Kigoma Region (Mkoa wa Kigoma in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the city of Kigoma. Kigoma Region borders Kagera Region, Geita Region, Katavi Region, Tabora Region, DRC and Burundi According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population of 2,127,930, which was higher than the pre-census projection of 1,971,332.[4]: page 2 For 2002-2012, the region's 2.4 percent average annual population growth rate was tied for the fourteenth highest in the country.[4]: page 4 It was also the sixteenth most densely populated region with 57 people per square kilometer.[4]: page 6 With a size of 45,066 square kilometres (17,400 sq mi),[5] the region is slightly smaller than Estonia (45,227 square kilometres (17,462 sq mi)).
The region's total area is 45,066 square kilometres (17,400 sq mi),[7] of which 37,037 square kilometres (14,300 sq mi) is land and 8,029 square kilometres (3,100 sq mi) is water.[6] The region's total area is just 161 square kilometres (62 sq mi) less than that of Estonia. As of 1998[update], approximately 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi) was in forests and 12,000 square kilometres (4,600 sq mi) was suitable for grazing or farming.[6]
Kigoma Region is on a plateau that slopes from the northeast at about 1,750 metres (5,740 ft) down to 800 metres (2,600 ft) at the shore of lake Tanganyika.[8] The topography in the north and east is gently rolling hills that gradually become steeper as they get closer to the Albertine Rift margin.[8] The most important river is the Malagarasi, with the Luiche and the Ruchugi being the two other major rivers draining the region.[8]
History
Stanley meeting Livingstone
In precolonial Africa the region was a source of ivory and slaves.[9]Tabora and Ujiji were Arab staging areas for shipments to the coast.[10] It was visited by the early European explorers Richard Burton, John Speke, David Livingstone, and Henry Morton Stanley. In fact, Stanley met Livingstone in Ujiji on the shores of Lake Tanganyika on 27 October 1871.[11] In colonial times, the Kigoma area was known as the Western Region and the capital was Tabora.[9]
Administrative divisions
Districts
Kigoma Region is divided into six districts, each administered by a council except Kigoma and Kasulu which administered with two council each.:[4]
^ abc"Kigoma region: Socio-Economic Profile"(PDF). Planning Commission, Dar es Salaam, and the Regional Commissioner's Office, Kigoma. December 1998. p. 1. Archived(PDF) from the original on 30 May 2004.
^ abHead of Regional Office, Kigoma (2011), "2.0 Historia Fupi ya Mkoa (Short History of the Region)"(PDF), Taarifa ya Miaka 50 ya Uhuru wa Tanzania Mkoa wa Kigoma (Information concerning 50 Years of the Independence of Tanzania: Kigoma) (in Swahili), Office of Prime Minister, pp. 4–7, archived from the original(PDF) on 2012-08-27
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