Bangweulu Lake
| Bangweulu Lake | ||
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| Geographical location | in northeast Zambia | |
| Tributaries | Chambeshi | |
| Drain | Luapula | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 11 ° 12 ′ 1 ″ S , 29 ° 44 ′ 18 ″ E | |
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| Altitude above sea level | 1140 m | |
| surface | 4,500 - 10,000 km² | |
| Maximum depth | 4 m | |
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particularities |
silted up by sediment washings from the tributaries |
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The Bangweulusee ( Bantu language for large water , also Bangweolo lake ; English Lake Bangweulu ) is a lake in northeast Zambia . It lies at the deepest point of the Bangweulu basin . Bangweulu means place where the water meets the sky .
description
The freshwater lake , which is located in a basin 1140 m high , extends in the dry season 80 km in north-south and 40 km in east-west direction and becomes increasingly swampy due to the sediment washings of the tributaries , whereby the Bangweulus swamps are getting bigger and bigger Which is why, depending on the water level, the size of the lake is 4500 to over 10,000 km². The only 4 m deep lake, which is fed by 17 tributaries, including a tributary of the Chambeshi , flows from the Luapula , which flows into the Mweru Lake and is a tributary of the Congo via the Luvua that adjoins it . The lake and swamps are rich in fish, which not only nourishes the fishermen but also the crocodiles.
discovery
Lake Bangweulus was discovered in 1868 by David Livingstone , who was the first European to penetrate this region and died on May 1, 1873 on the south bank of the lake in Chitambo. The French traveler Victor Giraud in 1883 and the Englishman Thomson in 1890 made more detailed research after him. In 1896, Poulett Weatherley was the first to sail around the lake.