| Tourism in Zambia
Introduction of Zambia
HISTORY The first humans to inhabit Zambia, were the San or Bushermen, a small people leading a hunter/gathering type of life, and now living in scatter groups in the deserts of Namibia. Their ancient rock art is still being discovered in various parts of Zambia. The bushermen gave way to the invading Bantu tribes from the North. Tribal wars and the slave trade caused upheavals until the missionaries arrived, including Dr. David Livingstone. Cecil Rhodes followed in his wake. Seeing the territory as part of his imperial dream to extend British influence in Africa from cape to Cairo. In 1911, the two halves of the country, Western Rhodesia, and North Eastern Rhodesia, were joined under the British Crown to form Northern Rhodesia, with Livingstone as the capital. The colonial regime was placed in 1953 by the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Now Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi), but the grouping collapsed after 10 years, paying the way for Zambia’s independence under Dr. Kenneth Kaunda. It became an independent republic within the Commonwealth in October 1964. In 1972 it was declared a one party state, but reverted back to multi-party politics in 1990. The current Zambian government is committed to rebuilding the country’s tourism industry after decades of neglect. CLIMATE Zambia's elevation on a plateau gives a moderate climate, despite the fact that it is within tropical latitudes. Indeed the weather is so pleasant. Zambia has been nicknamed the "air conditioned state". There are three seasons, warm and wet from December to April, cool and dry from May to August, and hot and dry from September to November. Only during the wet season is there noticeable humidity and only in the river valleys of the Zambezi and Luangwa is it very hot and then only in the month of October. While the rainy season occurs at the same period through out the country, the actual amount of rain varies considerably. It is wettest in the north, where more than 1,200 mm (45 inches) falls annually and drier in the south where rainfall is in the region of 700-mm (27 inches). GEOGRAPHY When visitors travel around Zambia the one thing that strikes them is the country's sheer size. It covers some 750,000 sq. kms, big enough to swallow up France, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary combined. It lies in the tropical belt of South Central Africa 10 to 18 degrees of the equator, Angola lies to the west, Zaire and Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Mozambique to the east and Namibia and Zimbabwe to the south. Situated on a plateau 1,300 metres above sea level, Zambia is the source of two great rivers, the Zaire and the Zambezi, the latter running through two of the country's outstanding features, the magnificent Victoria Falls and the vast man-made "inland sea" lake Kariba. As well as the falls Zambia possesses two of the largest wildlife sanctuaries In Africa, the Luangwa and Kafue National Parks. Altogether there are 19 National Parks covering eight percent of the country. LUSAKA The capital is Lusaka, but the town of Livingstone, near Victoria Falls, is a key tourist center. Most of the seven million inhabitants are African, with Asians and Europeans comprising minor communities. The African population contains a large diversity of tribes, speaking 73 dialects, with the Tonga, Lozi, Bemba and Ngoni being the four prominent language groups. For more information click here
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in the form If you are planning to visit zambia. Please Contact M G Patel at Kapamba Trails@aol.com. Search on Yahoo! You can also search on Lycos
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