The Mbulu Highlands is a plateau in north-central Tanzania. Women working on an irrigation canal

Geography

The Mbulu Highlands lie between the basins of

Lake Eyasi Lake Eyasi (; formerly , "Njarasa Lake", and ''Hohenlohesee'', "Hohenlohe Lake") is a lake located in Karatu District of Arusha Region in north Tanzania. Lake Eyasi is the largest body of water in Arusha region. It is a seasonal shallow endorhei ...

to the west and

Lake Manyara Lake Manyara also known as Lake Moya among the Iraqw people is a lake located in Monduli District of Arusha Region, Tanzania and is the seventh-largest lake of Tanzania by surface area, at . It is a shallow, alkaline lake in the Natron-Manyara-B ...

to the east. The plateau ranges from 1500 to 2300 meters in elevation. The highlands extend northeast-southwest. A steep northeast-southwest-running

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

bounds the highlands on the east, overlooking the basins of Lake Manyara, and further south, Lake Balangida. The plateau descends less steeply in a series of ridges and valleys to Lake Eyasi to the west and the

Yaeda Valley The Yaeda Valley, or Yaida Valley, is a swampy valley located in Mbulu District of Manyara Region, Tanzania. The Valley is situated south of Lake Eyasi. The valley forms an endorheic basin with no drainage outlet. A low ridge running northeast– ...

to the southwest. To the north lies the volcanic

Ngorongoro Highlands The Crater Highlands or Ngorongoro Volcanic Highlands (''Milima kasoko ya Ngorongoro '', in Swahili) are a geological region along the East African Rift in the Arusha Region and parts of northern Manyara Region in north Tanzania. The Crater H ...

. The volcanic peak of

Mount Hanang Mount Hanang is a mountain in northern Tanzania. The peak has an elevation of 3,420 m above sea level. Hanang is located in Manyara Region's Hanang District. It is (after Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Meru and Mount Loolmalasin) the fourth-highest ...

rises south of Lake Balangida. The highlands lie mostly in

Mbulu District Mbulu District is one of the six districts of the Manyara Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by the Arusha Region and Lake Eyasi, to the east by the Babati Rural District, to the south by the Hanang District, and to the west by the S ...

Manyara Region Manyara Region (''Mkoa wa Manyara'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions. The regional capital is the town of Babati. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population ...

, extending northwards into

Karatu District Karatu District (''Wilaya ya Karatu'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of seven Districts of Tanzania, districts of the Arusha Region of Tanzania. The district is bordered to the north by the Ngorongoro District and to the west by the Meatu ...

Arusha Region Arusha Region () is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions and is located in the northeast of the country. The region's capital and largest city is the city of Arusha. The region is bordered by Kajiado County and Narok C ...

. The principal town on the plateau is

Mbulu Mbulu is a town in Tanzania and the capital of the Mbulu District. The town is inhabited by the Iraqw people. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mbulu is also in Mbulu. Mbulu is located in the Mbulu Highlands. The town, also known as Imboru among the ...

. Tanzania's B141 highway crosses the highlands, running through Mbulu on its way from Madukani east of the highlands to

Singida Singida is a city in central Tanzania. The city is the location of the regional headquarters of Singida Region as well as the district headquarters of Singida Urban District. The region and district are named after the city. Transport Road lin ...

in the southwest.

Climate

Mean annual rainfall is 1000 mm or more in the highlands, higher than in the surrounding lowlands. Rainfall can vary greatly from year to year. June to September are the driest months, with little or no rainfall. Cool, foggy conditions often prevail, particularly in the mornings, which reduce evaporation and help sustain the plateau's farms and forests.Börjeson, L. (2004)''A History under Siege: Intensive Agriculture in the Mbulu Highlands, Tanzania, 19th Century to the Present''. Stockholm University, 2004

People

The plateau is home to the

Iraqw people The Iraqw people () are a Cushitic languages, Cushitic ethnic group inhabiting the northern Tanzanian regions. They dwell in southwestern Arusha Region, Arusha and Manyara Region, Manyara regions of Tanzania, near the East African Rift, Rift Va ...

, who practice intensive agriculture using a broad variety of crops and agricultural terraces. The cultivated areas are mostly above 1800 meters elevation.

Ecology

The natural vegetation of the plateau is mostly

miombo woodland Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located in central and southern tropical Africa. It includes three woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) charac ...

. In the northern highlands, volcanic grasslands occur on soils formed from volcanic ash. Montane evergreen forests occur at higher elevations. The plateau has two forest reserves, Nou (305.19 km²) and Hassama (49.01 km²)."Hassama Forest Reserve". ''Protected Planet.'' Accessed 24 September 2019

/ref> Drier Southern Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets, ''Acacia-Commiphora'' bushlands and thickets occupy the Eyasi and Manyara lowlands.

References

{{coord, 3.8556, S, 35.5444, E, display=title, type:landmark_region:TZ-source:google_maps Central Zambezian miombo woodlands East African montane forests Geography of Manyara Region Landforms of Tanzania Southern Eastern Rift Plateaus of Africa