Kigoma is a city and lake port in

Kigoma-Ujiji District Kigoma-Ujiji District is one of the eight administrative districts of Kigoma Region in Tanzania. The District covers an area of . It is bordered to the west by Uvinza District in the south east and to the north by Kigoma District. The western ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

, on the northeastern shores of

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...

and close to the border with

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

and

The Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. It serves as the capital for the surrounding

Kigoma Region Kigoma Region (''Mkoa wa Kigoma'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the city of Kigoma. Kigoma Region borders Kagera Region, Geita Region, Katavi Region, Tabora Region, DRC and Burundi According ...

and has a population of 215,458 (2012 census). The town is situated at an elevation of . The historic trading town of

Ujiji Ujiji is a historic town located in Kigoma-Ujiji District of Kigoma Region in Tanzania. The town is the oldest in western Tanzania. In 1900, the population was estimated at 10,000 and in 1967 about 41,000. The site is a registered National His ...

is located south-east of Kigoma.

Transport

Maritime transport

Kigoma is one of the busiest ports on northeastern

since historically it was the only one that had a functioning railway connection (the one at

Kalemie Kalemie, formerly Albertville or Albertstad, is a town on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town is next to the outflow of the Lukuga River from Lake Tanganyika to the Lualaba River. History From 18 ...

in The Democratic Republic of the Congo is not operational at the moment), a direct link to the ocean

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

. Kigoma Port in the Kigoma Bay has a wharf of and several cranes and is equipped to handle shipping containers. However, the bay is suffering from silting up as a result of soil erosion from surrounding hills, and the water depths at wharfside has diminished from to . This may threaten the economic growth of the port. In May 2007 the Tanzanian Government announced a plan to create an economic zone at the port to stimulate trade and to ensure stable economic growth of the Port for the government in Power in 2015 and 2020. The ''

MV Liemba MV may refer to: Businesses and organizations In transportation * Motor vessel, a motorized ship; used as a prefix for ship names * MV Agusta, a motorcycle manufacturer based in Cascina Costa, Italy * Armenian International Airways (IATA code MV ...

'' sails every week from Kigoma to Mpulungu in Zambia at the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika, stopping at a number of other lakeside towns in Tanzania on the way. The ''MV Mwongozo'' sails from Kigoma to Baraka, Uvira and Bujumbura at the northern tip of the lake, although it is not working currently. There are other ships from Congo and Burundi that sail to Kigoma Port every week.

Road

Current road connections to and from Kigoma are improving. However, travellers should be advised to take extra precautions when travelling. A gravel road links the town northeast to the national road network, and earth tracks link north to Burundi and southeast to

Sumbawanga Sumbawanga is a city located in western Tanzania. It is the capital of Rukwa Region and the municipal seat of Sumbawanga Urban District with postcode number 55100 . The district had a population of approximately 150,000 based on the 2002 census. S ...

Railway

The Central Line of the

Tanzania Railways Corporation The Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) is a state-owned enterprise that runs one of Tanzania's two main railway networks. When the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation was dissolved in 1977 and its assets divided between Kenya, Tan ...

runs from Kigoma to the

Port of Dar es Salaam The Port of Dar es Salaam is the principal port serving Tanzania. The port is one of three ocean ports in the country and handles over 90% of the country's cargo traffic. According to the International Association of Ports and Harbors, it is the fo ...

on to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

coast via

Tabora Tabora is the capital of Tanzania's Tabora Region and is classified as a municipality by the Tanzanian government. It is also the administrative seat of Tabora Urban District. According to the 2012 census, the district had a population of 226,999. ...

and

Dodoma Dodoma ( in Gogo), officially Dodoma City, is the national capital of Tanzania and the capital of the Dodoma Region, with a population of 410,956. In 1974, the Tanzanian government announced that the capital would be moved to Dodoma for social a ...

. It was completed in 1915 when Kigoma was part of

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...

. In

, there is a connection to

Mwanza Mwanza City, also known as Rock City to the residents, is a port city and capital of Mwanza Region on the southern shore of Lake Victoria in north-western Tanzania. With an urban population of 1,182,000 in 2021, it is Tanzania's second largest cit ...

on Lake Victoria, with ferry connections to other Tanzanian lakeshore places, and formerly

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. At Tabora, you can also travel by train to Mpanda. For a time in early 2010, the line was closed but service has apparently been restored.''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''
A train ride across Tanzania
Retrieved 9 October 2010

Airport

The city is served by

Kigoma Airport Kigoma Airport is an airport in western Tanzania serving Kigoma. It is located at the east area of Ujiji. The government of Tanzania is planning to improve the airport. The Kigoma non-directional beacon (Ident: KG) is located on the field. Ground ...

which has scheduled service to

Bujumbura Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's normal capital. In late ...

and

Climate

Kigoma has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Aw'') with a

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

between November and April.

References

External links

{{Authority control Populated places in Kigoma Region Regional capitals in Tanzania Populated places on Lake Tanganyika Cities in the Great Rift Valley