Zambia Travel Guide
Zambia Travel Guide
>
The Western Provinces
>
>
Barotseland
>
>
>
>
>

Zambia Travel Guide

Barotseland



The former British protectorate of Barotseland, now usually referred to as simply the Western Province (WP), covers the floodplains which surround some of the upper reaches of the Zambezi. It is the homeland of the Lozi king, the Litunga, and his people – a group who have retained much of their cultural heritage despite the ravages of the past century. They were granted more autonomy by the colonial authorities than most of the ethnic groups in Zambia's other regions, and perhaps this has helped them to preserve more of their culture. The Litunga has winter and summer palaces nearby, and a hunting lodge in Liuwa Plain.

Chapter 47 of John Reader's excellent Africa: A Biography of the Continent covers some of the history of this area in fascinating detail.

For the traveller this means that some aspects of life here have altered relatively little since pre-colonial times. Most of the local people still follow lifestyles of subsistence farming, hunting and gathering, and when rains are good they must still move to higher ground to escape the floodwaters.


^ Top of page