Kalabo is an urban centre and the seat of Kalabo District, in the Western 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 ...

Geography

Location

The town is located on the plains west 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 ...

and the

Barotse Floodplain The Barotse Floodplain, also known as the Bulozi Plain, Lyondo or the Zambezi Floodplain, is one of Africa's great wetlands, on the Zambezi River in the Western Province of Zambia. It is a designated Ramsar site, regarded as being of high conse ...

, and approximately , by road east of the town of Sikongo, Zambia, close to the border with

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. This is approximately , by road, west 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 ...

, Zambia's capital and largest city. The geographical coordinates of Kalabo are:14°59'28.0"S, 22°40'44.0"E (Latitude:-14.991111; Longitude:22.678889). Kalabo sits at an average elevation of above

mean sea level A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...

Climate

Kalabo has a fairly dry

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 ...

(

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 ...

: ''Aw''), characterized by warm to hot temperatures and distinct wet and dry seasons. June and July are the coolest months, while October is the hottest month with average high temperatures exceeding . 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 March, experiences significant 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 October, is marked by a lack of precipitation.

Overview

It is situated on the bank of the

Luanginga River The Luanginga is a river rising in Angola, which flows into the Zambezi in western Zambia. External links Luanginga River Transporton Flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, a ...

across which a small pontoon ferry connects to a dirt track going north-west to the Angolan border. Kalabo is the base for the

Liuwa Plain National Park Liuwa Plain National Park is a national park in Zambia's Western Province, Zambia, Western Province. "Liuwa" means "plain" in the local Liuwa language, a dialect of Lozi language, and the plains originally served as a hunting ground for Lewa ...

which can be reached by off-road vehicles about , north of the pontoon. Zambia's Western Province was formerly known as

Barotseland Barotseland (Lozi language, Lozi: ''Mubuso Bulozi'') is a region between Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe including half of north-western province, southern province, and parts of Lusaka Province, Lusaka, Central Province, Zambia, Central, ...

, and Liuwa Plain was the Barotse king's hunting grounds which

Lewanika Lewanika (c. 1842–1916) (also known as Lubosi, Lubosi Lewanika or Lewanika I) was the Lozi Litunga (King) of Barotseland from 1878 to 1916 (with a break in 1884-5). A detailed, although biased, description of King 'Lubossi' (the spelling used) c ...

made into a game reserve in the 19th century.

Population

In 2010, the national population census and household survey enumerated the population of Kalabo Town at 2,178 people. In 2020, the town's population was estimated at 7,731 inhabitants.

Transport

Access to Kalabo by road was difficult but now after the completion of the road between Kalabo and Mongu, it is now easier. The section crossing the floodplain is called the Barotse Floodplain Causeway and is counted as an extension of the Lusaka-Mongu Road. The Mongu-Kalabo Road measures in length. The city of Mongu is the provincial capital of Zambia's Western Province. Before the construction of the road, Kalabo was usually cut off by road in the rainy season. The dirt tracks across the floodplain from Mongu become flooded, and frequently in poor condition at other times. The tracks go to two ferries across the main channel of the Zambezi, a northern one near Libonda accessed from Mongu via Limulunga, and a southern one at Sandaula accessed via

Lealui Lealui or Lialui is the dry season residence on the Barotse Floodplain of the Litunga, king of the Lozi people of western Zambia. It is located about 14 km west of the town of Mongu and about 10 km east of the river's main channel. A ...

. In recent years dirt roads on raised earth embankments have been constructed from Mongu to Lealui and from Kalabo to Sandaula. This is part of an ambitious long-term regional plan to provide the first ever major link between the road networks of Zambia and

via a paved causeway across the floodplain and a bridge over the Zambezi, replacing the ferry. A paved highway would then be built from Kalabo north-west to the Angolan border and beyond. Although originally intended for completion in 2006, construction has proved more difficult than anticipated and large sections were washed away in floods in 2003/2004, resulting in funding shortfalls. Kalabo is also served by Kalabo Airport, approximately , west of the town.

References

External links

Mongu and the Mongu-Kalabo Road in Pictures
As of 15 April 2016. {{Authority control Kalabo District Populated places in Western Province, Zambia