Sioma is a town on the west 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 ...
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 ...
. Since 2012 it has been the capital of the
Sioma District.
Geography
Sioma is located on the west 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 ...
north of
Sesheke and south of the provincial capital
Mongu. The town is situated approximately south of the town of
Senanga
Senanga is the capital of the Senanga District, which is located in the Western Province, Zambia, Western Province of Zambia. The town is situated on the eastern bank of the Zambezi River, at the southern end of the Barotse Floodplain. It lies on ...
which marks the southern extent of the
Barotse Floodplain.
Vegetation in the area is predominantly Dry Kalahari woodland.
Weather
Annually, the town gets an average of of rain.
History
An
Early Iron Age site was excavated at Sioma which has been dated to the mid centuries of the first millennium. Some of the pottery at the site resembles that which is found in Nqoma, Angola.
In the 1880s the Portuguese explorer
Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto and American
James Dabney McCabe both described the settlement as a hamlet. Pinto also described how the Lui government forced local residents to act as porters for canoes attempting to get around the nearby
Ngonye Falls.
Expansion of the town started in 1957 when the catholic
Irish Capuchin Franciscans established the Saint Anthony
mission station on the Zambezi river at the town.
In 2012 the town was made the capital of the newly created
Sioma District.
References
{{reflist, 30em
Populated places in Western Province, Zambia
Zambezi River