopping area, centred around the Elephant Walk and Sawanga Shopping Mall. The former, a public pedestrian street opened in 1990. Victoria Falls Shopping Centre and Phumula Centre tend to offer more affordable options catering to local residents in the residential section of town.

Health

The town is served by Victoria Falls District Hospital, The Chinotimba Clinic, Mkhosana Clinic, Premier Medical Aid Society, a few surgeries and The Health Bridge private hospital.

Transport

Victoria Falls is connected by a road (the

A8 road This is a list of roads designated A8: * A008 road (Argentina), a beltway around the city of Rosario * ''A8 highway (Australia)'' may refer to: ** A8 (Sydney), a road in the Northern Beaches of Sydney ** East Tamar Highway, a road connecting La ...

) and railway to

Hwange Hwange, originally known as Wankie, is a town in Zimbabwe, located in Hwange District, in Matabeleland North Province, in northwestern Zimbabwe, close to the international borders with Botswana and Zambia. It lies approximately , by road, sou ...

(109 km away) and

Bulawayo 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 claimed it to be about ...

(440 km away), both to the south-east. The route is part of the Cairo–Cape Town Highway (

Trans-African Highway The Trans-African Highway network comprises transcontinental road projects in Africa being developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (ADB), and the African Union in conjunction with reg ...

4) and connects to the T1 highway in

over the

Zambezi river The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

. The combined road/rail bridge is the only rail link between Zambia and

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 ...

and one of only three road links between the two countries. Victoria Falls and its bridge form a vital link of the greater envisaged but incomplete

Cape to Cairo railway The Cape to Cairo Railway is an unfinished project to create a railway line crossing from southern to northern Africa. It would have been the largest, and most important, railway of the continent. It was planned as a link between Cape Town i ...

. The rail route through Victoria Falls is part of a wider important route from South Africa passing through

to into Zambia. A

luxury train A luxury train is a premium Passenger train, passenger rail service. Some luxury trains promote tourism in destinations across a region, while others (such as the ''Maharajas' Express'') take passengers on a ride through a single country. Luxur ...

service, operated by

Rovos Rail Rovos Rail is a private railway company operating out of Capital Park Station in Pretoria, South Africa. Rovos Rail runs its train-hotel to a regular schedule on various routes throughout Southern Africa, from South Africa to Namibia and Tanz ...

, connects the city with

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

two to four times a month. Until 2020, the

National Railways of Zimbabwe The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), formerly Rhodesia Railways (RR), is a Bulawayo headquartered state-owned enterprise that operates the country's national railway system. It was established in 1893 and is governed by an Act of Parliament ...

operated a daily service to

as well as special steam

excursion train An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent custo ...

Victoria Falls Airport Victoria Falls Airport is an international airport serving the Victoria Falls tourism industry, and is south of the town of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Overview In April 2013, Exim Bank of China provided a $150 million loan to build the airpo ...

is located 18 km south of the town and has international services to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

, and

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

and

Kasane Kasane is a town in Botswana, close to Africa's 'Four Corners', where the borders of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe almost meet. The town is at the far northeastern corner of Botswana where it serves as the administrative center of the Ch ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

. Domestic service connects the city with Bulawayo and Harare. Notable airlines that fly to Victoria Falls include

Airlink Airlink (previously known as South African Airlink) is a regional airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its main business is to provide services between smaller, under-served towns and larger hub airports. It has since expanded to of ...

Discover Airlines Discover Airlines, legally incorporated as ''EW Discover GmbH'' and formerly branded Eurowings Discover, is a German leisure airline headquartered in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is owned by the Lufthansa and serves leisure destinations around the Me ...

Ethiopian Airlines Ethiopian Airlines (), formerly ''Ethiopian Air Lines'' (EAL), is the flag carrier of Ethiopia, and is wholly owned by the country's government. EAL was founded on 21 December 1945 and commenced operations on 8 April 1946, expanding to intern ...

Fastjet Zimbabwe Fastjet Zimbabwe Limited, known and styled as fastjet Zimbabwe, is an IOSA registered Zimbabwean airline that has been incorporated to operate flights under the fastjet brand in Zimbabwe. It launched operations in October 2015 with flights fro ...

Kenya Airways Kenya Airways Ltd., more commonly known as Kenya Airways, is the flag carrier airline of Kenya. The company was founded in 1977, after the dissolution of East African Airways. Its head office is located in Embakasi, Nairobi, with its Airline hu ...

, and

South African Airways South African Airways (SAA) is the flag carrier of South Africa. Founded in 1929 as Union Airways it later rebranded to South African Airways in 1934, the airline is headquartered in Airways Park at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannes ...

. The airport's terminal and runway facilities were rebuilt and expanded in 2013.

Tourism

A resort town, Victoria Falls has become a regional centre for

adventure tourism Adventure travel is a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel with a certain degree of risk (real or perceived), and which may require special skills and physical exertion. In the United States, adventure tourism has seen growth in l ...

with over 200 related activities in 2019.

Hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

tours
Victoria Falls Safari

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

, jet boating,

whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

bungee jumping Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

, quad biking,

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended be ...

sky diving Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

and

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses an ultra-lightweight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is in ...

are all popular activities in addition to viewing the Falls. Vic Falls is a major centre for outdoor pursuits in Zimbabwe, with people from all over the country and many parts of the world travelling to view the falls and the nearby

Hwange National Park Hwange National Park (formerly Wankie Game Reserve) is the largest natural reserve in Zimbabwe. It is around 14,600 sq km in area. It lies in the northwest of the country, just off the main road between Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. The nearest ...

. Additionally, 110-year-old coal fired rail steamer offers meals to the Victoria Falls bridge and Zambian border. Central Vic Falls, hosts the bulk of the historic district, featuring the oldest hotels, restaurants and bars. The city is also the centre for the Sky Nature documentary: Gangs of Baboon Falls, a documentary soap opera chronicling the life and lives of the cities resident Chacma Baboons.

Sport

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

is the most popular sport and there are many football teams, some of which played in the

first division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

. There have been many teams like Zimbabwe Sun Rovers, Intundla, Makasa Sun Casino, Guyu, Burning Spear, Sprayview, Mawema and The Young Warriors. Victoria Falls Rugby Club, which started at the farm school playing

touch rugby Touch rugby refers to games derived from rugby league in which players do not tackle each other but instead touch their opponents using their hands on any part of the body, clothing, or the ball. A formal, competitive variety, known as Touch ...

, was strengthened and played a few touring international sides at Elephant Hills Hotel. They participated at the Victoria Falls Rugby 10s in 1999, where

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

n and

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

n teams played. The town is known for its grade 5 rapids where white water

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

and

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

are done. There is also a

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

course, at the Elephant Hills Hotel, which held a tournament on the South African Tour in the 1970s, the Victoria Falls Classic. There is also a proposed cricket stadium.

Gallery

Freedom of the City

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City of Victoria Falls.

Individuals

Emmerson Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa ( , ; born 15 September 1942) is a Zimbabwean politician who has served as the president of Zimbabwe since 2017. A member of ZANU–PF and a longtime ally of former president Robert Mugabe, he held a series of cabin ...

: 9 December 2020.

References

External links

{{Authority control Victoria Falls Populated places in Matabeleland North Province Hwange District Zambia–Zimbabwe border crossings Zambezi River