Western Province

Western Province is the largest administrative region in Zambia with a total land area of 126,386 square kilometer. The Provincial headquarter of Western Province is Mongu which is located about 600 km from Lusaka the capital city of Zambia.

The Province shares boundaries with Angola to the west, Namibia to the south. Internally, the Province is bordered to the east by Central Province, to the north by North-Western Province and to the southeast by Southern Province.

The Province is located between longitudes 22º 30” and 25º 30” East and latitudes 13º 45” and 17º 45” south.  It lies along two international boundaries being bordered to the West by Angola and to the South by the National Caprivi Strip, Namibia. Figure 1 below shows the map of Western Province.

The Zambezi Floodplain extends from the confluence of the Zambezi with the Lungwebungu and Kabompo Rivers at the northern border of the province, to a point below Senanga and above the Ngonye Falls in the south. This floodplain is inundated from December to June, and is fed by other rivers with their own floodplains, and serves as a vast reservoir storing the waters of the Zambezi. The seasonal flooding is very important to agriculture in the province, providing natural irrigation for the grasslands on which huge herds of cattle depend, and bringing water to the settlements along the edges of the plain.

The flood plain comprises Bulozi flood plains, Lower Luena Basin, Luampa-Lui watershed, the Northeast Water shed in Lukulu district and Nyengo plain in Kalabo district while the upper land comprises Kaoma, Mongu and Silowana terrace.

As per the 2010 Census of Population and Housing, Western Province had a population of 902,974 accounting to 6.72% of the total Zambian population of 13,092,666.