The Kalambo River forms part of the border between

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

and

Songwe Region Songwe Region (''Mkoa wa Songwe'' in Swahili) is a region of Tanzania created on 29 January 2016 from the western half of Mbeya Region. Its capital is Vwawa. Geography Songwe Region borders the countries of Zambia and Malawi to the south: Tund ...

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 and ...

. It is a comparatively small stream which rises on the

Ufipa Plateau The Ufipa Plateau is a highland in southwestern Tanzania. It lies mostly in Rukwa Region, near the border with Zambia. The plateau is named for the Fipa people who inhabit it. Geography The plateau extends northwest-southeast, rising between two se ...

north-east of Mbala at an elevation of about 1800 m and descends into the

Albertine Rift The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the East African Rift, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. It extends from the northern end of Lake Albert to the southern end of Lake Tan ...

, entering the southeastern end of

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. ...

at an elevation of about 770 m, in a straight-line distance of only about 50 km. This accounts for its main claim to fame, its waterfall,

Kalambo Falls The Kalambo Falls on the Kalambo River is a single-drop waterfall on the border of Zambia and Rukwa Region, Tanzania at the southeast end of Lake Tanganyika. The falls are some of the tallest uninterrupted falls in Africa (after South Africa's ...

, which is Africa's second highest falls (after South Africa's

Tugela Falls Tugela Falls is a complex of seasonal waterfalls located in the Drakensberg (''Dragon's Mountains'') of Royal Natal National Park in KwaZulu-Natal Province, Republic of South Africa. According to some measurements, it is the world's tallest wate ...

). Below the falls, the river runs in a deep gorge. For more details see

, including coverage of the important archaeological sites discovered there.

References

* UNESCO, World Heritage Centre
Kalambo falls archaeological site (prehistoric settlement site)
11/06/1997. * "Forestry." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 17 June 2006 .

External links

* Rivers of Zambia Rivers of Tanzania Tributaries of Lake Tanganyika International rivers of Africa Tanzania–Zambia border {{Tanzania-river-stub