Songwe Region

Songwe Region borders the countries of Zambia and Malawi to the south: Tunduma is the main entry point into Zambia while Isongole is the main entry point into Malawi. Songwe also borders the Tanzanian regions of Rukwa and Katavi in the west, Tabora in the north, and Mbeya in the east. Lake Rukwa is a major body of water in the western part of the region. The East African Rift and Southern Highlands run through the region.[4]

The commissioner of Songwe Region is Omary Tebweta Mgumba, who was appointed on 15 May 2021.[5]

Districts

Songwe Region is divided into the town of Tunduma and the districts of Ileje, Mbozi, Momba and Songwe.[4] Tunduma is subdivided into 15 wards and 71 mitaa (streets),[1] while the four districts are subdivided into 11 divisions, 79 wards, 307 villages and 1493 hamlets.[4]

Districts of Songwe Region as of 2016
Map	District	Population (2012 Census)
	Ileje District	124,451
	Mbozi District	446,339
	Momba District	294,380
	Songwe District	133,692
	Total	998,772

The local government areas now comprising Songwe Region reported a combined population of 998,862 in the 2012 census, 46 percent of whom were under 15 years old. The same areas reported a population of 723,480 in the 2002 Tanzanian census, yielding an annual population growth rate of 3.2 percent between 2002 and 2012.[1] In 2017 the population of the region was projected at 1,173,667 inhabitants.[2] In 2012, 211,537 people, or 21.2 percent of the region's population lived in urban areas, an increase of 250.4 percent over the urban population of 60,377 recorded in 2002. Major ethnic groups in the region include the Nyiha, Nyamwanga, Ndali, Manda,Bungu and Lambya<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbozi_District>.Nyiha is the majority and the indigenous ethnic group living in Mbozi district, Ndali and Lambya in Ileje, Bungu and Manda in Songwe, while Nyamwanga is known to be the indigenous of Momba district. Nyihas are the largest ethnic group in the region with an estimated population of 450,000 by 2017. [1]

The main economic activities in Songwe Region are agriculture, animal husbandry, and fishing.[4] Crops cultivated include paddy rice, maize, coffee, sesame, sunflowers, beans, and sorghum. Local inhabitants are Wandali, Wanyiha and Wabungu,Wanyamwanga, Walambya. The Maasai and Sukuma people in the region practice pastoralism.[4] The gross domestic product of the region was provisionally estimated at 1888.3 billion Tanzanian shillings in 2016.[6]

Both the Tanzam Highway and the TAZARA Railway run through Vwawa and Tunduma in the southern part of the Songwe Region. Tanzam refers to the Tanzania -Zambia Highway, while TAZARA refers to the Tanzania and Zambia Railway Authority that was completed in 1975 to facilitate transportation of heavy goods and people between the two countries with the help of the Chinese government.