Geita Region (''Mkoa wa Geita'' in

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

) is one of

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 ...

's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

. for Slovenia at Geita Region is bordered to the east by

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

Mwanza Region Mwanza Region (''Mkoa wa Mwanza'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions The region covers a land area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of North Macedonia. Njombe Region is ...

and Shinyanga Region. The region is bordered by

Tabora Region Tabora Region (''Mkoa wa Tabora'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the municipality of Tabora. The region is located in mid-western part of Tanzania. Tabora is bordered by Shinyanga to the no ...

and

Kigoma Region Kigoma Region (''Mkoa wa Kigoma'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the city of Kigoma. Kigoma Region borders Kagera Region, Geita Region, Katavi Region, Tabora Region, DRC and Burundi Accor ...

to the south and south west respectively. Lastly, Gieta is borders

Kagera Region Kagera Region (''Mkoa wa Kagera'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Netherlands. Kagera Region is bordere ...

to the west. The region's seat (capital) is the town of Geita. The region is named after the town of Geita itself. The region is home to Tanzania's largest

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

mining industries and was also home to Tanzania's fifth president, the late

John Magufuli John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (29 October 1959 – 17 March 2021) was the fifth president of Tanzania, serving from 2015 until his death in 2021. He served as Minister of Works, Transport and Communications from 2000 to 2005 and 2010 to 2015 and wa ...

Geography

Geita Region covers an area of . The region lies between latitudes 2°8' and 3°28' South of the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can al ...

and longitudes 31° 15' and 32° 48' East of Greenwich, the Geita Region is situated in Tanzania's northern west. It shares borders with five other

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

: Kagera Region to the west and north-west; Tabora and Shinyanga Regions to the south; Shinyanga Region to the south-east; Kigoma Region to the south and south-west; and Mwanza Region to the north and north-east. The region is 1,100 to 1,300 meters above sea level. In the north, the waters of Lake Victoria also encircle the area.

Climate

Geita region receives between to of rain each year. Between wet season and dry seasons the temperature varies between to . The primary wet season is from February to May, with the smaller wet season between September to December. The dry season is from June to September.

History

The area was created in March 2012 from sections of the Shinyanga, Kagera, and Mwanza Regions. created were six councils total, one of which is the town council, and five districts from portions of the

Shinyanga Shinyanga, also known as Shinyanga Mji in the local Swahili language, is a city in northern Tanzania. The city is the location of the regional headquarters of Shinyanga Region as well as the district headquarters of Shinyanga Urban District. T ...

Mwanza Mwanza City, also known as Rock City to the residents, is a port city and capital of Mwanza Region on the southern shore of Lake Victoria in north-western Tanzania. With an urban population of 1,182,000 in 2021, it is Tanzania's second largest cit ...

, and Kagera Regions.

Demographics

The area that is now Geita Region has been inhabited by

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language *Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for Nationali ...

peoples for thousands of years. The majority of the people are Basukuma and

Sumbwa The Sumbwa are a Bantu group native to Bukombe District, Geita Region in central Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Gre ...

. There are additionally many

Haya Haya may refer to: Biology * ''Haya'' (dinosaur), a genus of basal ornithopod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous from Mongolia * ''Haya'' (plant), a genus of plants in the family Caryophyllaceae * Haya de Herguijuela (Spanish: beech ...

Zinza The Zinza are a Bantu ethnolinguistic group from the southwestern Islands on Lake Victoria, Tanzania. The Zinza people also lived on the shores of Geita Region and Mwanza Region. In 1987, the Zinza population was estimated to number 138,00 See also ...

, and Nyamwezi in the region. The area is the ancestral home to the Zinza people who live on the shore of Lake Victoria. In 2016 the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics report there were 1,932,230 in the region, from 1,739,530 in 2012.

Economy

Geita's economy is dominated by the extraction industry especially the mining

. The Geita Gold Mine is the largest mining operation located within Geita Region, 4 km west of the town of Geita. The mine is currently being owned and managed by

AngloGold Ashanti AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a global gold mining company. It was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation. It is now a global gold producer with 21 operations on four continents. The company is listed ...

. Other major industries in the region is agriculture and fishing. Two paved trunk roads pass through the region from east to west: road T3 (from Kahama to the Rwanda border), passes through the south of the region, while road T4 (from

Bukoba Bukoba is a city with a population of 128,796 (2012 census), situated in the north west of Tanzania on the south western shores of Lake Victoria. It is the capital of the Kagera region, and the administrative seat for Bukoba Urban District. T ...

) passes through the north of the region. Rubondo Island National Park is located on an island in

that is a part of Geita Region. It can be reached by ferry from Geita and Chato Districts. Currently the

Kigongo–Busisi Bridge The Kigongo–Busisi Bridge, also referred to as the Mwanza Gulf Bridge, is a bridge under construction in Tanzania. When completed as expected in 2024, it will span across the Gulf of Mwanza, linking the areas of Kigongo in the Mwanza Reg ...

is being built to connect the

to the Geita Region across the Gulf of Mwanza of

Administrative divisions

The region has 6 council

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

, 122 wards, 474 villages, and 2,219 hamlets.

Districts

Geita Region is divided into six councils. One town council of Geita, and 5 districts councils:

Gallery

Notable people from Geita Region

- Tanzania's fifth president

References

External links

* {{Authority control Regions of Tanzania States and territories established in 2012 2012 establishments in Tanzania