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The Barotse Floodplain also known as the Bulozi Plain, Lyondo or the Zambezi Floodplain is one of Africa's great wetlands, on the Zambezi River in the Western Province of Zambia. It is a designated Ramsar site, regarded as being of high conservation value.〔("Zambezi Floodplain Ramsar Information Sheet" ), in ''Ramsar Sites Information Service'', Wetlands International. Retrieved 22 November 2007.〕 The name recognises the floodplain as spawning the culture and way of life of the Lozi people, "Rotse" being a variant of ''Lozi'', and "Ba" meaning "people". They became a powerful kingdom in Central/Southern Africa under their King or Litunga, Lewanika, whose realm extended up to 300 km from the plain and was called Barotseland. ==Topography and area== The region is a flat plateau at an elevation of about 1000 m tilting very slightly to the south. The Zambezi and its headwaters rise on the higher ground to the north, which enjoys good rainfall (1400 mm annually) in a rainy season from October to May. A flood moves down the river reaching a flat region, formed from Kalahari sands, about five hundred kilometres across. To the south around the Ngonye Falls harder rock is found at the surface and has resisted the river's tendency to cut a channel down into it, and so acts a bit like a dam. Behind it the floodplain has formed. Below the falls the river falls nearly twice as fast as it does on the plain, and flows more swiftly in a narrower valley less prone to flooding. The floodplain stretches from the Zambezi's confluence with the Kabompo and Lungwebungu Rivers in the north, to a point about 230 km south, above the Ngonye falls and south of Senanga. Along most of its length its width is over 30 km, reaching 50 km at the widest, just north of Mongu, principal town of the plain, situated at its edge. The main body of the plain covers about 5500 km²,〔("Barotse Floodplain, Zambia: local economic dependence on wetland resources." ) ''Case Studies in Wetland Valuation #2'': IUCN, May 2003.〕 but the maximum flooded area is 10 750 km² when the floodplains of several tributaries are taken into account,〔(Welcomme, R.L. (Comp.) (1979): ”The inland fisheries of Africa." ) CIFA Occas.Pap., (7): 69 p. Published by Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Rome.〕 such as the Luena Flats. The Barotse Floodplain is the second largest wetland in Zambia after the Lake Bangweulu system, which differs in having a large permanent lake and swamps, and a much smaller area which dries out annually.〔 The satellite photo was taken in April 2004 at the peak of the flood, Note that the northern part of the plain, near Lukulu, is less flooded, the land there varies a bit more in height and the water tends to keep to the many river channels. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Barotse Floodplain」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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