Morogoro

Panorama of Morogoro Town

Morogoro is a city with an urban population of 206,868 (2002 census) in the southern highlands of Tanzania, 190 km west of Dar es Salaam. It is the capital of the Morogoro Region. It is also known informally as "Mji kasoro bahari," which translates as 'city short of an ocean/port'.

Overview

Sisal plantations in the outskirts of Morogoro (Uluguru Mountains in the background

Morogoro lies at the base of the Uluguru Mountains, and is a centre of agriculture in the region, with the Sokoine University of Agriculture based in the city. A number of missions are also based in the town, providing schools and hospitals. The town is the administrative headquarters of the Morogoro region. It is also a traditionally music town, home of Salim Abdullah founder of the Cuban Marimba jazz band. The band was in the fore-front of promotion of Tanzanian music. He was a prolific composer and singer of the Cuban style rumba music of the late 1950s' and post-independent Tanzania. After his death, tha band struggled to regain its prominence but faded to oblivion. The town was also a home of a Moro jazz, another well known rival band of the time. In the mid '60s to '70s, Morogoro was a home of another well known musician Mbaraka Mwinshehe a lead guitarist and song composer who died in a car accident in Mombasa, Kenya. It was also known for its football clubs. Morogoro is a town connecting a triregion area of country's capital city, Dar-es-Salaam and the centrally located town of Dodoma and the southern highland town of Iringa. It enjoys the rainfall levels vital in the agriculture of rice, sugar cane and the cool temperature that allow tropical fruits and vegetables all year around. On the western plains of the region there is the Mikumi national park. In the colonial days the outskirts stretched for mile with sisal plantations then an export cash product, Tanzania is the world's second largest sisal producer.

Amani Centre

Morogoro is home to the amani centre which has reached out and helped over 3400 disabled people in the surrounding villages. The founder, Mama Bakhita, started the centre by teaching about six children under a mango tree. The Amani Centre is willing to have as much help as possible, such as donations or volunteers.

Transport

Transport on bicycles and motorbikes is common

Morogoro is served by a station on the Central Railway of Tanzania Railways. Public transport buses called Dala-dala are available for transport within the town. Most of the business people own bicycles or motorbikes.

Water

Eighty percent of the Morogoro's water supply comes from the Mindu Dam on the Ngerengere River. The dam project, begun in 1978, has been surrounded by controversy. The new body of standing water has led to high rates of bilharzia infection,^[1] and mercury run-off from gold mining nearby the dam has caused pollution of the city's water supply.^[2] The dam is also being rapidly silted due to deforestation in the surrounding areas.

Culture and sports

The city is represented in the Tanzanian Premier League by football clubs Moro United and Polisi Morogoro.

Education

The main campus of the Sokoine University of Agriculture is situated in Morogoro.

Sister cities

The city of Milwaukee in the state of Wisconsin in the United States is a sister city of Morogoro as designated by Sister Cities International.^[3] Morogoro is also twinned with Linköping in Sweden and Vaasa in Finland.

References

1. ^ IRDC Archive: The Essential Health Interventions Project
2. ^ Mindu destruction setting stage for a catastrophe
3. ^ http://www.milwaukee.gov/sistercities

External links

• 2002 census results
• WikiTravel Morogoro page

Coordinates: 6°49′S 37°40′E / 6.817°S 37.667°E / -6.817; 37.667