The Uluguru mountains are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in eastern

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

, named after the Luguru tribe. The main portion of the Uluguru mountains is a ridge running roughly north-south and rising to altitude at its highest point. On the main Uluguru range, 50 villages touch the forest boundary and over 151,000 people are found within the mountain area, often at increasing densities at higher altitudes up to the forest boundary.

Geography

The Ulugurus lie 200 km inland from the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

. They are part of a chain of mountains in eastern Africa collectively called the

Eastern Arc Mountains The Eastern Arc Mountains is a chain of mountains found in Kenya and Tanzania. The chain runs from northeast to southwest, with the Taita Hills being in Kenya and the other ranges being in Tanzania. They are delimited on the southwest by the fau ...

, which include the

Taita Hills The Taita Hills, sometimes also spelled as Teita Hills, are a mountain range located in the Taita-Taveta County in south-eastern Kenya. The hills consist of three massifs: Dawida, Sagalla in the southern side of Voi township and Kasigau in t ...

Pare Mountains The Pare Mountains are a mountain range in northeastern Tanzania, located north of the Usambara Mountains. The mountains are administratively located in the Kilimanjaro Region, specifically in the Mwanga District and Same District. The North an ...

Usambara Mountains The Usambara Mountains of northeastern Tanzania in tropical East Africa, comprise the easternmost ranges of the Eastern Arc Mountains. The ranges of approximately long and about half that wide, are situated in the Lushoto District of the Tan ...

Nguru Mountains The Nguru Mountains are a mountain range in Morogoro Region, Tanzania, Africa. The Nguru Mountains are part of the Eastern Arc Mountains. The mountains are predominantly covered with rainforest, home to 83 species of birds (Romdal 2001) and Africa ...

, Rubeho, Ukaguru,

Udzungwa Mountains The Udzungwa Mountains are a mountain range in south-central Tanzania. The mountains are mostly within Iringa Region, south of Tanzania's capital Dodoma. The Udzungwa Mountains are part of the Eastern Arc Mountains, and are home to a biodiverse ...

and

Mahenge Mountains The Mahenge Mountains are a mountain range in Ulanga District, Morogoro Region, Tanzania. The town of Mahenge is located in the northeastern mountains. The mountains are southeast of Iringa, in the Eastern miombo woodlands ecoregion. Geography T ...

Vegetation

The vegetation of the Uluguru main ridge and outlying blocks is extremely variable. It ranges from drier lowland coastal forest habitats, to transitional rainforests, to sub-montane, montane and upper montane forest types.

Climate

Climatically, the Uluguru mountains capture moisture passing inland from the

making the east facing slopes especially wet, with rainfall estimated at over per annum, and some rain falling in every month. Uluguru Mountain

Water Catchment

The forests of the mountains provide the water catchment areas for the streams and rivers. This water flows mainly from the forest-capped peaks of the Ulugurus into streams joining to form the Ruvu River, which provides the water supply to the city of Dar es Salaam. Most of the neighboring population, around 3 million people, and the major industries in Tanzania rely on this water supply for their continued survival.Africa Conservation Uluguru-Conservation and Biodiversity
/ref> The loss of the Uluguru forests and any reduction in the water supply potential of the mountains could therefore have a drastic impact on the human well-being and industrial capacity of Tanzania.

Local people

The local people of the Ulugurus are the Wa''luguru'' tribe people. They have been living in the mountains for several hundred years, coming from other areas of Tanzania. Their land ownership is through the female line and women are powerful in village life, in contrast to other tribes in Tanzania where men own the land and make most of the decisions about its use and management.

Biodiversity

Unique to the Ulugurus are over 100 plants, 2 birds, 2 mammals, 4 reptiles and 6 amphibians unknown elsewhere in the world. There are also a large number of additional species shared only with one or two other Eastern Arc mountains, and hence globally rare. Endemic species include

African violet ''Streptocarpus'' sect. ''Saintpaulia'' is a section within ''Streptocarpus'' subgenus ''Streptocarpella'' consisting of about ten species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania and adjacent sout ...

s, '' Impatiens'' and

Begonias ''Begonia'' is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Begoniaceae. The genus contains more than 2,000 different plant species. The Begonias are native to moist subtropical and tropical climates. Some species are commonly grown ind ...

which are popular pot-plants in the rest of the world.

Tourism

The mountains attracts many tourists to the area, particularly due to the mountains' proximity to the former capital and economic center of Tanzania, the city of Dar es Salaam.

References

{{Coord, 7, 10, S, 37, 40, E, region:TZ_type:mountain, display=title Eastern Arc forests Eastern Arc Mountains Mountain ranges of Tanzania Important Bird Areas of Tanzania