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 conservation value.

The name recognises the floodplain as spawning the culture and way of life of the Lozi people, "Rotse" being a variant of Lozi, and "Ba" meaning "people". They became a powerful kingdom in Central/Southern Africa under their King or Litunga, Lewanika, whose realm extended up to 300 km from the plain and was called Barotseland.

The region is a flat plateau at an elevation of about 1000 m tilting very slightly to the south. The Zambezi and its headwaters rise on the higher ground to the north, which enjoys good rainfall (1400 mm annually) in a rainy season from October to May. A flood moves down the river reaching a flat region, formed from Kalahari sands, about five hundred kilometres across. To the south around the Ngonye Falls harder rock is found at the surface and has resisted the river's tendency to cut a channel down into it, and so acts a bit like a dam. Behind it the floodplain has formed. Below the falls the river falls nearly twice as fast as it does on the plain, and flows more swiftly in a narrower valley less prone to flooding.

The floodplain stretches from the Zambezi's confluence with the Kabompo and Lungwebungu Rivers in the north, to a point about 230 km south, above the Ngonye falls and south of Senanga. Along most of its length its width is over 30 km, reaching 50 km at the widest, just north of Mongu, principal town of the plain, situated at its edge. The main body of the plain covers about 5500 km², but the maximum flooded area is 10 750 km² when the floodplains of several tributaries are taken into account, such as the Luena Flats. The Barotse Floodplain is the second largest wetland in Zambia after the Lake Bangweulu system, which differs in having a large permanent lake and swamps, and a much smaller area which dries out annually.

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