Kigoma is a city and lake port in

Kigoma-Ujiji District Kigoma-Ujiji District is one of the eight administrative districts of Kigoma Region in Tanzania. The District covers an area of . It is bordered to the west by Uvinza District in the south east and to the north by Kigoma District. The western s ...

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 ...

, on the northeastern shores 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. ...

and close to the border with

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 ...

and

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 ...

. It serves as the capital for the surrounding

Kigoma Region Kigoma Region (''Mkoa wa Kigoma'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions, with the city of Kigoma as the regional capital. Kigoma Region borders Kagera Region, Geita Region, Katavi Regio ...

and has a population of 232,388 (2022 census). The city is situated at an elevation of . The historic trading town of

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 ...

is located south-east of Kigoma.

Transport

Maritime transport

Kigoma is one of the busiest ports on northeastern

since historically it was the only one that had a functioning railway connection (the one at

Kalemie Kalemie, formerly Albertville or Albertstad, is a city on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Lukuga River, that drains Lake Tanganyika to the Lualaba River, runs through the city. Kalemie is the capi ...

in The Democratic Republic of the Congo is not operational at the moment), a direct link to the ocean

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

. Kigoma Port in the Kigoma Bay has a wharf of and several cranes and is equipped to handle shipping containers. However, the bay is suffering from silting up as a result of soil erosion from surrounding hills, and the water depths at wharfside has diminished from to . This may threaten the economic growth of the port. In May 2007 the Tanzanian Government announced a plan to create an economic zone at the port to stimulate trade and to ensure stable economic growth of the Port for the government in Power in 2015 and 2020. The ''

MV Liemba MV ''Liemba'', formerly ''Graf Goetzen'' or ''Graf von Goetzen'', is a passenger and cargo ferry that runs along the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. The Marine Services Company Limited of Tanzania sails her, with numerous stops to pick up and s ...

'' sails every week from Kigoma to Mpulungu in Zambia at the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika, stopping at a number of other lakeside towns in Tanzania on the way. The ''MV Mwongozo'' sails from Kigoma to Baraka, Uvira and Bujumbura at the northern tip of the lake, although it is not working currently. There are other ships from Congo and Burundi that sail to Kigoma Port every week.

Road

Current road connections to and from Kigoma are improving. However, travellers should be advised to take extra precautions when travelling. A gravel road links the town northeast to the national road network, and earth tracks link north to Burundi and southeast to

Sumbawanga Sumbawanga is a city located in western Tanzania. It is the capital of Rukwa Region and the municipal seat of Sumbawanga Urban District with postcode number 55100 . The district had a population of approximately 303,986 based on the 2022 census. ...

Railway

Photo View of Kigoma train station 1953 - Touring Club Italiano BBU 054

The Central Line of the

Tanzania Railways Corporation The Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) is a state corporation, state-owned enterprise that runs one of Tanzania's two main railway networks. the Headquarters are located in Mchafukoge, Ilala District, Dar es Salaam, Ilala District, Dar es Sala ...

runs from Kigoma to the

Port of Dar es Salaam The Port of Dar es Salaam (''Bandari ya Dar es Salaam'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is the principal port serving Tanzania located in Kurasini ward of Temeke District, Dar es Salaam, Temeke District of Dar es Salaam Region. The port is one of ...

on to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

coast via

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, ...

and

Dodoma Dodoma ( in Gogo), officially Dodoma City (''Jiji Kuu la Dodoma'', in Swahili), is the capital city of Tanzania. With a population of 765,179, it is also the administrative capital of both Dodoma Municipal Council and the entire Dodoma R ...

. It was completed in 1915 when Kigoma was part of

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Portugu ...

. In

, there is a connection to

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 1,104,521 and a population of 3,699,872 in the region ...

on Lake Victoria, with ferry connections to other Tanzanian lakeshore places, and formerly

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. At Tabora, you can also travel by train to Mpanda. For a time in early 2010, the line was closed but service has apparently been restored.''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''
A train ride across Tanzania
Retrieved 9 October 2010

Airport

The city is served by

Kigoma Airport Kigoma Airport is an airport in western Tanzania serving Kigoma. It is located at the east area of Ujiji. The government of Tanzania is planning to improve the airport. The Kigoma non-directional beacon (Ident: KG) is located on the field. Ground ...

which has scheduled service to

Bujumbura Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's political capital. In la ...

and

Climate

Kigoma has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Aw'') with a

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

between November and April.

References

External links

{{Authority control Populated places in Kigoma Region Regional capitals in Tanzania Populated places on Lake Tanganyika Cities in the Great Rift Valley