Songea is the capital of

Ruvuma Region Ruvuma Region (''Mkoa wa Ruvuma'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the municipality of Songea. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population of 1,376,891, which was lower th ...

in southwestern

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 ...

. It is located along the

A19 road The A19 is a major road in England running approximately parallel to and east of the A1 road. Although the two roads meet at the northern end of the A19, the two roads originally met at the southern end of the A19 in Doncaster, but the old ...

. The city has a population of approximately 203,309, and it is the seat of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Songea The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Songea ( la, Archidioecesis Songeanus) is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Songea in Tanzania. History * 12 November 1913: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Lindi from the Aposto ...

. Between 1905 and 1907, the city was a centre of African resistance during the

Maji Maji Rebellion The Maji Maji Rebellion (german: Maji-Maji-Aufstand, sw, Vita vya Maji Maji), was an armed rebellion of Islamic and animist Africans against German colonial rule in German East Africa (modern-day Tanzania). The war was triggered by German Colon ...

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 ...

. The city is poised to experience significant economic growth in the near future as the Mtwara Corridor opens up in a few years. Projected to be the sixth fastest growing city on the African continent between 2020 and 2025, with a 5.74% growth.

History

Songea was a great Ngoni warrior, hanged in 1906 during the time of German repression of the Maji Maji rebellion. Songea had been spared the death sentence because he had surrendered. However he demanded to be hanged along with the other Ngoni leaders. The Germans complied. After the Second World War, the area was marked for rapid agricultural development linked to the ultimately disastrous

groundnut scheme The Tanganyika groundnut scheme, or East Africa groundnut scheme, was a failed attempt by the British government to cultivate tracts of its African trust territory Tanganyika Territory, Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania) with peanuts. Launched in ...

. A railway had been planned from the coast to Songea and actually appeared in 1950s high school geography text books. During the liberation war with Mozambique the Songea area was a restricted zone and occasionally suffered aerial attacks by Portuguese forces. Its remoteness made it vulnerable to ivory poaching, and communications remained unreliable until 1985 when a new British funded road was opened linking it northwards to the road and rail hub of

Makambako Makambako is a medium-sized town and district in the Njombe Region of the Tanzanian Southern Highlands, located roughly 40 miles north of Njombe city by road. It is located at junction of the A104 and B4 roads between Njombe, Iringa, and Mbeya. I ...

. Songea became a municipality in 2006.

Education

Songea is the home to many educational institutions including; # Matogoro Teachers Colleges # Peramiho School of Nursing # Kigonsera High School # Songea Boys Secondary School # Songea Girls Secondary School # Peramiho Girls School # The St. Augustine University

Administration

Songea is coextensive with

Songea Urban District Songea Urban District is one of the five districts in the Ruvuma Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by the Songea Rural District, to the east by the Namtumbo District, to the south by Mozambique and to the west by the Mbinga Distric ...

and is divided into

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

. It is managed by the Songea Municipal Council.

References

Populated places in Ruvuma Region Regional capitals in Tanzania {{Ruvuma-geo-stub