Groundwater quality: Zambia

Zambia is a landlocked country in southern Africa,
lying to the south of Congo and north of
Zimbabwe, with a total land area of around
752,600 square kilometres (Figure 1). Terrain
consists mainly of high plateau with some
mountains and hills. Elevation varies from greater
than 2300 m in the Mafinga Hills on the north-east
national border, to 329 m
in the valley of the
Zambezi River (Figure 1). The western part of the
country consists mainly of plateau, typically at
1000–1300 m above sea level.
The terrain is more
variable in the east. The
Muchinga Mountains form
a north-east to south-west ridge (up to 1788 m) in
the Central and Northern Provinces. Deep valleys
occur along the Luangwa and Zambezi Rivers in
south-eastern Zambia . Topographic depressions
also occur in parts of Northern and Luapala
Provinces, where many of the low-lying areas are
occupied by swamps, of which the largest is the
Bangweulu swamp