Kigoma Region (''Mkoa wa Kigoma'' in Swahili) is one of

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

's 31 administrative

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

, with the city of

Kigoma Kigoma is a city and lake port in Kigoma-Ujiji District in Tanzania, on the northeastern shores of Lake Tanganyika and close to the border with Burundi and The Democratic Republic of the Congo. It serves as the capital for the surrounding Kigoma ...

as the regional capital. Kigoma Region borders

Kagera Region Kagera Region (''Mkoa wa Kagera'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 Regions of Tanzania, administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the land area of the Netherlands. Kagera Reg ...

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

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

Tabora Region Tabora Region (''Mkoa wa Tabora'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions located in mid-western part of Tanzania. The regional capital is the municipality of Tabora. Tabora is bordered ...

DRC The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

and

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population of 2,127,930, which was higher than the pre-census projection of 1,971,332.Population Distribution by Administrative Units, United Republic of Tanzania, 2013
For 2002–2012, the region's 2.4 percent average annual population growth rate was tied for the fourteenth highest in the country. It was also the sixteenth most densely populated region with 57 people per square kilometer. With a size of , the region is slightly smaller than

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

().

Geography

Kigoma Region resides in the northwestern corner of Tanzania, on the eastern shore of

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

. The region lies at about 5° south and 30° east of Greenwich and is bordered to the north by both

and the

. To the east, it is bordered by the

and

Tabora Tabora is the capital of Tanzania's Tabora Region and is classified as a municipality by the Tanzanian government. It is also the administrative seat of Tabora Urban District. According to the 2012 census, the district had a population of 226, ...

Regions, to the south by the

, and to the west by

, which forms a border with the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. The region's total area is , of which is land and is water. The region's total area is just less than that of Estonia. , approximately was in forests and was suitable for grazing or farming. Kigoma Region is on a plateau that slopes from the northeast at about down to at the shore of lake Tanganyika. The topography in the north and east is gently rolling hills that gradually become steeper as they get closer to the

Albertine Rift The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the East African Rift, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. It extends from the northern end of Lake Albert to the southern end of Lake Tan ...

margin. The most important river is the Malagarasi, with the Luiche and the Ruchugi being the two other major rivers draining the region.

History

In precolonial Africa the region was a source of ivory and slaves.

and

Ujiji Ujiji is the oldest town in western Tanzania and is located in Kigoma-Ujiji District of Kigoma Region. Originally a Swahili settlement and then an Arab slave trading post by the mid-nineteenth century nominally under the Sultanate of Zanziba ...

were Arab staging areas for shipments to the coast. It was visited by the early European explorers

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

John Speke Captain (armed forces), Captain John Hanning Speke (4 May 1827 – 15 September 1864) was an English explorer and army officer who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa. He is most associated with the search for the source of the N ...

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, and an explorer in Africa. Livingstone was married to Mary Moffat Livings ...

, and

Henry Morton Stanley Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author, and politician famous for his exploration of Central Africa and search for missi ...

. In fact, Stanley met Livingstone in Ujiji on the shores of Lake Tanganyika on 27 October 1871. In colonial times, the Kigoma area was known as the Western Region and the capital was Tabora.

Administrative divisions

Districts

Kigoma Region is divided into six

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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

, each administered by a council except Kigoma and Kasulu which administered with two council each.:

Demographics

Kigoma Region has a total population of 2,127,930.

Ha people __NOTOC__ The Ha, also called Abaha (''Waha'' in Swahili language, Swahili), are a Bantu peoples, Bantu ethnic group found in Kigoma Region in northwestern Tanzania bordering Lake Tanganyika.Wamanyema, Watongwe and Wavinza, Sukuma and Haya. Approximately 150,000 refugees from

and almost another 80,000 refugees from the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

reside in three

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

camps in the Kigoma Region, named Nyarugusu, Mtendeli and Nduta.

Notable people from Kigoma Region

* Godfrey Mwakikagile, writer *

Ali Kiba Ali Saleh Kiba (born 29 November 1986), best known as Ali Kiba or occasionally as King Kiba, is a Tanzanian musician and songwriter. He is one of the most talented musicians in East Africa and mostly considered the King of Bongo Flava music Ge ...

, musician

References

External links

* {{Authority control Regions of Tanzania