All Topics  
Kagera Region

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Kagera Region
 
 
  Topics Kagera Region Topic Home

Kagera Region is located in the northwestern corner of Tanzania
Tanzania

Tanzania , officially the United Republic of Tanzania , is a country in East Africa that is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south....
. Bukoba
Bukoba

Bukoba is a town in northwest Tanzania on the western shore of Lake Victoria. It is the capital of the Kagera region. Population estimate: 100,000....
, Kagera Region's capital, is a fast growing town situated on the shore of Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria or Victoria Nyanza is one of the Great Lakes of Africa.Lake Victoria is 68,800 square kilometres in size, making it the continent's largest lake, the largest tropical lake in the world, and the second widest fresh water lake in the world in terms of surface area ....
. Bukoba lies only 1 degree south
1st parallel south

The 1st parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 1 degree south of the Earth equator.The parallel defines most of the border between Uganda and Tanzania, and a very short section of the border between Kenya and Tanzania....
 of the Equator
Equator

The equator is the intersection of the Earth's surface with the Plane perpendicular to the Earth's rotation and containing the Earth's center of mass....
 and is Tanzania's second largest port on the lake. The region neighbors Uganda
Uganda

The Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania....
, Rwanda
Rwanda

The Republic of Rwanda is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania....
 and Burundi
Burundi

Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the south and east, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west....
 and lies across the lake from Kenya
Kenya

The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Kagera Region'
Start a new discussion about 'Kagera Region'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Tanzania Kagera
Kagera Region is located in the northwestern corner of Tanzania
Tanzania

Tanzania , officially the United Republic of Tanzania , is a country in East Africa that is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south....
. Bukoba
Bukoba

Bukoba is a town in northwest Tanzania on the western shore of Lake Victoria. It is the capital of the Kagera region. Population estimate: 100,000....
, Kagera Region's capital, is a fast growing town situated on the shore of Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria or Victoria Nyanza is one of the Great Lakes of Africa.Lake Victoria is 68,800 square kilometres in size, making it the continent's largest lake, the largest tropical lake in the world, and the second widest fresh water lake in the world in terms of surface area ....
. Bukoba lies only 1 degree south
1st parallel south

The 1st parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 1 degree south of the Earth equator.The parallel defines most of the border between Uganda and Tanzania, and a very short section of the border between Kenya and Tanzania....
 of the Equator
Equator

The equator is the intersection of the Earth's surface with the Plane perpendicular to the Earth's rotation and containing the Earth's center of mass....
 and is Tanzania's second largest port on the lake. The region neighbors Uganda
Uganda

The Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania....
, Rwanda
Rwanda

The Republic of Rwanda is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania....
 and Burundi
Burundi

Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the south and east, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west....
 and lies across the lake from Kenya
Kenya

The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border....
. You may arrive in Kagera by air from Mwanza, road from Rwanda or Uganda or by ferry from Mwanza.

The regional commissioner of the Kagera Region is General T. Kiwelu.

Location

Kagera Region is situated in the northwestern corner of Tanzania. The regional capital is Bukoba Town, which is about 1,500 km from Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre....
 by road. Kagera Region shares borders with Uganda
Uganda

The Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania....
 to the north, Rwanda
Rwanda

The Republic of Rwanda is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania....
 and Burundi
Burundi

Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the south and east, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west....
 to the west, the Kigoma Region
Kigoma

Kigoma is a town and lake port in western Tanzania, on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika and close to the border with Burundi. It serves as the capital for the surrounding Kigoma Region and has a population of 130,142 and an elevation of 775 m....
 and Mwanza Region
Mwanza Region

Mwanza Region is one of the regions of Tanzania. Its capital is Mwanza.The neighbouring regions are Kagera Region to the west, Shinyanga Region to the south, and Mara Region to the east....
s to the south and Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria or Victoria Nyanza is one of the Great Lakes of Africa.Lake Victoria is 68,800 square kilometres in size, making it the continent's largest lake, the largest tropical lake in the world, and the second widest fresh water lake in the world in terms of surface area ....
 to the East.

Kagera Region lies just South of the equator between 1°00' and 2°45' south latitudes. Longitudinally it lies between 30°25' and 32°40' east of Greenwich. This includes a large part of the waters of Lake Victoria. Kagera Region covers a total area of 40,838 kmē. Out of the total area, 28,953 kmē. is land and 11,885 kmē. is covered by waters of Lake Victoria, Lakes Ikimba, Burigi, and Ngono and Kagera rivers.

Kagera region is Tanzania's 15th largest region and accounts for approximately 3.2% of the total 883,749 kmē. land area of Tanzania. Kagera lies at 3,750 feet above sea level
Sea level

Mean sea level is the average height of the sea, with reference to a suitable reference surface. Defining the reference level , however, involves complex measurement, and accurately determining MSL can prove difficult....
. It has reasonably fertile old soils but over use in some parts of the region has led to soil exhaustion and a need for the use of fertilizer
Fertilizer

Fertilizers are chemical compounds given to plants to promote growth; they are usually applied either through the soil, for uptake by plant roots, or by foliar feeding, for uptake through leaves....
.

Districts

Kagera comprises eight administrative districts: Bukoba Urban, Bukoba Rural, Misenyi, Muleba
Muleba

Muleba is one of the six districts of the Kagera Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by the Bukoba Urban and Bukoba Rural Districts, to the south by the Biharamulo, to the east by Lake Victoria and to the west by the Ngara and Karagwe Districts....
, Karagwe
Karagwe

Karagwe is one of the 6 districts of the Kagera Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the North by Uganda, to the East by the Bukoba Rural, to the Southeast by the Muleba, to the South by the Ngara and to the West by Rwanda, which is divided by the River Kagera....
, Ngara
Ngara

Ngara is one of the six districts of the Kagera Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by the Karagwe, to the east by the Biharamulo, to the south by the Kigoma Region, to the northeast by the Muleba and to the west by Rwanda and Burundi....
 Chato,and Biharamulo
Biharamulo

Biharamulo is one of the six districts of the Kagera Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by the Muleba, to the south by the Shinyanga Region, to the east by Lake Victoria and the Mwanza Region, to the west by the Ngara, and to the southwest by the Kigoma Region....
.

Until recently, the Bukuba Rural and Bukoba Urban Districts were combined as the Bukoba District
Bukoba

Bukoba is a town in northwest Tanzania on the western shore of Lake Victoria. It is the capital of the Kagera region. Population estimate: 100,000....
.

Historical background

Kagera region was formally known as West Lake region. It was renamed Kagera region after the war between Tanzania and Uganda
Uganda-Tanzania War

The Uganda-Tanzania War was fought between Uganda and Tanzania in 1978-1979, and led to the overthrow of Idi Amin Dada's regime....
 when Idi Amin
Idi Amin

Idi Amin Dada , commonly known as Idi Amin, was a Ugandan Military dictatorship and the President of Uganda of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colony regiment, the King's African Rifles, in 1946, and advanced to the rank of Major General and Commander of the Ugandan Army....
 attempted to annex the region in 1978. The region takes its name from the Kagera River
Kagera River

The Kagera River, also Akagera River, is a remote source of the Nile. The river originates in Burundi, forms the Rwanda-Tanzania, Tanzania-Uganda border and flows into Lake Victoria....
, which flows from Rwanda through northern Tanzania before it penetrates the waters of Lake Victoria, to emerge as the river Nile, the longest river in the World. This makes Kagera River to be a source of the river Nile
Nile

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the List of rivers by length in the world.The Nile has two major tributary, the White Nile and Blue Nile, the latter being the source of most of the Nile's water and silt, but the former being the longer of the two....
.

Cultural history

For a period of about five centuries Kagera Region had nine different Kingdoms and a highly hierarchical society. It was during this time that coffee was introduced as a cash crop and bananas were introduced as a staple food. Women of the time were thought to be inferior to men and were treated as virtual slaves. Kings lived in elaborate palaces and were respected as the direct link to god of their kingdoms. The demise of these kingdoms came after Tanzania gained its independence and president Nyerere
Julius Nyerere

Julius Kambarage Nyerere served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1964 until his retirement in 1985....
 saw them detrimental to creating National unity. These kingdoms are Kihanja, Karagwe, Kiziba, Misenye, Bugabo, Kyamtwara, Ihangiro, Bukara and Biharamulo. The regimes of these kingdoms were blended into the Germans
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 who colonized Tanganyika
Tanganyika

Tanganyika is an East African territory lying between the largest of the African great lakes: Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika....
 in 1885 who are reported to have liked the Haya
Haya

Haya can refer to the following:* Haya , a genus of plants in the family Caryophyllaceae* The Spanish name for beech trees , used for the European Beech in Spain and for the Mexican Beech in Mexico...
, the ethnic group of Bukoba and Muleba Districts. During German time (1897/98)in the Kongom of Kiziba a plague epidemic was discovered by the German medical officer Dr. M.Zupitza. He was working together with the German bacteriologist Prof.Dr. Robert Koch who, searching for the epidemiological background of those epidemics and withs shows him the same plague bacterias as in India (Bombay) during that time. Later the British took over from the Germans. Kagera region is considered to be the first area where Lutheran missionaries settled. Roman Catholic and other denominations also now enjoy a large following in the region, which is evidenced by the physical presence of the impressive cathedrals, mosques, jamats and churches found everywhere in the region.

Population

Kagera Region comprises five Administrative Districts: Bukoba, Muleba, Karagwe, Biharamulo and Ngara. It has six Councils, which include Bukoba Town, Bukoba Rural, Karagwe, Muleba, Biharamulo and Ngara. According to the 2003 National Census, the population is at 2,003,888 with an annual growth rate of 3.1%.

National Parks

Kagera Region hosts Biharamulo, Burigi, Ibanda and Rumanyika and Orugundu Game reserve
Game reserve

A game reserve is an area of land set aside for maintenance of Game for tourism or hunting purposes. Many game reserves are located in Africa. Most are open to the public, and tourists commonly take sightseeing safaris or hunt wild game....
s, a National Park
National park

A national park is a reserve of land, usually declared and owned by a national government, protected from most human development and pollution....
 situated on Rubondo Island and a wildlife sanctuary based on Saa Nane Island.

External links