Kilimanjaro Region

Kilimanjaro Region
Mkoa wa Kilimanjaro (Swahili)
From top to bottom:
Uhuru Peak, Materuni falls and Moshi City at Night
Nickname: 
The roof of Africa
Location in Tanzania
Location in Tanzania
Coordinates: 4°8′1.32″S 37°48′31.68″E / 4.1337000°S 37.8088000°E / -4.1337000; 37.8088000
Country Tanzania
ZoneNorthern
Named forMount Kilimanjaro
CapitalMoshi
Districts
Government
 • Regional CommissionerNurdin Babu
Area
 • Total13,250 km2 (5,120 sq mi)
 • Rank24th of 31
Highest elevation5,895 m (19,341 ft)
Population
 (2022)
 • Total1,861,934
 • Rank19th of 31
 • Density140/km2 (360/sq mi)
DemonymKilimanjaran
Ethnic groups
 • SettlerSwahili
 • NativeChaga. Ngasa & Pare
Time zoneUTC+3 (EAT)
Postcode
25xxx
Area code027
ISO 3166 codeTZ-09
HDI (2021)0.640[1]
medium · 3rd
WebsiteOfficial website
Symbols of Tanzania
Bird
Scarlet Tufted Malachite Sunbird
Butterfly
Kilimanjaro Swallowtail
Fish
Lake Chala tilapia
Mammal
Leopard
Tree
Cordia africana
Mineral
Aquamarine

Kilimanjaro Region (Mkoa wa Kilimanjaro in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions.[2] The regional capital and largest city is the municipality of Moshi. With the 3rd highest HDI of 0.640 in the country, Kilimanjaro is one among the top five most developed regions of Tanzania.[1] According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population of 1,640,087, which was lower than the pre-census projection of 1,702,207.[3]: page 2  For 2002–2012, the region's 1.8 percent average annual population growth rate was the 24th highest in the country.[3]: page 4  It was also the eighth most densely populated region with 124 people per square kilometer. The most well-known tribes in the Kilimanjaro region are the chagga, rombos (also known as Warombos), and pare.[3]: page 6 

The region forms part of the Northern Tourism Circuit in Tanzania. It is home to the Kilimanjaro National Park (which contains Mount Kilimanjaro), the Mkomazi National Park, the Pare Mountains, Lake Jipe, and Lake Chala. The region is bordered to the north and east by Kenya, to the south by the Tanga Region, to the southwest by the Manyara Region, and to the west by the Arusha Region.

Etymology

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In the early 19th century, the Swahili already referred to the mountain as "Kilima Ndsharo" (or "Dscharo"), "The Country of Dschagga," near the coast. In 1848 and 1849, Rebmann said the mountain Swahili names mean "Great Mountain" and "the Mountain of the Caravans" in reference to the mountain that could be seen for a long distance and served as a guide for travelers. He and Krapf found that the term was referred to differently by several nearby populations: the Taita just shortened the coastal Swahili word to "Ndscharo." It was known as "Kima ja Jeu," which is Kamba for "Mountain of Whiteness." It was known as "Ol Donyo Eibor," which is Maasai for "White Mountain." The Chagga themselves, especially the Kilema and Machame, simply called it "Kibo". Kilimandscharo, which Rebmann spelled in German between 1848 and 1849, was changed to "Kilimanjaro" by 1860.[4]

Administrative divisions

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Districts

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Kilimanjaro Region is divided into one city and six districts, each administered by a council, except Moshi District which has two, one of which serves as the capital of the region.

Districts of Kilimanjaro Region
Map with main roads in green District Population
(2012 Census)
Population
(2017 Estimates)[5]

Moshi District 466,737 509,431
Moshi Municipal 184,292 201,150
Hai District 210,533 229,791
Siha District 116,313 126,953
Rombo District 260,963 284,834
Mwanga District 131,442 143,466
Same District 269,807 294,487
Total 1,640,087 1,790,113

History

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Kilimanjaro Region was officially established in 1963 with two districts: Kilimanjaro and Pare.[6] The region was part of the Northern Province in the pre-independence Tanganyika. Northern Province's districts included Arusha and Mbulu, while Pare District was a part of Tanga Province.[7]

Of the region's six districts, four traditionally had Chagga settlements, which are Hai District, Moshi District, Rombo District, and Siha District. The other two, Mwanga District and Same District, have historically included Pare settlements. However, during colonial rule in the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, the region was divided into two main districts: Moshi district, which was composed of all the areas settled by the Chagga people on the slopes of the mountain, and Pare district, which was a Pare tribe settlement.[8] The region, from earlier times, had been settled by the people collectively called the Chagga, the Maasai, Wakwavi, and Waarusha (in the lower parts of Mount Kilimanjaro), and the Pare on the Pare mountains. These have been intermingling, trading, and even fighting from time to time for various socio-political reasons. Later, other tribes also migrated to the area.

Geology

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Mount Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro lies on a tectonic plate line intersection 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of the tectonically active Rift Valley.[9] The activity that created this stratovolcano dates back less than a million years. Steam and sulphur fumaroles here are indicative of residual activity.

At one stage, most of the summit of Kilimanjaro was covered by an ice cap, probably more than 100 metres (330 ft) deep. Glaciers extended well down the mountain forming moraine ridges, clearly visible now on the southern flanks down to about 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). At present only a small fraction of the glacial cover remains.

Notable people

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Archived from the original on 2018-09-23. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  2. ^ "Postcodes" (PDF). MAMLAKA YA MAWASILIANO TANZANIA. 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Population Distribution by Administrative Units, United Republic of Tanzania, 2013 Archived 2013-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Stahl, Kathleen (1964). History of the Chagga people of Kilimanjaro. London: Mouton and Co. p. 38. ISBN 0-520-06698-7.
  5. ^ "Tanzania Population by Regions" (PDF). www.nbs.go.tz. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-11-13. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  6. ^ "Myosorex zinki Kilimanjaro Mouse Shrew : Fr. Musaraigne des bois du Kilimanjaro; Ger. Kilimanjaro-Waldspitzmaus", Mammals of Africa : Hedgehogs, Shrews and Bats, Bloomsbury Publishing, retrieved 2023-11-18
  7. ^ "Historia ya Mkoa | Kilimanjaro Region". www.kilimanjaro.go.tz. Archived from the original on 2021-04-16. Retrieved 2019-03-23.
  8. ^ Murtazina, Farida Gafiullovna (2023-07-05). "Book review: Mironova Ye.V. Laishevsky district in the middle of the 19th – early 20th century: monograph (Kazan, 2022)". From History and Culture of Peoples of the Middle Volga Region. 13 (2): 117–122. doi:10.22378/2410-0765.2023-13-2.117-122. ISSN 2410-0765.
  9. ^ "Tectonic Geomorphology of a Plate Boundary". Tectonically Active Landscapes: 213–270. 2009-04-03. doi:10.1002/9781444312003.ch8.
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