Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam (Arabic for “haven of peace”), city in eastern Tanzania and the acting capital of the country (the smaller city of Dodoma has been designated as the eventual capital of Tanzania). It is the nation's largest city, chief seaport, and principal commercial, manufacturing, and educational center. Products include processed food, textiles, clothing, footwear, refined petroleum, and metal goods. Railroads extend inland to Arusha in the north, to Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria, and to Zambia. Exports of Dar es Salaam include gold, coffee, sisal, cotton, and copper (from landlocked Zambia). Among the educational institutions in the city are the University of Dar es Salaam (1961), Kivukoni College (1961), and the College of Business Education (1965). Also here are the National Archives, the National Central Library, and the National Museum of Tanzania, with notable collections on eastern African ethnography, archaeology, and history.

Dar es Salaam was founded in the 1860s as a summer residence for the sultan of Zanzibar. It was developed by German colonial interests after 1885, and in 1891 it became the capital of German East Africa. Dar es Salaam passed to British control in 1916, and its main growth as a modern city began in the 1940s. It became the capital of newly independent Tanganyika in 1961 and continued as the seat of administration when Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form Tanzania in 1964. The Tanzanian legislature and some government offices have moved to Dodoma, designated to become the new national capital. Population (1999 estimate) 2,545,000.