Position

Luwingu District is one of the oldest districts of Northern Province founded in 1906. The District is situated 165 kilometres from Kasama the province headquarters of Northern Province. The district lies between latitude 10 15 and 11 06          south of equator and longitudes 29 06 and 30 48 east of the Greenwich Meridian.

It shares boundaries with other districts namely Mporokoso, Lunte and Kawambwa in the North-east, Mansa and Chipili in the west, Chilubi and Samfya southward and Kasama in the East.

Area

The District covers an area of 8,892 square kilometres with a population density of 13.7 inhabitants per square km. According to the 2010 Census of Population and Housing, the District had a population of 122,136 people with an annual population growth rate of 4.2 Percent.

GOVERNANCE SYSTEM

Luwingu District has two constituencies namely; Lupososhi and Lubansenshi Constituency divided into 22 Wards.

CLIMATE

The district has a terrain which is largely plateau Savannah and a climate which is dry and temperate. The district receives good rainfall.

VEGETATION

The Northern region of the district is on a semi – low highland area while the southern part slops towards the flat land, with lakes, rivers and dambos which are wet throughout the year. The highland areas has many rivers and streams that dry up seasonally leaving larger swampy; good for animal grazing and rice growing.

HYDROLOGY

The district is endowed with water from streams, rivers, lagoons, dambos, swamps and lakes. Notable among them are Lubanseshi, Lupososhi, Lufubu, Luena, Mufili and Mulalashi Rivers. Mutondo and Chimbwi bear beautiful lagoons good for tourism investment with a distance between 75km to 80 kilimeters from Luwingu. Most of the rivers make confluences and pour water in Lake Bangweulu. Lufubu is the only falls found in the district approximately 12 kilometres from the central business district.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Agriculture   

Luwingu District is predominately an agricultural area with 99% of farmers being small scale growing beans, maize, cassava and groundnuts

Beans is famously grown in Luwingu district

Mining Industry

The district has potential for mining at small scale level because of the copper and manganese deposits which has been identified in Itandashi and Mpasa areas.

TOURISM

Lufubu falls on Lufubu river, Luwingu district

Luwingu has unique features suitable for tourism with Lufubu falls being the main tourist attraction

FORESTRY

Reserves and Plantations: The district has a total number of eleven (11) protected forest reserves and two (2) plantations. However, most of these protected forest reserves and plantation are encroached in one form or another resulting into varying degrees of deforestation.  The major trees found in the forest include: Juberradia Gilobiflora (Mpasa), Paranchytegia Spaformis (Muputu), Branchytezia Long Folia (Muombo), Branchytezia Wangermana (Masamba), Branchytezia Floribunda (Musompa),Maraguesia Marcoura (Musenshi) and Uapaco (Musuku)

COMMUNICATION AND POWER

Air Transport

Luwingu district has one air strip. The air strip is currently gravel hence the need for upgrade to bitumen standard.

Energy

The main source of electricity supply to the district is hydroelectric power through the National grid. Solar energy is another source of energy being utilised in the District

INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sub-sector is gaining prominence in the District with the rapid technological advancements that have been experienced worldwide since the 1990s. The Zambia Telecommunication Company (ZAMTEL) provides both land phone and Cellular network, while Aitel and MTN providing Cellular communication to the masses.

HEALTH

Luwingu has one (1) first referral hospital, twelve (12) rural health centers one (1) urban clinic and three (3) functional health posts.

EDUCATION

Luwingu District has 1 High School, 87 primary schools, 36 community schools and 4 Integrated Radio Instruction (IRI) Centres