Kagera Region
Encyclopedia
Kagera Region is located in the northwestern corner of Tanzania
. Bukoba
, Kagera Region's capital, is a fast growing town situated on the shore of Lake Victoria
. Bukoba lies only 1 degree south
of the Equator
and is Tanzania's second largest port on the lake. The region neighbors Uganda
, Rwanda
and Burundi
and lies across the lake from Kenya
. It is possible to arrive in Kagera by air from Mwanza, road from Rwanda or Uganda or by ferry from Mwanza.
by road. Kagera Region shares borders with Uganda
to the north, Rwanda
and Burundi
to the west, the Kigoma Region
and Mwanza Region
s to the south and Lake Victoria
to the East. The region is known for its agriculture, it's beautiful lush landscapes as well as having thousands of different species of wildlife, most of the animals that can be seen in the Serengeti can also be seen in the Kagera Region in different parts of the region at different times of the year.
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 km². Out of the total area, 28,953 km². is land and 11,885 km². 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 km². land area of Tanzania. Kagera lies at 3,750 feet above sea level
. It has reasonably fertile old soils but overuse in some parts of the region has led to soil exhaustion and a need for the use of fertilizer
.
, Karagwe
, Ngara
, Chato,and Biharamulo
.http://www.tanzania.go.tz/census/census/kagera.htm
Until recently, the Bukuba Rural and Bukoba Urban Districts were combined as the Bukoba District
.
Before year 2000, Kagera region comprised six districts: Bukoba Urban, Bukoba Rural, Muleba
, Karagwe
, Ngara
and Biharamulo
. Thereafter Bukoba Rural was divided into two: Bukoba Rural and Misenyi, Biharamulo was also divided into two districts: Biharamulo and Chato.
when Idi Amin
attempted to annex the region in 1978. The region takes its name from the Kagera River
, which flows from Rwanda
through northern Tanzania before it enters Lake Victoria
, to emerge as the Nile
, the longest river in the World.
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. The kings lived in elaborate palaces and were respected as the direct link to gods of their kingdoms. The demise of these kingdoms came after Tanzania gained its independence and president
Nyerere
saw them detrimental to national unity. The authority of the nine kingdoms (Kihanja, Karagwe, Kiziba, Misenye, Bugabo, Kyamtwara, Ihangiro, Bukara and Biharamulo) were diminished when Germans
colonized Tanganyika
in 1885 and supported the Haya
, the ethnic group of Bukoba and Muleba Districts over the other districts. However the local kings held on to power.
Cultural tours are available for tourist visiting Kagera and can be accessed from the regions capital Bukoba. These tours include visits to the regions national parks/nature reserves etc..
It was under German rule that Dr. M. Zupitza, then serving as the local medical officer, encountered the plague outbreak in Kiziba (1897-1898). In cooperation with Dr. Robert Koch
, they confirmed that the cause was the very same bacteria as the outbreak in Bombay.
When authority was transferred to the British who supplanted the Germans, Kagera was open to Lutheran missionary
activity. Other Chirstian denominations including the Roman Catholic church later arrived. Their legacy is seen in the many churches in the region.
Kagera Region hosts Biharamulo, Burigi, Ibanda
and Rumanyika and Orugundu Game reserve
s, a National Park
situated on Rubondo Island and a wildlife sanctuary based on Saa Nane Island.
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
. 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 is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
. 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's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, Australasia, the Pacific Ocean and South America....
of the Equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
and is Tanzania's second largest port on the lake. The region neighbors Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
and Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
and lies across the lake from Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. It is possible to arrive in Kagera by air from Mwanza, road from Rwanda or Uganda or by ferry from Mwanza.
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 SalaamDar 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. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...
by road. Kagera Region shares borders with Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
to the north, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
and Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
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 135,234 and an elevation of 775 m.The historic trading town of Ujiji is 6 km...
and Mwanza Region
Mwanza Region
Mwanza Region is one of the regions of Tanzania. Its capital is Mwanza, which is also Tanzania's second city.The neighbouring regions are Kagera to the west, Shinyanga to the south, and Mara to the east...
s to the south and Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
to the East. The region is known for its agriculture, it's beautiful lush landscapes as well as having thousands of different species of wildlife, most of the animals that can be seen in the Serengeti can also be seen in the Kagera Region in different parts of the region at different times of the year.
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 km². Out of the total area, 28,953 km². is land and 11,885 km². is covered by waters of Lake Victoria, Lakes Ikimba, Burigi
Lake Burigi
Lake Burigi is an endorheic lake in the Karagwe district, Kagera Region of Tanzania. Parts of the lake and its shore are situated within the Burigi Game Reserve.-History:...
, and Ngono and Kagera rivers.
Kagera region is Tanzania's 15th largest region and accounts for approximately 3.2% of the total 883,749 km². land area of Tanzania. Kagera lies at 3,750 feet above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
. It has reasonably fertile old soils but overuse in some parts of the region has led to soil exhaustion and a need for the use of fertilizer
Fertilizer
Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
.
Districts
Kagera comprises eight administrative districts: Bukoba Urban, Bukoba Rural, Misenyi, MulebaMuleba
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 District, to the east by Lake Victoria and to the west by the Ngara and Karagwe Districts.According to the 2002 Tanzania...
, 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 District, to the Southeast by the Muleba District, to the South by the Ngara District and to the West by Rwanda, which is divided by the River Kagera.According...
, Ngara
Ngara
Ngara is one of the six districts of the Kagera Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by the Karagwe District, to the east by the Biharamulo District, to the south by the Kigoma Region, to the northeast by the Muleba District and to the west by Rwanda and Burundi.According to the 2002...
, 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 District, to the south by the Shinyanga Region, to the east by Lake Victoria and the Mwanza Region, to the west by the Ngara District, and to the southwest by the Kigoma...
.http://www.tanzania.go.tz/census/census/kagera.htm
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...
.
Before year 2000, Kagera region comprised six districts: Bukoba Urban, Bukoba Rural, 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 District, to the east by Lake Victoria and to the west by the Ngara and Karagwe Districts.According to the 2002 Tanzania...
, 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 District, to the Southeast by the Muleba District, to the South by the Ngara District and to the West by Rwanda, which is divided by the River Kagera.According...
, Ngara
Ngara
Ngara is one of the six districts of the Kagera Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by the Karagwe District, to the east by the Biharamulo District, to the south by the Kigoma Region, to the northeast by the Muleba District and to the west by Rwanda and Burundi.According to the 2002...
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 District, to the south by the Shinyanga Region, to the east by Lake Victoria and the Mwanza Region, to the west by the Ngara District, and to the southwest by the Kigoma...
. Thereafter Bukoba Rural was divided into two: Bukoba Rural and Misenyi, Biharamulo was also divided into two districts: Biharamulo and Chato.
Historical background
Kagera region was formerly known as West Lake region. It was renamed Kagera region after the Uganda-Tanzania WarUganda-Tanzania War
The Uganda–Tanzania War was fought between Uganda and Tanzania in 1978–1979, and led to the overthrow of Idi Amin's regime...
when Idi Amin
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...
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 an East African river, forming part of the upper headwaters of the Nile and carrying water from its most distant source....
, which flows from Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
through northern Tanzania before it enters Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
, to emerge as the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
, the longest river in the World.
Cultural history
For a period of about five centuries Kagera Region were split into nine different kingdoms with a highly hierarchical society. It was during this time that coffeeCoffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
was introduced as a cash crop and bananas
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
were introduced as a staple food. Women of the time were thought to be inferior to men and were treated as virtual slaves. The kings lived in elaborate palaces and were respected as the direct link to gods of their kingdoms. The demise of these kingdoms came after Tanzania gained its independence and president
President of Tanzania
The President of the United Republic of Tanzania is the head of state and head of government of Tanzania. The president leads the executive branch of the Government of Tanzania and is the commander-in-chief of the Tanzania People's Defence Force....
Nyerere
Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985....
saw them detrimental to national unity. The authority of the nine kingdoms (Kihanja, Karagwe, Kiziba, Misenye, Bugabo, Kyamtwara, Ihangiro, Bukara and Biharamulo) were diminished when Germans
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
colonized Tanganyika
Tanganyika
Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
in 1885 and supported the Haya
Haya
Haya may refer to:* Haya , a genus of plants in the family Caryophyllaceae* Haya , a genus of basal ornithopod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous from Mongolia...
, the ethnic group of Bukoba and Muleba Districts over the other districts. However the local kings held on to power.
Cultural tours are available for tourist visiting Kagera and can be accessed from the regions capital Bukoba. These tours include visits to the regions national parks/nature reserves etc..
It was under German rule that Dr. M. Zupitza, then serving as the local medical officer, encountered the plague outbreak in Kiziba (1897-1898). In cooperation with Dr. Robert Koch
Robert Koch
Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch was a German physician. He became famous for isolating Bacillus anthracis , the Tuberculosis bacillus and the Vibrio cholerae and for his development of Koch's postulates....
, they confirmed that the cause was the very same bacteria as the outbreak in Bombay.
When authority was transferred to the British who supplanted the Germans, Kagera was open to Lutheran missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
activity. Other Chirstian denominations including the Roman Catholic church later arrived. Their legacy is seen in the many churches 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 has a vast amount of wild life including Baboons, various types of monkeys etc.. most animals that you find at the Serengeti can also be seen in different parts of Kagera at different time of the year.Kagera Region hosts Biharamulo, Burigi, Ibanda
Ibanda
Ibanda is a town in Western Uganda. It is the 'chief town' of Ibanda District and the district headquarters are located there. The district was named after the town.-Location:...
and Rumanyika and Orugundu Game reserve
Game reserve
A game reserve is an area of land set aside for maintenance of wildlife 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 natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
situated on Rubondo Island and a wildlife sanctuary based on Saa Nane Island.