Songea is the capital of Ruvuma Region 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 ...

. 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 r ...

. The city has a population of approximately 203,309, and it is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Songea. Between 1905 and 1907, the city was a centre of African resistance during the Maji Maji Rebellion in

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 Mo ...

. 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. 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. 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 and is divided into wards. It is managed by the Songea Municipal Council.

References

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