Victoria Falls (Lozi: Mosi-oa-Tunya, "Thundering Smoke"; Tonga: Shungu Namutitima, "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Research in the late 2010s found that precipitation variability due to climate change is likely to alter the character of the falls.

[4] Livingstone also cited an older name, Seongo or Chongwe, which means "The Place of the Rainbow", as a result of the constant spray.

For a considerable distance upstream from the falls, the Zambezi flows over a level sheet of basalt in a shallow valley, bounded by low and distant sandstone hills.

The falls are formed where the full width of the river plummets in a single vertical drop into a transverse chasm 1,708 metres (5,604 ft) wide, carved along a fracture zone in the basalt plateau.

[10] The spray from the falls typically rises to a height of over 400 metres (1,300 ft), sometimes up to twice as high, and is visible from up to 50 km (30 mi) away.

Water entering the Second Gorge makes a sharp right turn and has carved out a deep pool there called the Boiling Pot.

Under wetter climate conditions about 20,000 years BP, it eventually overflowed and began to drain to the east, cutting the Batoka Gorge through the basalt.

[19]: 144–145 The basalt plateau of Victoria Falls, over which the Zambezi River flows, was formed during the Jurassic period, around 200 million years ago.

The Matabele, later arrivals, named them aManz' aThunqayo, and the Batswana and Makololo (whose language is used by the Lozi people) call them Mosi-o-Tunya.

[24] A map from c. 1750 drawn by Jacques Nicolas Bellin for Abbé Antoine François Prevost d'Exiles marks the falls as "cataractes" and notes a settlement to the north of the Zambezi as being friendly with the Portuguese at the time.

Europeans were sceptical of their reports, perhaps thinking that the lack of mountains and valleys on the plateau made a large fall unlikely.

Some writers believe that the Portuguese priest Gonçalo da Silveira was the first European to catch sight of the falls back in the sixteenth century.

[29][30] European settlement of the Victoria Falls area started around 1900 in response to the desire of Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company for mineral rights and imperial rule north of the Zambezi, and the exploitation of other natural resources such as timber forests north-east of the falls, and ivory and animal skins.

The Rhodesian Bush War erupted on the southern side of the Zambezi from 1972 to 1980 with terrorist incursions from Zambia, Mozambique and Botswana.

Periodic Rhodesian military cross-border operations against guerrilla camps in Zambia, caused the Zambians to impose security measures including the stationing of soldiers to restrict access to the gorges and some parts of the falls.

Zimbabwe's internationally recognized independence in 1980 brought comparative peace, and the 1980s witnessed renewed levels of tourism and the development of the region as a centre for adventure sports.

Activities that gained popularity in the area include whitewater rafting in the gorges, bungee jumping from the bridge, game fishing, horse riding, kayaking, e-biking, and sightseeing flights over the falls.

Unlike the game parks, Victoria Falls has more Zimbabwean and Zambian visitors than international tourists; the attraction is accessible by bus and train, and is therefore comparatively inexpensive to reach.

However, the number of tourists visiting Zimbabwe began to decline in the early 2000s as political tensions between supporters and opponents of president Robert Mugabe increased.

[37] When the river flow is at a certain level, usually between September and December, a rock barrier forms an eddy with minimal current, allowing adventurous swimmers to splash around in relative safety in front of the point where the water cascades over the falls.

[36] On Botswana’s side of the border, Chobe National Park is a short distance to travel to and is a popular location for a day trip for many tourists visiting Victoria Falls for extended stays.

The national parks contain abundant wildlife including sizeable populations of elephant, Cape buffalo, giraffe, Grant's zebra, and a variety of antelope.

[45] Such occurrences have affected the aesthetics of the waterfalls,[46] and there are fears that Victoria Falls might join other World Heritage sites categorised as last-chance destinations.

[47] While it may have had a negative impact on tourism,[citation needed] many experts in the region dismiss the story as ill-researched and irresponsible journalism.

They do not deny climate change and the impact it is having on the amount of water that cascades over the falls, but they argue the narrative is incomplete.