Ruvuma Region (''Mkoa wa Ruvuma'' 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 regional capital is the municipality of Songea. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population of 1,376,891, which was lower than the pre-census projection of 1,449,830.Population Distribution by Administrative Units, United Republic of Tanzania, 2013
For 2002–2012, the region's 2.1 percent average annual population growth rate was the twentieth highest in the country. It was also the 28th most densely populated region with . The region is named after the Ruvuma River, the second longest river in Tanzania, which forms most of its southern boundary with

Niassa province Niassa is a province of Mozambique. It has an area of 129,056 km2 and a population of 1,810,794 (2017). It is the most sparsely populated province in the country. Lichinga is the capital of the province. There are a minimum estimated 450,000 Y ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Mala ...

(where it is known as «Rovuma»). The region is also bordered to the north by the Morogoro Region, to the northeast by the Lindi Region, to the east by the

Mtwara Region Mtwara Region (''Mkoa wa Mtwara'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the municipality of Mtwara. Mtwara Region is home to one of the most infuluencial people in Tanzania, the Makonde. Mtwara i ...

, and to the northwest by the

Njombe Region Njombe Region (''Mkoa wa Njombe'' 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 El Salvador. Njombe Region is bord ...

. Ruvuma has many different

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

s, such as the

Mpoto The Mpoto are an ethnic and linguistic group based in the Mbinga District of Ruvuma Region in southern Tanzania, along the northeast shore of Lake Malawi. In 1977 the Mpoto population was estimated to number 80,00
Mpoto, or several variations ...

. The largest group in the region being the Ngoni. The highest point in the region is Mount Lukukura at 1,769m. The regional commissioner of the Ruvuma Region is Christina Solomon Mndeme.

Administrative divisions

Districts

Ruvuma Region is divided into five

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 ...

, each administered by a council:

Constituencies

For parliamentary elections, Tanzania is divided into constituencies. As of the 2010 elections, the Ruvuma Region had six constituencies: # Nyasa Constituency # Mbinga Mjini Constituency # Mbinga Vijijini Constituency # Namtumbo Constituency # Peramiho Constituency # Songea Mjini Constituency # Tunduru Constituency # Madaba Constituency

Notable persons

* Sidi Mubarak Bombay, Tanzanian explorer *

Edward Said Tingatinga Edward Saidi Tingatinga (1932–1972) was a Tanzanian painter, best known as the founder of the eponymous painting style and school. Biography Birth and family Tingatinga was born in 1932 in a village called Namochelia, in the Tunduru Distri ...

, Tanzanian painter

References

External links

* {{coord, 11, 00, S, 36, 00, E, region:TZ_type:adm1st_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Regions of Tanzania