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 Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

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 Sioma District is a district of Zambia, located in Western Province on the west bank of the Zambezi River. The capital lies at Sioma. As of the 2022 Zambian Census, the district had a population of 65,539 people.

Geography

Sioma is located on the west bank of the

north of

Sesheke Sesheke is a border town in the Western Province, Zambia, Western Province of Zambia, in a Sesheke District, district of the same name. It lies on the northern bank of the Zambezi River which forms the border with Namibia, Namibia's Caprivi Stri ...

and south of the provincial capital

Mongu Mongu is the capital of Western Province in Zambia and was the capital of the formerly-named province and historic state of Barotseland. Its population is 179,585 (2010 census), and it is also the headquarters of Mongu District. Mongu is the ho ...

. 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 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 ...

. 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 James Dabney McCabe Jr. (1842–1883) was an American author. Along with his birth name, he also selectively used the pseudonym Edward Winslow Martin. McCabe was born in Richmond, Virginia, on July 30, 1842, the son of Rev. James Dabney McCabe, a ...

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 The Ngonye Falls or Sioma Falls is a waterfall on the Zambezi river in Western province Zambia, near the town of Sioma and a few hundred kilometres upstream from the Victoria Falls. Situated in the southern part of Barotseland, the falls are a ...

. 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

References

{{reflist, 30em Populated places in Western Province, Zambia Zambezi River