Bukoba is a city with a population of 144,938 (2022 census), situated in the northwest of

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

on the south-western shores of

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropics, tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface are ...

. It is the capital of the

Kagera region Kagera Region (''Mkoa wa Kagera'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 Regions of Tanzania, administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the land area of the Netherlands. Kagera Reg ...

, and the administrative seat for

Bukoba Urban District Bukoba Urban District is one of the eight districts of the Kagera Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to east by Lake Victoria and to the west by Bukoba Rural District. Its administrative seat is the town of Bukoba. According to the 2012 Tanzan ...

. The city is served by

Bukoba Airport Bukoba Airport is a domestic airport located in the city of Bukoba, the capital of the Kagera Region in northwest Tanzania. It is adjacent to Lake Victoria. The Bukoba non-directional beacon (Ident: BK) is located on the field. A new asphalt r ...

and regular ferry connections to and from

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 1,104,521 and a population of 3,699,872 in the region ...

, as well as roads to

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Rakai District Rakai District is a Districts of Uganda, district in the Central Region, Uganda, Central Region of Uganda. The town of Rakai is the site of the district's headquarters. Location Rakai District borders Lyantonde District to the northwest, Lwengo Di ...

for cross-border commuters. Plans are underway for a standard gauge railway to

History

Bukoba Municipal

Situated on the south-western shores of Lake Victoria, Bukoba lies only 1 degree south of the Equator. Bukoba is situated on the south-western shores of

in the north-western region of

. The regional capital and Kagera's biggest town is the gateway to the region. It boasts a white sandy beach, a large market, a port tennis courts and a swimming pool. It has 13 banks, 5 of which take VISA cards in the ATM. Bukoba Town itself has the status of a municipal Council. It has a municipal Director and other local government officials like other district councils in the region.

Ports

Bukoba is currently Tanzania's second largest port on Lake Victoria after Mwanza.

Utility

Bukoba is served by the National Electric Utility Company

TANESCO The Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) is a Tanzanian parastatal organisation established in 1964. It is wholly owned by the government of Tanzania. The Ministry of Energy and Minerals regulates the operations of TANESCO. Its b ...

Economy

Kagera's Regional Commissioner resides and has his head office in The Bukoba Central Business District. Bukoba is the leading district in Tanzania with a high percentage of people with middle-class incomes. The percentage of people living under the poverty line is the lowest in the country. Bukoba has a new mall named Bakwata Complex that will start operation in September 2024. The city is flat, compact, and surrounded by hills. The town has a bus stand, an airport, and a port. A ferry used to travel from Bukoba via Kemondo Bay Port to Mwanza on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, and soon a newly built ship, the second largest lake ship in Africa, will make ferry voyages to Bukoba daily.

Airport

Bukoba Airport

The Airport is located south east of the city. The address on Sokoine Road. Auric Air flies three times a day to Mwanza. In 2010 the airport was extended as more flights were expected in line with capacity growth milestones of The Air Terminal reviewed after published reports every quarter of the year.

Air Tanzania Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) () is the flag carrier airline of Tanzania. It is based in Dar es Salaam, with its Airline hub, hub at Julius Nyerere International Airport. It was established as Air Tanzania Corporation (ATC) in 1977 aft ...

(ATCL) also have scheduled flights to Bukoba throughout the week with connecting flights through Mwanza to Dar es Salaam.

Transport

Bus

A bus leaves for Kampala at 7 am every day (about 6 hours) and from Kampala for Bukoba at 11 am every day.

Sports

Bukoba is represented in the

Tanzanian Premier League The Tanzania Mainland Premier League () is a top-level Tanzania, Tanzanian professional association football, football league, governed by the Tanzania Premier league Board, TPLB under Tanzania Football Federation. History The league was first or ...

by football club Kagera Sugar. It is the home to several charities - including

SHARE in Africa SHARE in Africa is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports girls' education in Africa. It was founded in 2008 by Shannon McNamara with the mission to address the 'book famine' in Africa by providing girls with learning materials. Since it ...

and Jambo Bukoba. Both are focused on the educational sector. The Kaitaba Stadium is also found in south east of Bukoba on Jamhuri Road. The stadium has the capacity of 15000 people and supports football games day and night.

Climate

Bukoba has an upland

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Amb'', because every month has a normal mean temperature of between 18 °C and 22 °C) although it is milder than most climates with that classification due to its altitude. It can sometimes get cool especially in the evenings during the two rainy seasons, but never as cold as the winter season in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Sister cities

Nykøbing Mors Nykøbing Mors is the largest town on the island of Mors in the Limfjord in Denmark. The town received its charter in 1299 and has a population of 8,859, as of 1 January 2025.

Gallery

Mater Misericordiae Church - Bukoba.JPG, The Mater Misericordiae Church. MV Victoria.jpg, MV Victoria (1959) at Port of Bukoba Bukoba 0817 .jpg, Street in Bukoba

References

External links

Official Bukoba webguide
{{Coord, 1, 20, S, 31, 49, E, region:TZ_type:city, display=title Populated places in Kagera Region Regional capitals in Tanzania Populated places on Lake Victoria Cities in the Great Rift Valley