Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

waterfall, horseshoe waterfall

Part of	Zambezi River, Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls
Native label	Victoria Falls
Drainage basin	Zambezi Basin
Dem name after	Victoria
Continent	Africa
Country	Zambia, Zimbabwe
Edey de administrative territorial entity insyd	Southern Province, Matabeleland North Province
Located in protected area	Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park
Ein location	Livingstone, Victoria Falls
Located in or next to body of water	Zambezi River
Coordinate location	17°55′29″S 25°51′29″E
Heritage designation	World Heritage Site, IUGS Geological Heritage Site
Get characteristic	transboundary site
World Heritage criteria	(vii), (viii)

Victoria Falls (Lozi: Mosi-oa-Tunya, "Thundering Smoke/Smoke that Rises"; Tonga: Shungu Namutitima, "Boiling Water") be a waterfall on de Zambezi River, wey locate on de border between Zambia den Zimbabwe. E be one of de world ein largest waterfalls, plus a width of 1,708 m (5,604 ft). De region around am get a high degree of biodiversity insyd both plants den animals.

Archaeology den oral history dey describe a long record of African knowledge of de site. Although known to sam European geographers before de 19th century, na dem introduce Scottish missionary David Livingstone to de falls insyd 1855, wey he name dem Victoria Falls after Queen Victoria. Since de mid-20th century, de site be a major tourist destination. Zambia den Zimbabwe both get national parks den tourism infrastructure at de site. Research insyd de late 2010s find say precipitation variability secof climate change likely be to alter de character of de falls.

Name origins

David Livingstone be de first European dem record to view de falls on 16 November 1855, from an island now be known as Livingstone Island, one of two land masses insyd de middle of de river, immediately upstream from de falls near de Zambian shore. Livingstone name ein sighting in honour of Queen Victoria, buh de Lozi language name, Mosi-oa-Tunya—"The Smoke That Thunders"—continue in common usage. De World Heritage List officially dey recognise both names. Livingstone sanso cite an older name, Seongo anaa Chongwe, wich dey mean "The Place of the Rainbow", as a result of de constant spray.

De nearby national park insyd Zambia be named Mosi-oa-Tunya, whereas de national park den town on de Zimbabwean shore both be named Victoria Falls.

Size

Victoria Falls be classified as de largest based on ein combined width of 1,708 metres (5,604 ft) den height of 108 metres (354 ft), wey dey result in de world ein largest sheet of falling water.

Victoria Falls dem see from Zimbabwe insyd August, 2019.

Gorges

First Gorge, from de Zambian side

De principal gorges be

• First Gorge: de one de river dey fall into at Victoria Falls
• Second Gorge: 250 m (820 ft) south of falls, 2.15 km (1.34 mi) long, dem span by de Victoria Falls Bridge
• Third Gorge: 600 m (2,000 ft) south, 1.95 km (1.21 mi) long, wey dey contain de Victoria Falls Power Station
• Fourth Gorge: 1.15 km (0.71 mi) south, 2.25 km (1.40 mi) long
• Fifth Gorge: 2.25 km (1.40 mi) south, 3.2 km (2.0 mi) long
• Songwe Gorge: 5.3 km (3.3 mi) south, 3.3 km (2.1 mi) dem long name after de small Songwe River wey dey cam from de north-east, den de deepest at 140 m (460 ft), de level of de river insyd dem dey vary by up to 20 m (66 ft) between wet den dry seasons.

Formation

Victoria Falls National Park marker

De Upper Zambezi River originally drain south thru present day Botswana to join de Limpopo River. A general uplift of de land between Zimbabwe den de Kalahari Desert about 2 million years ago block dis drainage route, den a large paleolake dem know as Lake Makgadikgadi form between de Kalahari den de Batoka Basaltic Plateau of Zimbabwe den Zambia. Na dis lake originally be endorheic wey e get no natural outlet. Under wetter climate conditions about 20,000 years BP, e eventually overflow den begin to drain to de east, wey dey cut de Batoka Gorge thru de basalt.

External links

• Cana, Frank Richardson (1911). "Victoria Falls". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). pp. 44–45.
• "Mosi-oa-Tunya". UNEP-WCMC. Archived from the original on 10 May 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
• "Victoria Falls, Zambezi River". NASA Earth Observatory. Archived from the original on 27 September 2003.
• "Victoria Falls". UNESCO World Heritage.