06/01/2026
Did you know
This is Lake Kariba. It is the largest man-made lake in the whole world by storage capacity.
That means no other man-made lake on Earth can hold more water than Kariba.
It stretches over 200 km in length and reaches about 40 km wide at its widest point. At this scale, the length of the lake alone is "roughly" equivalent to the distance between Harare and Kwekwe.
💥FACTS ABOUT LAKE KARIBA
■ Built within 5 years (1955–1959)
■ Construction cost £122 million
■ 86 workers died during construction
■ Over 50,000 people, mainly Tonga communities, were relocated to make way for the project
■ It was built during a time when Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi were one country called Central African Federation also known as the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
■ The dam wall is 128 metres high and about 617 metres wide (crest length)
■ There is a road on top of the dam wall which connects Zim and Zambia.
■ If the dam wall collapsed, hundreds of thousands of people would be affected by massive flooding, and both Zambia and Zimbabwe would experience unprecedented levels of power outages
💥WHO OWNS KARIBA DAM?
Kariba Dam is jointly owned by Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Both countries operate hydroelectric power stations at Kariba. On the Zimbabwean side is the Kariba South Power Station, and on the Zambian side is the Kariba North Power Station.
Because Kariba Dam is built on the Zambezi River, which forms the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, it is managed by the Zambezi River Authority, an institution that is jointly and equally owned by the two governments.
💥Is Kariba a dam or a lake👇
When we say “dam,” we are referring to the wall you see in the picture, but not only the wall.
A dam includes the wall, spillways, gates, tunnels, and all the structures around it that are built to control the flow of water and enable power generation. The water behind the wall is what we call Lake Kariba.
TAFFY THEMAN