tourism city

Mbeya

Tanzania · Africa

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135

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1.00

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City in Mbeya Region, Tanzania

About Mbeya

Mbeya is a city located in south west Tanzania, Africa, with an urban population of 649,000 in 2023. Mbeya is the capital of the surrounding rural Mbeya region.

Mbeya city the capital of the surrounding rural Mbeya region

History

Following the 1906 gold rush, Mbeya was founded as a gold mining town in the 1920s. The TAZARA railway later attracting farming migrants and small entrepreneurs to the area. Mbeya and its district were administered by the British until 1961. Mbeya Region was created in 1961. Mbeya City is now a growing metropolis and business centre for the southern regions and the neighbouring countries of Malawi, Zambia and Congo. The city is well connected with an all-weather road that forms part of the "Great North Road" running from Cape Town to Alexandria. The city has several tribes including the Safwa, Nyakyusa, Nyiha and Ndali all being agricultural peoples. Mbeya is one of the regions that form the bread basket of Tanzania.

Geography and climate

Mbeya has a subtropical highland climate (Cwb, according to the Köppen climate classification), with humid summers and dry winters. The general range of temperature is between −6 °C or 21.2 °F during highlands mornings and 29 °C or 84.2 °F during lowland afternoons. The weather from June until October, is dry and cold. The heaviest rainfall occurs during the months of December to April, and annual rainfall averages approximately 900 millimetres or 35 inches. The area around Mbeya town (especially in Tukuyu) enjoys abundant and reliable rainfall which stimulates abundant agriculture on the rich volcanic soils. The area around Mbeya has been called the "Scotland of Africa". The hills are clad in heather and bracken, but botanically they are more closely related to the Fynbos (fine bush) of South Africa's Western Cape Province than the Highlands of Scotland. …

Sports and culture

The city is represented in the Tanzanian Premier League by Mbeya City FC that is owned by Mbeya City Council and Prisons FC, owned by the Tanzanian Prisons Service based in Mbeya and they play their home matches at the Sokoine Stadium. Ihefu is a club from Ubaruku, Mbarali district that was promoted to the Tanzanian premier league at the 2020–2021 season and currently play their home matches at the Highland Estate Stadium.

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Economy and infrastructure

Local government is administered via the Mbeya Urban District authority and a Regional Commissioner. Mbeya has weather with enough rainfall and fertile soil which enable it to be the largest producer of maize, rice, bananas, beans, potatoes (Irish and sweet), soya nuts and wheat in the entire country. Tanzania has a free market in agricultural produce, and Mbeya transports vast amounts of its maize to other areas of Tanzania. There is also extensive animal husbandry, with dairy cattle predominating. Mbeya is also the biggest producer of high-value export and cash crops in Tanzania; those crops are coffee (arabica), tea, cocoa, pyrethirum and spices. There is some smallholder cultivation of tobacco. Firewood is collected by women and girls, from the wooded valleys and mountainsides. …

Tourism

The rains normally start in October and end around May, followed by a dry and cold spell between June and September. Conventional tourism is not a major contributor to the local economy and there are no months with peak tourism. The city lies in the Rift Valley and is considered Csb by the Köppen-Geiger system. The cooler and mountainous climate in the town attracts mainly locals from other parts of the country and foreigners for the game watching and trout fishing. The local government has begun trying to widen tourism beyond animal and wild game viewing, and have invested in producing better mapping and developing a local tourist center. Well-defined hiking trails have been established to enable hikers to reach the elevated areas and bio-diverse highlands, although the trails need to be properly mapped. …

Transport

Mbeya is served by the Mbeya Railway Station which is near the A104 or via the TAZARA railway line from the capital (approx. 600-miles, two overnight passenger trains per week). Mbeya can be reached by road on the A-7 highway from Dar es Salaam. There are paved roads which connects Mbeya city with the other towns like Tukuyu through Uyole, Tunduma via TANZAM highway and Chunya to Tabora through Isanga. Mbeya connects to the rest of Tanzania by air through Songwe International Airport which was opened in December 2012. It is one of four major airports available in Tanzania. Auric Air and Tropical Air fly from Songwe to Dar es Salaam. Songwe International Airport is within Mbeya region and not in the new Songwe region. The airport is about 25 kilometers from Mbeya City center and about 2-3 kilometers from Mbeya and Songwe regions boundary which is Songwe river.