Kigoma [key], town, capital of Kigoma prov., W Tanzania, a port on Lake Tanganyika; combined with Ujiji in a single municipality, Kigoma-Ujiji (2012 pop. 215,458). It is the terminus of the railroad from Dar es Salaam (completed 1914) and is connected by ship with Congo (Kinshasa) and Burundi. There are fisheries and food processing plants. Kigoma was an important settlement of Arab and Swahili ivory and slave traders between c.1850 and c.1890. The region was occupied by the Germans in the 1890s. Kigoma was a major focus for refugees from Burundi in 1994–96.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Tanzania Political Geography
