History Dodoma Region

people of kongwa, dodoma region

the city of dodoma, largest city , capital of region, began small gogo village in 19th century, consisting of several traditional tembe houses. city formally established in 1907 german colonists during construction of tanzanian central railway. region has long history of famine , economic difficulties. along kondoa , singida struck hard famine of 1910s. 1 report british officer in dodoma in december 1916 reported whole district has been ransacked cattle . germans had killed 26,000 animals, , british 5,659. problems continued throughout 1917, , in november 1917 drought turned crisis. 30,000, 1 in 5 of population of district @ time died. thousands of people emigrated, , others sold starving cattle shilling @ market in dodoma. smallpox prevalent, , spanish influenza epidemic killed estimated 50,000–80,000 in tanganyika between 1918 , 1920.

when british took on country, favoured dar es salaam , arusha, , area began decline in importance. importance declined further in 1960s when tanzam highway built chinese, connecting dar es salaam morogoro , iringa. on 9 december 1961, tanganyika won independence britain, , dodoma remained capital of central province. in 1963, provinces of new nation divided smaller administrative units , renamed regions, , dodoma region established. however, in 1973, tanzanian government announced capital moved dar es salaam more central location better serve needs of people. dodoma selected purpose, established town @ major crossroads agreeable climate , scope development. same year, tanzanian government launched national soil conservation programme, known dodoma soil conservation programme, improve soil fertility , productivity in worst affected areas of region.