Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam (from Arabic: دار السلام‎ Dār as-Salām, literally "the residence of peace"; or simply Dar, formerly Mzizima) is the largest city of Tanzania and the largest city in eastern Africa by population, as well as a regionally important economic centre. It is Tanzania's most prominent city in arts, fashion, media, music, film and television. It is Tanzania's leading financial centre with the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) being the country's first and most important stock exchange market. Dar es Salaam is the largest and most populous Swahili speaking city in the world. It is the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region administrative province and consists of three boroughs or administrative districts: northern Kinondoni, central Ilala, and southern Temeke. The city is the leading arriving and leaving point for most tourists who visit tourism areas in Tanzania like the national parks for safaris and the islands of Zanzibar. The region had a population of 4,364,541 as of the official 2012 census. Although Dar es Salaam lost its status as the nation's capital to Dodoma in 1974 (not completed until 1996), it remains the focus of the permanent central government bureaucracy. Most decisions made by people in power within the city of Dar es Salaam affect the entire nation of Tanzania.

Kapiri Mposhi

Kapiri Mposhi is a small town in Zambia. Located north of Lusaka, it stands on the Great North Road and is significant for the railway connection between Zambia Railways line from Kitwe to Lusaka and Livingstone and western terminal (New Kapiri Mposhi) of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority from Dar-es-Salaam since 1976.

Overview

Kapiri Mposhi has two railways stations, a TAZARA Railway station that connects it to Dar-es-Salaam and a Zambia Railways stations that connects it to Lusaka and Livingstone. The TAZARA Railway station is considerably larger and more modern than the Zambia Railways station. Most shops and businesses in Kapiri Mposhi can be found along the main road and include a bakery, Pep and Barclays bank. Just north of Kapiri Mposhi, there is a major junction, with the road north to Mkushi, Serene, and the Tanzanian border going north-eastwards, and the road to the Copperbelt heading to the north west. This, combined with the railway links, makes Kapiri Mposhi an important point in the regional freight network.

TAZARA Railway

The TAZARA Railway, also called the Uhuru Railway or the Tanzam Railway, is a railroad in East Africa linking the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania with the town of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia's Central Province. The single-track railway is 1,860 km (1,160 mi) long and was built by the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) from 1970 to 1975 as a turnkey project financed and supported by China. At the time of its completion, two years ahead of schedule, the TAZARA was the single longest railway in sub-Saharan Africa. At the cost of US $500 million to build, the TAZARA was the largest single foreign-aid project undertaken by China.

The governments of Tanzania, Zambia and China built the railway to eliminate landlocked Zambia's economic dependence on Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa, both of which were ruled by white-minority governments. The railway provided the only route for bulk trade from Zambia's Copperbelt to reach the sea without having to transit white-ruled territories. The spirit of Pan-African socialism among the leaders of Tanzania and Zambia and the symbolism of China's support for newly independent African countries gave rise to TAZARA's designation as the "Great Uhuru Railway", Uhuru being the Swahili word for Freedom.

Tanzania

Coordinates: 6°18′25″S 34°51′14″E / 6.307°S 34.854°E / -6.307; 34.854

Tanzania /ˌtænzəˈniːə/, officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north; Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south; and the Indian Ocean to the east. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania.

Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. Tanzania's population of 51.82 million (2014) is diverse, composed of several ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. Tanzania is a presidential constitutional republic, and since 1996, its official capital has been Dodoma, where the President's Office, the National Assembly, and some government ministries are located.Dar es Salaam, the former capital, retains most government offices and is the country's largest city, principal port, and leading commercial centre.

Zambia

Coordinates: 15°S 30°E / 15°S 30°E / -15; 30

The Republic of Zambia /ˈzæmbiə/ is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, neighbouring the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west. The capital city is Lusaka, in the south-central part of Zambia. The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the northwest, the core economic hubs of the country.

Originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region was affected by the Bantu expansion of the thirteenth century. After visits by European explorers in the eighteenth century, Zambia became the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia towards the end of the nineteenth century. For most of the colonial period, Zambia was governed by an administration appointed from London with the advice of the British South Africa Company.