River · Zambia
Kafue
The Kafue is the longest river that lies entirely within Zambia and gives its name to a famous national park. After a wide loop through swamps and plains it joins the Zambezi near Chirundu.
Picture credit: This Photo (CC BY-SA 4.0) · This Photo (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Munahampondela (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Kafue?
The river starts here: Highlands in northern Zambia, near the border with the DR Congo.
It ends in the Zambezi near Chirundu.
Countries on the river: Zambia.
The story behind it
The Kafue starts in the north of Zambia, close to the border with the DR Congo, and then swings in a long curve through the middle of the country. Along the way it spreads into the Kafue Flats, a huge grassy floodplain that fills with water every rainy season and dries out again later. Thousands of lechwe antelopes live there and no other place has so many; they run through shallow water with splashing hooves while fish eagles circle overhead. Buffalo, zebras and lions roam the national park upstream. Two dams make electricity for the copper mines and cities, and cane fields are watered from the river. Books do not agree exactly on its length, because the swampy stretches make it hard to follow one clear channel.
Questions children ask
How long is the Kafue?
The Kafue is given as about 1 576 km long. Not every source states the same number, because the river loses itself in wide swamps. It is the longest river that stays inside Zambia from start to end.
Which country does the Kafue flow through?
The Kafue flows only through Zambia. It rises in the north near the Copperbelt and crosses the centre of the country. Its whole basin therefore belongs to a single state.
Where does the Kafue flow into?
The Kafue joins the Zambezi near Chirundu. From there the water continues eastwards and later passes the great Victoria Falls region downstream towards the Indian Ocean. The meeting point is warm, low country with thick bush.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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