Dar es Salaam

 

(där'-ĕs-säläm') [Arab.,=haven of peace], city (1994 pop. 2,000,000), on a bay of the Indian Ocean. The former capital of Tanzania, it is the country's largest city and its communications, and economic center. The major industries produce foods and beverages, oil, textiles, clothing, shoes, cement, aluminum products, and pharmaceuticals. Although it has limited access to the sea, Dar-es-Salaam is Tanzania's main port; exports include cotton, sisal, coffee, diamonds, and hides. The port can handle oceangoing vessels, but dhows still carry some goods bound for coastal African and SW Asian ports. A railroad runs from Dar-es-Salaam to Kigoma, on Lake Tanganyika, and the Great Uhuru (Tanzam or Tazara) Railway links Dar-es-Salaam with the Zambian Copperbelt. Dar-es-Salaam has an international airport.

Founded in 1866 by the sultan of Zanzibar, Dar-es-Salaam was a small town when German forces occupied it in 1887. In 1891 it became the capital of German East Africa, but its main growth began during World War II. It is the site of the Univ. of Dar-es-Salaam, Kivukoni Acad. of Social Sciences, Dar-es-Salaam Technical College, the Open Univ. of Tanzania, the College of Business Education, the Ardhi Institute, the Institute of Kiswahili Research, a botanical garden, the national archives, and the National Museum of Tanzania. Many political exiles were drawn to Dar-es-Salaam when Tanzania was an outspoken supporter of African liberation movements (1960s to early 1990s). In 1996, Tanzania's national assembly moved to Dodoma, but many government offices remain in Dar-es-Salaam. In Aug., 1998, a terrorist bomb exploded at the U.S. Embassy in Dar-es-Salaam, killing 11 people.

This article is about the city. For the region, see Dar es Salaam (region). For the 2000 Chadian film, see Daresalam.

Dar es Salaam

Location of Dar es Salaam
Mayor	Adam Kimbisa
Area   –Land   –Water	162.5 km² 0 km²
Population (Metropolitan area)   –Total (2005)	2,456,100 (2005)
Latitude Longitude	6°48' S 39°17' E
Official website:

Dar es Salaam (Arabic: دار السلام [translation: "Abode of Peace"] Dār as-Salām, cf. "Yer u-salem"), formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. With a population estimated around 2,500,000, it is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Though Dar es Salaam lost its official status as capital city to Dodoma in 1996, it remains the centre of the permanent central government bureaucracy and continues to serve as the capital for the surrounding Dar es Salaam Region.

Population

The population is increasing at a rate of 4.39% annually (the 3rd fastest in Africa and the 9th fastest in the world). The metro population is expected to reach 5.12 million by 2020. (www.citymayors.com/statistics).

• 1925: 30,000
• 1948: 69,000
• 1957: 129,000
• 1972: 396,000
• 2005: 2,456,100

Geography

Dar es Salaam is located at 6°48' South, 39°17' East (−6.8000, 39.2833). [1] The city is situated on a massive natural harbour on the Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Africa.

Being situated so close to the equator and the warm Indian ocean, the city experiences generally tropical climatic conditions, typified by hot and humid weather throughout much of the year. Annual rainfall is approximately 1100mm per annum and in a normal year there are two distinct rainy seasons, 'the long rains' which fall during April and May, and 'the short rains' - during October and November.

Administratively, Dar es Salaam is broken into 3 districts: Ilala, Kinondoni, and Temeke.

History

In 1859, Albert Roscher of Hamburg became the first European to land in Mzizima ("healthy town"). In 1866 Sultan Seyyid Majid of Zanzibar gave it its present name, an Arabic phrase meaning Abode of Peace. A popular but erroneous translation is "haven of peace" resulting from a mixup of the Arabic words "dar" (house) and "bandar" (harbour). Dar es Salaam fell into decline after Majid's death in 1870, but was revived in 1887, when the German East Africa Company established a station there. The town's growth was facilitated by its role as the administrative and commercial centre of German East Africa and industrial expansion resulting from the construction of the Central Railway Line in the early 1900s.

German East Africa was captured by the British during World War I and from then on was referred to as Tanganyika. Dar es Salaam was retained as the territory's administrative and commercial centre. Under British indirect rule, separate European (e.g. Oyster Bay) and African (e.g. Kariakoo and Ilala) areas developed at a distance from the city centre. The town's population also included a large number of South Asians.

After World War II, Dar es Salaam experienced a period of rapid growth. Political developments, including the formation and growth of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), led to Tanganyika attaining independence from colonial rule in December 1961. Dar es Salaam continued to serve as its capital, also when in 1964 Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form Tanzania. However, in 1973 provisions were made to relocate the capital to Dodoma, a more centrally located city in Tanzania's interior. The relocation process has not yet been completed, and Dar es Salaam remains Tanzania's primary city.

One of the deadly 1998 U.S. embassy bombings occurred in Dar es Salaam; the other was in Nairobi, Kenya.

Economy and infrastructure

Dar is Tanzania's most important city for both business and government. The city contains unusually high concentrations of trade and other services and manufacturing compared to other parts of Tanzania, which has about 80 percent of its population in rural areas. For example, about one half of Tanzania's manufacturing employment is located in the city despite the fact that Dar holds only ten percent of Tanzania's population. Located on a natural harbour on the Indian Ocean, it is the hub of the Tanzanian transportation system as all of the country's main railways and several highways originate in or near the city. Its status as an administrative and trade centre has put Dar es Salaam in position to benefit disproportionately from Tanzania's high growth rate since the year 2000 so that by now its poverty rates are much lower than the rest of the country. The Julius Nyerere International Airport connects the city with other African countries, the Middle East, India, as well as Europe.

Culture

Downtown Dar es Salaam is a busy commercial area of town. The area includes many small businesses, many of which are run by traders and proprietors whose families originated from the Middle East and Indian sub-continent - areas of the world with which the settlements of the Tanzanian coast have had long-standing trading relations. During the daytime the heavy weight of traffic, office workers, busy merchants, street vendors and restaurateurs of the area lend it a frenetic and slightly claustrophobic air. However, after nightfall the area is relatively quiet as much of the city's nightlife is located in more residential districts away from the city's mainly commercial centre.

The sprawling suburbs furthest from the city centre are generally populated by Tanzanians of African descent, with the exception of Oyster Bay, where there is a large population of foreign expatriates. Although there is little in the way of open racial hostility, the various ethnic communities of Dar es Salaam do not tend to mix heavily. The edges of Dar es Salaam are spreading rapidly, severely taxing the transportation network (which aside from ferries, lacks any kind of mass transit facilities) and raising the prospect of future urban overcrowding.

Due in part to the growth of the expatriate community and the increasing importance of tourism, the number of international restaurants has risen very rapidly over recent years. The city now offers a surprisingly rich and internationalised diversity of cuisine, ranging from traditional Tanzanian barbecue style options such as "Nyama Choma" (roasted meat) and "Mishkaki" (Shish Kabob - usually barbecued and served with salt and various hot peppers on the side) and the long-established traditional Indian and Zanzibari cuisine, to options from all corners of the globe including, Chinese, Thai, Turkish, Italian, and Japanese food.

There is also a lively music scene in Dar es Salaam which is divided among several styles. The longest standing segment is live dance bands such as Kilimanjaro, Twanga Pepeta and FM Academia. Taarab which was traditionally strong in Zanzibar has also found a niche but remains a small compared both to dance music and "Bongo Flava", a broad category that represents the Tanzanian take on Hip Hop and R&B, which has quickly become the most popular locally produced music. This type of music is especially strong among the youth and it seems that its pull is reducing the interest in performing and hearing dance music. Songs by artists such as Ferooz name check Dar districts such as Sinza. Traditional music, which locally is used to refer to tribal music is still performed but typically only on family oriented occasions such as weddings.

A variety of museums, including the National Museum, the Village Museum and the Botanic Gardens are all very close by. Within an hour's drive north is Bagamoyo, which is home to the Kaole ruins. There are beaches on the Kigamboni peninsula east of Dar es Salaam and on Kigamboni Island to the north where residents and tourists alike frequently visit. Trips to the nearby islands of the Dar es Salaam Marine Reserve are a popular daytrip from the city and a favourite spot for snorkelling, swimming and sunbathing. The National Stadium hosts Dar es Salaam's Young Africans Football Club, Simba football club, Other Tanzanian football clubs, and many other international matches.

The first cineplex in Tanzania to show first-run Western and Indian releases was opened in Dar es Salaam in December 2003.

Education

Dar es Salaam is also the educational centre of Tanzania. The city is home to the University of Dar es Salaam, the Open University of Tanzania, the Hubert Kairuki Memorial University (HKMU) as well as the International Medical and Technological University (IMTU). Other institutes of higher education include the Institute of Financial Management (IFM), Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) and the College of Business Education (CBE).

Dar es Salaam also boasts some of the finest schools in Tanzania. The following are schools that provide secondary education, O Levels and A Levels in Tanzania, according to the NECTA (National Examination Council Of Tanzania) syllabus.

Sister cities

• Samsun, Turkey

External links

• Maps and aerial photos for 6°′S 39°′E / -6.82, 39.27Coordinates: 6°′S 39°′E / -6.82, 39.27
  • Maps from MapQuest, Multimap and Yahoo! Maps
  • Satellite images and maps from Google Maps and Live Search
  • Other mapping from GlobalGuide and WikiMapia

Capitals of Africa

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