Luangwa is a town in Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

, at the confluence of the Luangwa

Luangwa River

The Luangwa River is one of the major tributaries of the Zambezi River, and one of the four biggest rivers of Zambia. The river generally floods in the rainy season and then falls considerably in the dry season...

 and Zambezi Rivers, which was previously called Feira. It is headquarters of a district of the same name in Lusaka Province

Lusaka Province

Lusaka Province is one of Zambia's nine provinces. The provincial capital is Lusaka, which is also the national capital.-National Parks and wildlife areas:*Lower Zambezi National Park...

.

Feira was probably the first European

European ethnic groups

The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....

 settlement in Zambia, but the dates are not well documented. What is documented is that the Portuguese

Portuguese people

The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

 first settled on the opposite bank of the Luangwa at Zumbo

Zumbo

Zumbo is the most western town in Mozambique, on the Zambezi River. Lying on the north-east bank of the Zambezi-Luangwa River confluence, it is a border town, with Zambia across the Luangwa River and Zimbabwe diagonally across the Zambezi and 2 km upstream...

 in Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

 around 1720, in order to trade with the Bwila people, and by 1820 some had settled in Feira.

After Zambia achieved independence

Independence

Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....

 the name of the town was changed to Luangwa as part of a preference for indigenous rather than colonial

Colonialism

Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...

 names. It has only one road in or out which connects to the Great East Road

Great East Road (Zambia)

The Great East Road is a major road in Zambia and the only highway linking its Eastern Province with the rest of the country. It is also the major link between Zambia and Malawi and between Zambia and northern Mozambique...

 about 100 km north. There are no bridges in the area over the Luangwa or Zambezi, nor regular ferry services, but local people will take visitors across in small boats.

The town's location is strategically important. The Luangwa forms Zambia's border with Mozambique and the Zambezi forms its border with Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

. In the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia War

Rhodesian Bush War

The Rhodesian Bush War – also known as the Second Chimurenga or the Zimbabwe War of Liberation – was a civil war which took place between July 1964 and December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia...

, the Mozambican War of Independence

Mozambican War of Independence

The Mozambican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the guerrilla forces of the Mozambique Liberation Front or FRELIMO , and Portugal...

 and Mozambican Civil War

Mozambican Civil War

The Mozambican Civil War began in 1977, two years after the end of the war of independence. The ruling party, Front for Liberation of Mozambique , was violently opposed from 1977 by the Rhodesian- and South African-funded Mozambique Resistance Movement...

 it was the scene of guerrilla activity. Zambia's practical support for nationalist guerrillas led to some incursions into its territory by Rhodesian and Portuguese forces in pursuit of them.

Luangwa District is far from the famous Luangwa national parks, but includes specatacular scenery and wildlife of its own. The Lower Zambezi National Park

Lower Zambezi National Park

The Lower Zambezi National Park lies on the north bank of the Zambezi River in south eastern Zambia. Until 1983 when the area was declared a national park the area was the private game reserve of Zambia's president. This has resulted in the park being protected from the ravages of mass tourism and...

 west of the town is a rugged wilderness on the Zambezi Escarpment

Zambezi Escarpment

Zambezi Escarpment is a name used for the escarpments forming both sides of the rift valley or graben in which lie the middle Zambezi river and Lake Kariba...

and the lower Luangwa valley includes unspoilt scenery and wildlife habitats.