Mara Region

Mara Region

Mara is one of the thirty regions of Tanzania. The region is named after the Mara River. Musoma serves as the Region's capital. Mara Region has 21,799 square kilometres (8,417 sq mi) of dry land; however, approximately 7,000 square kilometres (2,703 sq mi) is in the Serengeti Reserve.

The neighbouring regions are Mwanza and Shinyanga (to the south), Arusha (to the south east) and Kagera (through Lake Victoria). To the north east, it borders the Republic of Kenya. Mara region is occupied by various tribal groups including the Luo, Jita, Ruri, Zanaki, Kuria, Kabwa, Kiroba, Simbiti, Ngoreme, Kwaya, Ikoma, Nata, Isenye, Ikizu, Sizaki, Sukuma and Taturu (Datooga). Under British rule, the Mara region was a district in the Lake Province, which became the Lake Region after independence in 1961.

Serengeti National Park, one of the world's most famous game sanctuaries, is within the Mara region. Listed as a World Heritage Site, the national park occupies a vast area of grasslands and woodlands and is home to diverse range of wildlife. It attracts close to 150,000 tourists every year. The sanctuary is home to more than a million wildebeest, 200,000 zebras and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelles. Apart from conventional tourism in the Serengeti, there is also a range of ecotourism opportunities available in Mara region.

{{As of|2002}, the population of the Mara Region was 1,368,602.

The regional commissioner of the Mara Region is John Tupa.

Musoma, the Capital of Mara Region

The city sits on the eastern edge of Lake Victoria, close to the International borders of Tanzania with Kenya and Uganda. Musoma is located approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi), directly south of the geographical point where the borders of the three East African countries intersect. The town is located approximately 190 kilometres (120 mi), by road, northeast of Mwanza, the nearest large city. Musoma lies approximately 480 kilometres (300 mi), by road, northwest of Arusha, the location of the headquarters of the East African Community. The coordinates of Musoma are:1° 30' 0.00"S, 33° 48' 0.00"E (Latitude:-1.5000; Longitude:33.8000).

Origin of the Name Musoma

Amongst the current resident ethnic groups of Mara, the site that later developed into the town of Musoma was first settled by the Kurya subtribe of Abhakabhwa, commonly called Wakabwa. They also gave the name to the location. Hence, Musoma originates from the Kabwa word 'Omusoma', which actually means a piece of land that protrudes into the Lake, essentially, a peninsula. All the tribes in Mara, which are actually subtribes of people with a common ancestry use the word 'Omusoma' (for the Wakabwa, as well as the Wajita and the closely related sub tribes of Wakwaya, Waruri, Wakara, and Wakerewe) and 'Omosoma' (for the many Kurianic subtribes such as Abhakerobha - commonly called Wakiroba; Wasimbiti, Wakenye, nk.). The full name is actually "Omosoma (or 'Omusoma') ghwa Nyabhamba".

Musoma was hotly contested and witnessed many intra-tribal wars, particularly between the Wakabwa and their kins, the Wakiroba - who were second to arrive in the location after the Wakabwa. The Wakabwa brought in their allies, the non-Bantu Luo and were on the tip of winning the war. The Wakiroba turned to their allies, the Wakwaya but were still heading for defeat. Seeing the situation worsen, the Wakwaya and Wakiroba sought support from the Germans, who at that time had arrived in Mwanza but not yet conquered present day Mara. It was under severe attacks by the German Canons that the Wakabwa and their allies the Luo could be defeated and chased away from the area. A legacy of this war are several mass graves just outside Musoma, particularly in Nyabhange (now commonly called Nyabangi) in Kiroba Land. From that time on, the Wakiroba and Wakwaya became resident neighbors of Musoma, dominating its population for a very long time. Now Musoma is significantly cosmopolitan.

Also, the bond created with the Germans partly explains why the area became their provincial headquarters. The first headquarters of the Germans was established in Nyabangi, but - just like in the case of Bagamoyo on the Indian Ocean Coast, which was the first Capital of 'German East Africa' - it was abandoned due to shallow waters that made an unsuitable location for a harbour. Musoma became the new capital. Today, the old German 'Boma' is testimony to this history of Musoma.