Songea is the capital of

Ruvuma Region Ruvuma Region (''Mkoa wa Ruvuma'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions. The region covers a land area of , comparable in size to the nation state of Latvia. The region is also bordered ...

in southwestern

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 ...

. It is located along the

A19 road The A19 is a major road in England running approximately parallel to and east of the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. Although the two roads meet at the northern end of the A19, the two roads originally met at the southern end of the A19 in ...

. The city has a population of 286,285,Citypopulation.de
Population of cities & urban localities in Tanzania and is the seat of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Songea The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Songea () is the Metropolitan See for the ecclesiastical province of Songea in Tanzania. History * 12 November 1913: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Lindi from the Apostolic Vicariate of Dar-es-Sala ...

. Between 1905 and 1907, the city was a centre of African resistance during the

Maji Maji Rebellion The Maji Maji Rebellion (, ) was an armed rebellion of Africans against German colonial rule in German East Africa (modern-day Tanzania). The war was triggered by German colonial policies designed to force the indigenous population to grow cott ...

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 ...

. The city is poised to experience significant economic growth in the near future as the

Mtwara Mtwara (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Montewara'') is the capital city of Mtwara Region in southeastern Tanzania. In the 1940s, it was planned and constructed as the export facility for the disastrous Tanganyika groundnut scheme, but was some ...

Corridor opens up in a few years. It is projected to be the sixth fastest growing city on the African continent between 2020 and 2025, with a 5.74% growth.

History

The city took its names after one of the Ngoni warriors, killed in 1906 during the time of German repression of the

Maji Maji rebellion The Maji Maji Rebellion (, ) was an armed rebellion of Africans against German colonial rule in German East Africa (modern-day Tanzania). The war was triggered by German colonial policies designed to force the indigenous population to grow cott ...

. After the Second World War, the area was marked for rapid agricultural development linked to the ultimately disastrous groundnut scheme. A railway had been planned from the coast to Songea and actually appeared in 1950s high school geography text books. During the liberation war with Mozambique the Songea area was a restricted zone and occasionally suffered aerial attacks by Portuguese forces. Its remoteness made it vulnerable to ivory poaching, and communications remained unreliable until 1985 when a new British funded road was opened linking it northwards to the road and rail hub of Makambako. Songea became a municipality in 2006.

Education

Songea is the home to many educational institutions including; # Matogoro Teachers Colleges # Peramiho School of Nursing # Kigonsera High School # Songea Boys Secondary School # Songea Girls Secondary School # Peramiho Girls School # The St. Augustine University # The Ghetto brand College

Administration

Songea is coextensive with Songea Urban District and is divided into wards. It is managed by the Songea Municipal Council.

Climate

References

Populated places in Ruvuma Region Regional capitals in Tanzania {{Ruvuma-geo-stub