Bangweulu

Bangweulu
/bang'wee ooh"looh/, n.
a shallow lake and swamp in NE Zambia. ab. 150 mi. (240 km) long.

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(Bantu:“Large Water”),

      shallow lake with extensive swamps in northeastern Zambia. It is part of the Congo River system. Lying at an elevation of 3,740 feet (1,140 m), the waters of Bangweulu, fluctuating with the rainy season, cover a triangular area of about 3,800 square miles (9,800 square km). The lake, at the triangle's northwest corner, is 45 miles (72 km) long and 24 miles (38 km) wide. There are three inhabited islands in the lake and many low islands in the swamps. The swamplands are the result of excessive vegetation growth over a section of low gradient along the course of the Chambeshi River, where they act as a check to the annual flooding, releasing the floodwaters slowly through a myriad of channels and lagoons, to issue as the Luapula River where the slope increases again. The vegetation responsible for the swamps consists of a common water reed, Phragmites communis, growing just above mean water level; a zone of papyrus at water level; and a floating grass, called hippo-grass, in deeper water. The lake's fish are caught, dried, and exported to the copper-mining belt 100 miles (160 km) to the west. The explorer-missionary Dr. David Livingstone (Livingstone, David), the first European to visit the lake (1868), died on its southern shore in 1873.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Bangweulu — [baŋ΄wē o͞o′lo͞o] shallow lake in N Zambia: including swamps, 3,800 sq mi (9,842 sq km) …   English World dictionary

  • Bangweulu — Bangweolo ou Bangweulu lac marécageux de Zambie, au S. du lac Tanganyika, traversé par la riv. Luapula; env. 5 000 km² …   Encyclopédie Universelle

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  • Bangweulu Wetlands ecosystem — The Bangweulu Wetlands ecosystem covers a large area exhibiting great biodiversity which is under environmental stress and in need of conservation.Halls, A.J. (ed.), 1997. Wetlands, Biodiversity and the Ramsar Convention: The Role of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Bangweulu Block — The Bangweulu Block is a cratonic unit that forms part of the Congo craton of central Africa. The Bangweulu Block however consists of Palaeoproterozoic granitoids and volcanics, and is overlain by a Palaeoproterozoic continental sedimentary… …   Wikipedia

  • Bangweulu — ► Lago de Zambia a 1 140 m de altitud. Livingstone murió en su orilla sur (1873); 9 800 km2 …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Bangweulu — Bang•we•u•lu [[t]ˌbæŋ wiˈu lu[/t]] n. geg a shallow lake and swamp in NE Zambia. ab. 150 mi. (240 km) long …   From formal English to slang

  • Bangweulu — /bæŋwiˈulu/ (say bangwee oohlooh) noun a shallow lake and swamp in north eastern Zambia; David Livingstone was responsible for its European discovery in 1868; place of his death in 1873. 9840 km2; about 80 km long …  

  • Bangweulu — /bang wee ooh looh/, n. a shallow lake and swamp in NE Zambia. ab. 150 mi. (240 km) long …   Useful english dictionary

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