Luapula River - The Luapula Valley

The Luapula Valley

From the Chembe Ferry to Lake Mweru, the 300 km long Luapula Valley has a higher rural population than the plateau through which it cuts to a depth of up to 500 m. The river is known for this valley and for its long thin delta entering Lake Mweru, usually referred to as the Luapula Swamps. The well-populated part of the valley starts north from Mambilima Falls, and along the rest of its length is nicknamed 'Mwapoleni Road', after the Chibemba greeting called out as people pass each other.

For many practical study purposes the lower Luapula and Mweru can be considered as one entity. They lie in a rift valley or graben once considered separate from the East African Rift but are now see as a branch of it. Mweru however drains not into Lake Tanganyika in the Albertine Rift but via the Luvua River, which has cut a deep narrow zigzag valley to join the Lualaba River, as the upper Congo is named. The Luapula is part of the longest tributary of the Congo, and hence, by convention, is part of its source, even if the upper Lualaba carries more water.

Overlaying the edge of the rift valley 60 km west of the Luapula Swamps is the Luizi structure, a 12.6 km wide series of concentric rings. It is believed to be a meteoritic impact crater (an astrobleme) formed 620 million years ago.