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Learn more about "Kafue"
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Kafue
Kafue is a town in the Lusaka Province of Zambia on the north bank of the Kafue River, after which it is named. It is the southern gateway to the central Zambian plateau on which Lusaka and the mining towns of Kabwe and the Copperbelt are located.[Camerapix: "Spectrum Guide to Zambia." Camerapix International Publishing, Nairobi, 1996.]
Site
Kafue is at the south-eastern foot of a range of granite hills rising 200 m and extending over an area of about 250 km², and occupies a shelf of land between the hills and the river, just high enough to avoid its annual flood. The town extends along some shallow valleys between the hills. A 400 m wide strip of small farms and gardens separates the town from a bend of the river which is about 300 m wide in the dry season and 1.3 km wide in the rainy season, sometimes inundating a floodplain 10 km wide on the opposite bank, which consequently is uninhabited save for a few small villages or farms on higher ground.[Google Earth accessed 2007.]
Transport link s
The Kafue River's 50-km wide floodplain, the Kafue Flats, is a 240 km long east-west barrier to road and rail connections between the centre of the country and the south. Kafue lies at the eastern end of the floodplain where the river enters the Kafue Gorge and flows down the Zambezi Escarpment into the middle Zambezi rift valley.[Terracarta/International Travel Maps, Vancouver Canada: "Zambia, 2nd edition", 2000]
The river is not used for commercial Water Transport in Zambia|water transport. To the west it is too shallow and meandering and does not go near any centres of population, to the east is not navigable due to the Kafue Gorge and dam. However, subsistence fishing and recreational boating and sports fishing takes place on a 60 km stretch of the river above the dam. Population
According to its 2000 Census, Kafue has a total population of 162,262, of which 83,421 are males and 78,841 are females.[World Bank website:"Environmental Impact Statement for the Lusaka-Chirundu Road" accessed 1 March 2007.]
Religion
Among people aged 15 years and above, 73.11% are Protestant, 11.08% belong to other religions, and 15.80% are not affiliated with any religion. Industry
Agriculture and fishing are the traditional occupations of the area, and a commercial faming area extends along the edge of the Kafue Flats for 35 km north-west of the town. Commercial fishing operations of any size are limited to fish farming. Kafue has a larger proportion of manufacturing industries than most other towns outside the Copperbelt, having an industrial estate with housing and services called '''Kafue Estates'''. The industries there include:
- Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (agricultural fertilisers)
- Bata Tanning|Tannery (shoe leather)
- Textiles
Other industries in or near the town:
- Kafue Fisheries Ltd is 9 km west of Kafue Estates and comprises 1.5 km² of Fish farming|fish ponds integrated with Intensive pig farming|pig farming, with a separate a game farm and tourist lodge.[Lechwe Lodge website accessed 1 March 2007]
- Kafue Quarry produces construction aggregate for road building and general construction.
- Kafue Gorge Dam generates hydroelectricity 30 km downstream from the town, and at the end of the rainy season its reservoir extends back to the town.
- a Cement in Africa|cement works is proposed. [ http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=4&aid=32&dir=2008/June/Thursday26 ]
Reference and External Links
Category:Cities, towns and villages in Zambia
Related Images- Location of Kafue in Zambia
Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
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