The capital of Tanzania

Planning a vacation in Tanzania and studying information about the country, many tourists are surprised that this country actually has two capitals. The official, legislative capital of Tanzania is located in the city of Dodoma, while the administrative center of the country is Dar es Salaam.

The official capital of Tanzania - Dodoma - is located in the central part of the country, 320 km from the coast. The natural conditions in the city and its environs are determined by the equatorial monsoon climate. The average temperature of January is about 26 degrees, and in July - about 17 degrees. For the period from November to May there is a rainy season. The period from June to October is very arid, at this time there is practically no precipitation. Neighborhoods Dodomas abound in various representatives of the African fauna. Here you can see antelopes, elephants, monkeys, giraffes, rhinoceroses, lions, leopards, cheetahs, hippos and many other animals. It is no coincidence that many tourists for a safari in Tanzania choose exactly the neighborhood of the capital.

In Dodoma, about 320 thousand people live. About 99% of the city's population consists of representatives of various nationalities of Africa: Nyamwesi, Haya, Jagga, Gogo, Masai and others. The remaining residents are descendants of settlers from Asian, as well as European countries. The official languages are English and Swahili. The first is mainly used in the business sphere, and the second - in everyday communication. As for religion, the adherents of Christianity (Catholicism) and Islam predominate in the capital. An insignificant percentage are adherents of traditional popular religions.

The official capital of Tanzania is rather poor in architectural monuments. To the sights of the city can be attributed government and presidential residences, as well as the building of the railway station, erected in the early XX century. Also in the city is the sacred temple of the Sikhs, in which all travelers are treated to tea with local sweets called "prasad". In addition, there is the Geological Museum in Dodoma. As for higher educational institutions, they are absent in the capital.

The historical capital of Tanzania - Dar es Salaam - is the country's largest city, playing the most important economic role. In the city there are more than 2.5 million inhabitants. Dar es Salaam is located on the east coast. The official status of the capital of the country the city lost to Dodoma in 1970.

The first European to land in Dar-es-Salaam (which was then called Mzizim) was Albert Rosher from Hamburg. This event occurred in 1859. The present name was given to the city by Sultan Zanzibar named Seyid Majid. From Arabic, Dar es Salaam is translated as the "house of peace." After the death of the Sultan, in 1870, the city fell into decay, in which he remained until 1887, when the East African company from Germany decided to open its office here. The rapid development of the city was also facilitated by the construction of a railway, which began to function in the early twentieth century.