Dar es Salaam Region () is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions and is located on the east coast of the country. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land and water areas of the nation state of Mauritius. for Mauritius at for Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam Region is bordered to the east by the Indian Ocean and is entirely surrounded by Pwani Region. The Pwani districts that border Dar es Salaam region are Bagamoyo District to the north, Kibaha Urban District to the west, Kisarawe District to the southwest and Mkuranga District to the south of the region. The region's seat (capital) is located inside the ward of Ilala. The region is named after the city of Dar es Salaam itself. The region is home to Tanzania's major finance, administration and industries, thus the making it the country's richest region. The region also has the second highest Human Development Index in the country after Mjini Magharibi. According to the 2022 census, the region has a total population of 5,383,728. The region has the highest population in Tanzania followed by Mwanza Region.
History
Mzizima (Mji Mzima), which means "a healthy town" in Kiswahili, was the original name of the area that is now known as Dar es Salaam, which dates back to 1857. Later, it was the location of plantations where maize, millet, and cassava were grown for the rapidly changing coastal region. Majid bin Said, the Sultan of Zanzibar (c. 1834–1870), officially founded the city Dar es Salaam, with an Arabic name that translates as "haven of peace," in 1866. The city saw a fall following the Sultan's death in 1870, but when the German East Africa Company opened a trade post there in 1887, the city's fortunes were turned around. Dar es Salaam developed become the colony's commercial and administrative hub as German colonial rule in East Africa progressed. In 1900, it was designated as the eastern end of the interior-bound Central Railway Line.
During World War I, British forces seized control of Dar es Salaam and German East Africa. They gave the colony a new name—Tanganyika—but kept Dar es Salaam as the seat of government. The city's informal residential segregation, which had started under the Germans, was made legal by the British AIso. They created two native sections (Kariakoo and Ilala) in addition to a European one (Oyster Bay). Asians eventually received their own area, namely Upanga.
After World War II, Dar es Salaam expanded quickly and soon became the epicenter of anti-colonial activity under the leadership of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), which was established there. Dar es Salaam served as Tanganyika's first capital when it gained its independence in 1961, and it kept that role when Tanganyika and Zanzibar united to form Tanzania in 1964. Although Dodoma in Tanzania's interior was designated as the country's new capital in 1973, the majority of the country's administrative offices are still located in Dar es Salaam.
Geography
Geology There are several flat tertiary, quaternary, and upper Mesozoic layers that make up the primary formations that support the city. Limestones, sandstones, intrusions of gypsum, coal, and salt, and they are all part of the Upper Mesozoic strata. Contagious lands near the shore strata is reasonably flat with visible N-S fractures forming a tiered landscape and a small east dip.
There are two main superficial geological deposits that make up the soils in the Dar es Salaam region. These include the sandy loam soils in high places, well-drained heavy clay waterlogged soils, and sandy loam and sandy clay soils. The lowlands are dominated by infertile sand, clay, and loamy soils, and in some places, there are peninsulas with stunning sand beaches. The middle plateau zone is made up of intermediate clay mixed with sandy soils, which are often moderately drained and leached. The sandy loam, well-drained, heavily weathered and leached sandy clay soils make up the uplands zone's soils.
The city boasts a 100-kilometer shoreline that stretches from the mouth of the Mpiji River in the north to the mouth of the Mzinga River in the south. There are eight islands off the shore of the region.
Hydrology Four significant catchment areas for the rivers Mpiji, Msimbazi, Mzinga, and Kizinga are located in Dar es Salaam. While Mpiji is a seasonal river, Mzinga, Kizinga, and Msimbazi are all perennial rivers. Tegeta, Mbezi, Mlalakuwa, Kijitonyama, Sinza, and Tabata are only a few of the smaller, more sporadic rivers. These are essentially transient rivers that primarily act as Dar es Salaam City's drainage system. Some of the major rivers in Dar es Salaam are:
Kizinga and Mzinga Rivers The Pugu Hills of Kisarawe District of Pwani Region, are traversed by the Kizinga and Mzinga river systems. They are composed of sandy sediments that favor infiltration and replenish the ground water to maintain flow throughout the dry season, and run toward the Indian Ocean in a northeasterly direction. Mzinga is 10.4 kilometers long and Kizinga is 17.5 kilometers long overall. The Mzinga and Kizinga rivers' water satisfies domestic drinking water regulations. In the Mbagala region, both rivers provide residential water supplies and are in continuous flow.
Mpiji River
The northern boundary between Dar es Salaam and Coast Region is defined by the Mpiji River. It is a seasonal river that is 12.7 kilometers long. The river is still less polluted than the other rivers that drain the city center despite the city's expansion toward Bagamoyo.
Msimbazi River
The Msimbazi River is around 35 kilometers long. It travels through the Pugu Forest Reserves and joins the Sinza, Ubungo, and Luhanga rivers as it flows eastward toward the Indian Ocean. For residents of Dar es Salaam and surrounding areas, it is a crucial source of water for drinking, bathing, supporting industry, agriculture, and environmental protection. However, illegal sewage systems and industrial effluents are endangering the ecological services provided by rivers. The river's functional advantages and even the customary practice of irrigation of vegetable fields are negatively impacted by heavy metal pollution from industries.
Climate The climate in the city is a tropical coastal climate. Throughout the year, it is hot and humid, with an average temperature of 32°C. The hottest months are October through March, when temperatures can reach 38°C. Between May and August, temperatures hover around 25°C. There are two main rain seasons in the Region: a short rain season from October to December and a lengthy rain season from March to May. The average annual rainfall is 1000 mm (lowest 600 mm and highest 1300 mm). The city is separated into three ecological zones: upland, middle plateau, and lowlands. Coastal shrubs, Miombo forest, coastal marshes, and mangrove trees make up the majority of the natural vegetation.
Economy Dar es Salaam is Tanzania's principal economic engine, serving as an administrative, industrial, fisheries, and commercial center (including mining trade). The city is home to over 40% of the country's total industrial manufacturing units and produces approximately 45 percent of Tanzania's gross industrial manufacturing output. The city has a large harbor and is a major manufacturing center. Dar es Salaam attracts both formal and informal trade and transportation activity. After structural adjustment policies were implemented in 1985, service sector investment and civil service employment fell. Rising rates of unemployment and underemployment contributed to the expansion of the informal sector and informal settlements.
According to the 2005 Property and Business Formalisation Programme, also referred to as Mkurabita, approximately 98 percent of enterprises are informal and operate outside of the legal system. In other words, the private sector is predominantly a part of the informal sector. Furthermore, it has been stated that approximately 89 percent of all property in Tanzania is owned outside of the legal system, not linked to formal domestic and international markets. Excessive and cumbersome restrictions prohibit Tanzanian small firms from transitioning from informal to formal activities. Tanzania's government has attempted measures to encourage the informal sector to enter the formal market, but these have generally failed.
Infrastructure The Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority (DAWASA) is in charge of the city's water supply and distribution. Only 25% of the city's people have access to this water, while the other 75% live in unplanned and unserviced townships. Around 80% of residents in these settlements utilize pit latrines, which are typically poorly constructed and poorly maintained. Pit latrines, which are commonly found in densely populated regions, are prone to flooding during the rainy season due to a lack of drainage systems, particularly in squatter zones. This increases the likelihood of significant health issues. Poor sewerage treatment and solid waste disposal are primarily the result of ineffective council management.
Julius Nyerere International Airport serves the Ilala Municipal Council as the primary entry point for incoming and outgoing aviation passengers. Tanzania Airport Authority is in charge of the airport.
Public transportation The major mode of public transportation is the 'daladala' bus. The majority of them are registered and privately operated daladala in services with a seating capacity of 25-32 people. In Dar es Salaam, public transportation is unreliable, uncomfortable, and dangerous. The maximum daily passenger capacity is predicted to be 9.9 million passenger journeys per day, based on the overall size of the urban transportation fleet.
The city's road networks were planned and built by German and British colonial entities. Prior to WWII, private autos and non-motorized transport (NMT) modes such as walking and cycling dominated urban travel. As Dar es Salaam's population rose, so did the demand for public transportation, particularly among those who lived distant from their places of employment. Prior to 1992, there had been only minor improvements in city infrastructure. Over a period of more than 15 years, city planning and administration showed their inability to guide urban development. Thirty-three percent of all mobility in the city is done on foot, yet NMT has been overlooked in the broader transportation system, and the requisite facilities to support NMT are sometimes missing. City streets, for example, lack walkways, bicycle paths, zebra crossings, footbridges, and pedestrian signs and markings. As a result, those who rely on NMT must share the same space as those who use motorized transportation, resulting in an increase in the number of accidents on city streets.
Pollution Air quality The metropolis is suffering from severe air pollution as a result of the city's unchecked geographical development and rapid economic growth. Urban air quality monitoring has revealed elevated levels of pollutants in various Dar es Salaam neighborhoods, including Gerezani and Kariakoo, which are beyond the WHO pollution recommendations, making them the two wards with the worst air quality. High levels of inhalable particulate matter (PM10) in particular were detected. Increased traffic volume, insufficient parking spaces for heavy-duty trucks, industrial activity, and the poor condition of vehicles and roads have all been identified as major contributors to the deterioration of air quality in these locations.