Petauke
Coordinates: 14 ° 14 ′ S , 31 ° 23 ′ E
Petauke , including Old Petauke or Petauka , is a town with 20,388 inhabitants (2006 estimate) on the Great East Road in the Eastern Province in Zambia . It is 900 meters above sea level and is the seat of the administration of the district of the same name with 235,879 inhabitants (2000 census). The distance to Lusaka is 380 kilometers, to Chipata 130 kilometers. The dominant language is Nsenga .
history
Petauke has been a Portuguese outpost and trading post for ivory from the Bangweulus swamps and the Luangwa valley since the 17th century, and a station for mail runners to the north in the 19th century.
economy
Like Nyimba, 60 kilometers to the west, Petauke is characterized by agriculture. Open grassland dominates. The soil is fertile. Mainly corn , tobacco and cotton (1538 tons (2005)) are grown, but also bananas, sugar cane , millet , rice, tomatoes, onions and peanuts . The African Development Bank's loan program for smallholders here is mainly used for carts and water pumps. There is a brewery (Mafuta beer). The district is the fastest growing economically and demographically in Zambia. In the surrounding area were copper - gold - and phosphate deposits found. Above all, the phosphate deposits are to become the basis for artificial fertilizer production, for which Chinese investors were asked.
In the area between Katete and Petauke, aquamarines ( aquamarine and green-hue) are found, which sell for $ 800 per carat. There are limestone deposits .
Infrastructure
The Great East Road runs through Petauke. A path with many streams, but without any bridge, leads to Mfue in the South Luangwa National Park . There you will find the Flatdogs Lodge , which like all other lodges at and in this park has adapted to the considerably increasing tourism. There's an airfield there. In Petauke there is a gas station, a hotel, elementary and secondary schools and the Covenant College, and in Minga Mission there is the church Minga Hospital .
See also
- For a map with all districts and provinces see: Administrative division of Zambia
