Dodoma

Geography

Located in the centre of the country, Dodoma is 453 kilometres (281 mi) west of Dar es Salaam and 441 kilometres (274 mi) south of Arusha, the headquarters of the East African Community. It is 259 kilometres (161 miles) north of Iringa through Mtera and 260 kilometres (160 miles) west of Morogoro. It has an area of 2,669 square kilometres (1,031 sq mi), of which 625 square kilometres (241 sq mi) is urbanized.

History

20th century

Originally a small market town known as Idodomya, modern Dodoma was founded in 1907 by German colonists during construction of the Tanzanian central railway. The layout followed the typical colonial planning of the time, with a European quarter segregated from a native village.

In 1967, following independence, the government invited Canadian firm Project Planning Associates Ltd to draw up a master plan to help control and organise Dar es Salaam, which was undergoing rapid urbanisation and population growth. The plan was cancelled in 1972, in part due to its failure to adequately address the city's historical and social problems.

In 1974, after a nationwide referendum, the Tanzanian government announced that the capital would move from Dar es Salaam to a more central location to create significant social and economic improvements for the central region and to centralise the capital within the country. The cost was estimated at £186 million and expected to take 10 years. The site, the Dodoma region, had been considered a potential new capital as early as 1915 by the colonial power Germany; in 1932 by the British as a League of Nations mandate; and in the post-independence National Assembly in 1961 and 1966.

With an already established town at a major crossroads, the Dodoma region, in the nation's geographic centre, had an agreeable climate and room for development, Its rural environment was seen as the ujamaa heartland and therefore appropriate for a ujamaa capital that could see and learn from neighbouring villages and maintain a close relationship to the land.

A new capital was seen as a more economically viable alternative than attempting to reorganise and restructure Dar es Salaam and was idealised as a way of diverting development away from continued concentration in a single coastal city that was seen as anathema to socialist unity and development. Objectives for the new capital included that it become a symbol of Tanzania's social and cultural values and aspirations; that it be supplemented by industrial-commercial development; and that the mistakes and features of colonial planning and modern big cities, such as excessive population densities, pollution and traffic congestion, be avoided.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) invited three international firms to submit proposals for the best location and preparation of a master plan: Project Planning Associates Ltd., of Canada; Doxiadis Associates International, of Greece (who had worked on Pakistan's new capital of Islamabad); and Engineering Consulting Firms Association, of Japan. A fourth firm from Germany submitted a proposal without invitation.

21st century

In 2006, the Chinese government delivered a finished parliament building in Dodoma. It was not in its originally intended location in the master plan; that location was developed as a site for a university.

As much of the initial design never came to fruition over the past 40 years, government offices and embassies have resisted moving offices to Dodoma. As a result, many government offices remain in Dar es Salaam, which remains Tanzania's commercial and de facto capital.

Dodoma was envisaged as a nation-building project to cement a newly post-colonial independence identity and direction in Tanzania, and is similar to projects in Nigeria (Abuja), Côte d'Ivoire (Yamoussoukro), Botswana (Gaborone), Malawi (Lilongwe) and Mauritania (Nouakchott).

Demographics

Of Dodoma's population, 199,487 people (48.5%) are male and 211,469 (51.5%) are female. The average household size is 4.4 people. The Roman Catholic Church reports that 19.2% of the population are Roman Catholics. Dodoma is populated by different ethnic groups because it is a government administrative centre. The indigenous ethnic groups are the Gogo, Rangi, and Sandawe.

As of 2022, the population was recorded as 3,085,625 in Dodoma region of 41,311 km2, while Dodoma city increased from 410,956 in 2012 to 765,179 in 2022, covering 2,607 km2, or annual rate of 6.4% in ten years.

Climate

Dodoma has a semi-arid climate with warm to hot temperatures year-round. Average highs are somewhat consistent throughout the year, but average lows dip to 13 °C (55.4 °F) in July. Dodoma averages 610 millimetres or 24 inches of annual rainfall, the vast majority of which occurs during its wet season between December and April. The rest of the year comprises the city's dry season.

Education

Universities

Several universities are in Dodoma, including the Open University of Tanzania, which has campuses in several cities, St. John's University of Tanzania, owned by the Anglican Church of Tanzania, and the University of Dodoma, with about 35,000 students. Both universities opened in 2007. In addition there is the Mipango Institute and the CBE.

The Anglican Church runs the only international school in Dodoma, Canon Andrea Mwaka School ("CAMS"). Established in 1950, CAMS educates children from Nursery to Form 4. The education is based on the English National curriculum and the school gives students the opportunity to take IGCSE examinations. The school has about 280 students.

Transport

Airport

North of the city centre, Dodoma Airport is managed by the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority. Flights are limited to small aircraft operated commercially by Precision Air, Air Tanzania, Auric Air, and Flightlink. In December 2019, plans were announced to construct the Msalato International Airport about 14 km north of Dodoma city centre, through a US$272 million financing package supported by the African Development Bank and other development partners. The airport will have greater runway length and weight-bearing capacity than Dodoma Airport, enabling it to handle larger passenger and cargo aircraft. As of 2026, construction remained underway, with infrastructure works reported at about 85% completion and building works over 70% complete.

Railway

The city is served by Dodoma Railway Station, near Kikuyu Avenue, through which runs the Central Railway Line, which connects Dodoma over a distance of 465 kilometres (289 mi) with Dar es Salaam. In 2019, Tanzania Railways commissioned a study of a Dodoma commuter rail network. Dodoma is served by both the historic metre-gauge Central Railway Line and the modern Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

Dodoma is also connected to Dar es Salaam by Tanzania's electrified Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), operated by the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC). Commercial passenger services between Dar es Salaam and Dodoma began in 2024.

The SGR line through Dodoma forms part of Tanzania's wider standard gauge railway network intended to connect Dar es Salaam with Mwanza, Kigoma, and neighboring countries, including Rwanda and Burundi.

In 2019, Tanzania Railways commissioned a study into a Dodoma commuter rail network.

Public transport

A daladala station serves Dodoma on B129 south west of Dodoma.

Road link

The Cairo-Cape Town Highway passes through Dodoma. A major highway connects Dodoma with Dar es Salaam via the Morogoro in the east. To the west, there are roads to Mwanza and Kigoma going through Singida and Tabora. The Great North Road links the city with Babati

and Arusha to the north, via Kondoa and Iringa, Njombe, Songea, Mbeya and Vwawa to the south via Mtera.

Government

The Parliament of Tanzania is in Dodoma. The office of the President of Tanzania and the headquarters of ministers of the Government of Tanzania completed the move to the city's Mtumba area in 2019.

Sports

The city is represented in the Tanzanian Premier League by football club Dodoma Jiji FC, which used to be called Polisi Dodoma. The club is run by the city council of Dodoma. Other older clubs include CDA, Waziri Mkuu, Kurugenzi, Mji Mpwapwa, and Dundee. There is also a rising interest in other sports, particularly basketball.

Stadium

The city hosts the Jamhuri Stadium on School Avenue. In addition, a new multi-purpose stadium is under construction in Dodoma as part of the government's sports infrastructure development programme.

Places of worship

Dodoma is home to many places of worship for people of multiple faiths. From Christian churches such as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dodoma (Catholic Church), Anglican Church of Tanzania (Anglican Communion), Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (Lutheran World Federation), Baptist Convention of Tanzania (Baptist World Alliance), and Assemblies of God to Muslim mosques including the Sunni Masjid (Nunge), Gaddafi Mosque and KSIJ Mosque. The city also hosts a Hindu Mandir, as well as a Sikh Gurudwara.

Twin towns – sister cities

Dodoma is twinned with the following places:

Jaipur, India

Bangui, Central African Republic

Watsa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Linz, Austria