Zambia is dominated by its namesake, the Zambezi River which rises in the northwest and forms the countries southern boundary. Zambia is landlocked and bordered by Zaire in the north and northwest, Tanzania in the northeast, Malawi in the east, Moçambique in the southeast, Zimbabwe in the south, Botswana and Namibia in the southwest and Angola in the west! With an area of 750,000 square kilometres, Zambia is based around a central plateau with a height of 1060 to 1363m above sea level. The landscape is mostly flat with isolated mountain ridges and outcrops containing the countries mineral wealth.

The level of the land falls moving southwards from the Zaire border to the Zambezi, and the central plateau is broken by the huge valleys of the Zambezi and its main tributaries; the Kafue and Luangwa being the largest.