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