Kigoma (Region)

Kigoma is the westernmost, of the 26 regions of Tanzania. It was named after the name of their capital Kigoma.

The region is situated in Central Africa and is 45,066 km ². To the west it borders on Lake Tanganyika to the countries of Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi border. In the north of the Kagera region follows, in the east are the Shinyanga and Tabora the region, in the south there is the Rukwa region. It is a major transportation hub. Here ends the coming of Dar es Salaam important east -west rail link. The town of Kigoma has the only developed port on Lake Tanganyika and has a regional airport. In addition, an important trans-African north-south road link through the region. The road leading from the town of Kigoma to the northeast, divides it into two halves. To the northwest lies a landscape with a highland region, whose mountains and mountain ranges extend mainly from north to south and are up to 2200 m high. These are the foothills of the East African grave breach. Here lives the majority of the population. The area southeast of the main road is flat, mostly scrubland and swamp. Given the presence of the tsetse fly and through the barren soil of this area is sparsely populated. Only on the shore of the lake there is a slightly denser settlement here. The places there are usually only accessible by boat.

The climate knows two seasons. From early October until the end of May, the rainy season lasts. This is followed from June to September, a dry season. The temperatures are mainly in the high altitudes (about 16-24 ° C in the rainy season and 20-30 ° C during the dry season ) quite bearable, but significantly higher in the lowlands.

In the Kigoma region lived ( according to census ) in 2002, nearly 1.7 million people. The average household size was close to 7 people. It is divided into 4 districts: Kigoma Kigoma town and country in the south, Kibondo in the Northeast and Kasulu in the middle.

In the region there are also still many refugees from civil war-torn areas of Burundi and eastern Congo. She also suffers, like other large parts of Africa, where more and more rampant HIV. The region is also known by the Gombe Streams National Park, where Jane Goodall studied the behavior of chimpanzees.

Arusha | Dar es Salaam | Dodoma | Iringa | Kagera | Kigoma | Kilimanjaro | Lindi | Manyara | Mara | Mbeya | Morogoro | Mtwara | Mwanza | Pemba Kaskazini | Pemba Kusini | Pwani | Rukwa | Ruvuma | Shinyanga | Singida | Tabora | Tanga | Unguja Kusini | Unguja Kaskazini | Unguja Mjini Magharibi

• Region (Tanzania )
• Kigoma (Region)