| Designations | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Kilombero Valley Floodplain |
| Designated | 25 April 2002 |
| Reference no. | 1173 [1] |
The Ulanga River, also known as the Kilombero River, rises in the highlands of the southwest of Morogoro Region, Tanzania, on the eastern slope of the East African Rift. The river flows northeast along the northeastern border of the Lindi Region before it flows into the Rufiji River. The Rufiji eventually flows into the Indian Ocean on the southern coast of the Pwani Region.
The Ulanga Valley is an intact natural wetland ecosystem comprising myriad rivers, which make up the largest seasonally freshwater lowland floodplain in East Africa. The Ulanga River supplies two thirds of the Rufiji waters. [2]
The Ulanga River is formed by the convergence of major rivers coming from the south, that flow north from the mountain ranges of the Njombe and Iringa regions on the eastern slope of the East African Rift and south from the Udzungwa Mountains and Mahenge Mountains. From south the Ruhudji River winds eastward, losing height quite rapidly, to the head of the great floodplain of the Ulanga Valley. The floodplain occupies the flat floor of the Ulanga Valley at 210–250 m.a.s.l. The valley is oriented south-west north-east, between densely forested escarpments in the Udzungwa Mountains, which tower at 2,250 meters above the valley floor ( 7°47′0″S36°36′0″E / 7.78333°S 36.60000°E ), on the north-western side and the Mahenge Mountains on the southern side ( 8°45′0″S36°39′0″E / 8.75000°S 36.65000°E ). The Ruhudji receives several important tributaries and then divides on the floodplain into a number of channels, which produce a network in the central part of the floodplain. Other affluents draining the mountains on opposing sides of the valley join the network so that in the central part there are ten major channels flowing roughly in parallel. A zone of permanent swamps, 45 km long, extends up to 4 km away from the west bank of the Kihansi River. The Kihansi was dammed in its upstream ranges above the Kihansi Gorge in 1995. The southern central parts of the floodplain descend 40 meters over a distance of 210 km. At Ifakara the valley narrows in to be about 4 km wide and the rivers are united into the main stream of the Ulanga River. East of Ifakara the Ulanga flows through a delta of oxbow lakes and is joined on its left bank by the Msolwa River. This stream comes from the high escarpment of the Udzungwas and traverses the northern part of the floodplain, skirting another zone of permanent swampland to the west. From the point of confluence the Ulanga River swings sharply southeast and leaves the floodplain (and the Ramsar Site) on the border of the Selous Game Reserve. The Ulanga River then continues for 65 km to confluence with the Luwegu where they merge at the Shuguli Falls to become the Rufiji River. The Rufiji then flows northeast through the Selous Game Reserve on its way to the Indian Ocean. [3] [4]
Starting in 1885, Karl Peters had begun claiming areas of East Africa for Germany. The Tanganyikan coast proved relatively easy, but conquest of the inland areas of the colony—right up to the Belgian Congo—was more difficult as large parts were still unexplored. For this reason, Governor Gustav Adolf von Götzen led an expedition to claim these hinterlands. He took with him Georg von Prittwitz and Hermann Kersting. [5] [6] [7]
The Ulanga River and its tributary the Kihansi were first surveyed in 1897-98 by von Prittwitz in an attempt to determine whether either river would afford a navigable waterway from the coast to the mountainous district of Uhehe. From Perondo von Prittwitz navigated the Kihansi in a canoe, determining that the Kihansi was too difficult to navigate due to the great number of sharp curves with narrow channel obstructed by hippopotamuses. The Ulanga with its broad smooth curves was easy to navigate by a light-draught steamer. [8]
The Ulanga River forms the boundary between the Ulanga District and Kilombero District of the Morogoro Region in the southeast of Tanzania.
The majority of the villagers in the Ulanga Valley are subsistence farmers of maize and rice, though many make a living fishing. There are large plantations of teak wood in the Ulanga valley. In the north-west of the district, Illovo Sugar Company's sugar-cane plantations occupy most of the lowlying area. [9] [10] [11]
The Ulanga Valley is characterized by its large populations of large mammals such as the buffalo, elephant, hippopotamus, lion, and puku. The majority of the world population of puku antelopes live in the Ulanga Valley. The valley is home to one of the largest populations of Nile crocodile in Africa and is an important breeding ground for bird species such as the African openbill, white-headed lapwing, and the African skimmer. The valley is home to a number of species only found there, such as the Udzungwa red colobus monkey and three species of birds, the Ulanga weaver and two undescribed species of cisticolas. [2] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]
The river supports 23 species of fish that are caught on a regular basis, including three species of fish not found downstream in the Rufiji: Alestes stuhlmannii and two species of Citharinus congicus . Fish from the Rufiji river system migrate upstream to the Ulanga to spawn, usually at the beginning of the rains in November with peak spawning activity coming around in December. [18] [19]
The eponymous boat in C.S. Forester's novel The African Queen (1935) and its subsequent film adaptation (1951) was a steam-powered launch, owned by a Belgian mining corporation, that plied the upper reaches of the Ulanga River.
The German animal painter Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert depicted the river in his 1898 painting The Gallery of Trees Ulanga River.
Tanzania comprises many lakes, national parks, and Africa's highest point, Mount Kilimanjaro. Northeast Tanzania is mountainous, while the central area is part of a large plateau covered in grasslands. The country also contains the southern portion of Lake Victoria on its northern border with Uganda and Kenya.
German East Africa 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 Mozambique. GEA's area was 994,996 km2 (384,170 sq mi), which was nearly three times the area of present-day Germany and almost double the area of metropolitan Germany at the time.
The Maji Maji Rebellion, was an armed rebellion of Africans against German colonial rule in German East Africa. The war was triggered by German colonial policies designed to force the indigenous population to grow cotton for export. The war lasted from 1905 to 1907, during which 75,000 to 300,000 died, overwhelmingly from famine. The end of the war was followed by a period of famine, known as the Great Hunger (ukame), caused in large part by the scorched-earth policies used by governor von Götzen to suppress the rebellion. These tactics have been described by scholars as genocidal.
The Rufiji River lies entirely within Tanzania. It is also the largest and longest river in the country. The river is formed by the confluence of the Kilombero and Luwegu rivers. It is approximately 600 kilometres (370 mi) long, with its source in southwestern Tanzania and its mouth on the Indian Ocean opposite Mafia Island across the Mafia Channel, in Pwani Region. Its principal tributary is the Great Ruaha River. It is navigable for approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi).
Kilombero District is a district in Morogoro Region, south-western Tanzania.
Morogoro Region is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. It covers an area of 70,624 km2 (27,268 sq mi). and is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Ireland. Morogoro Region is bordered to the north by the Manyara Region and Tanga Region, to the east by the Pwani and Lindi Regions, to the south by the Ruvuma Region and to the west by the Iringa Njombe and Dodoma Regions. The regional capital is the municipality of Morogoro. According to the 2022 national census, the region had a population of 3,197,104.
Ifakara is a town in the Kilombero District, Morogoro Region, south central Tanzania. It is the headquarters of the Kilombero District administration and the main trading centre for Kilombero and Ulanga districts. The town is located near the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA) line, at the edge of the Kilombero Valley, a vast swampland flooded by the mighty Kilombero River.
The Selous Game Reserve, now renamed as Nyerere National Park (in-part), is a protected nature reserve and wilderness area in southern Tanzania, East Africa. It covers a total area of 50,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi), with additional buffer zones, as well. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982, owing to its high levels of biodiversity and vast, undisturbed natural landscapes, such as the grasslands and the miombo woodlands habitat. Among the numerous species within the park are some of the continent's largest and most iconic, such as the bush elephant, black rhinoceros, hippopotamus, lion, leopard, spotted hyena, painted dog, Cape buffalo, Masai giraffe, plains zebra, white-bearded gnu and the giant Nile crocodile. Due to the fragility and sensitivity of the many species and ecosystems within the park, human habitation is not permitted within its bounds, and all persons entering and exiting are tallied and tracked by the Wildlife Division of the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.
The Udzungwa Mountains are a mountain range in south-central Tanzania. The mountains are mostly within Iringa Region, south of Tanzania's capital Dodoma. The Udzungwa Mountains are part of the Eastern Arc Mountains, and are home to a biodiverse community of flora and fauna with large numbers of endemic species.
Gustav Adolf Graf von Götzen was a German explorer, colonial administrator, and military officer who served as Reichskommissar of German East Africa. He came to Rwanda in 1894 becoming the second European to enter the territory, since Oscar Baumann’s brief expedition in 1892, and later, he became the first European to cross the entire territory of Rwanda.
Kihansi Hydroelectric Power Station, is a 180 megawatts (241,384 hp) hydroelectric power station located in Kilombero District of southeast Morogoro Region in southern Tanzania. The power station is one of the largest dams in the country. The Tanzanian electricity company, Tanesco operates the power station on behalf of the government of Tanzania.
The Uluguru mountains are a mountain range in eastern Tanzania, named after the Luguru tribe. The main portion of the Uluguru mountains is a ridge running roughly north-south and rising to 2,630 metres (8,600 ft) altitude at its highest point. On the main Uluguru range, 50 villages touch the forest boundary and over 151,000 people are found within the mountain area, often at increasing densities at higher altitudes up to the forest boundary.
Kidatu is a town in central Tanzania, located in Kilombero District, Morogoro Region. The local population is about 3,300. The primary economic activity is the large Illovo sugar cane plantation and factory which produces 130,000 tonnes of sugar per year.
The Zambezian flooded grasslands is an ecoregion of southern and eastern Africa that is rich in wildlife.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Tanzania:
A wildlife management area (WMA) is a protected area set aside for the conservation of wildlife and for recreational activities involving wildlife.
Tanzania contains some 20 percent of the species of Africa's large mammal population, found across its reserves, conservation areas, marine parks, and 17 national parks, spread over an area of more than 42,000 square kilometres (16,000 sq mi) and forming approximately 38 percent of the country's territory. Wildlife resources of Tanzania are described as "without parallel in Africa" and "the prime game viewing country". Serengeti National Park, the country's second largest national park area at 14,763 square kilometres (5,700 sq mi), is located in northern Tanzania and is famous for its extensive migratory herds of wildebeests and zebra while also having the reputation as one of the great natural wonders of the world. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, established in 1959, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and inhabited by the Maasai people. Its Ngorongoro Crater is the largest intact caldera in the world.
Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station is a hydroelectric dam under construction and partially operational across the Rufiji River in eastern Tanzania. Although controversial, the government approved the plans in 2018. The power station is expected to have an installed capacity of 2,115 megawatts (2,836,000 hp) and to produce 5,920 GWh of power annually. As of July 2024, three of the nine turbines have been turned on, generating 662 megawatts. The project, power station and dam are owned by and will be managed by the government owned Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO). Construction began in 2019 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
The Ruvu River is a river in eastern Tanzania.
Albrecht von Rechenberg, Albrecht Freiherr von Rechenberg or Georg Albrecht Julius Heinrich Friedrich Carl Ferdinand Maria Freiherr von Rechenberg was a German jurist, diplomat and a politician who served as Governor of German East Africa and as a member of the Imperial Diet.
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