Dar-es-Salaam

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Dar-es-Salaam [Arab.,=haven of peace], city (1994 pop. 2,000,000), on a bay of the Indian Ocean. The former capital of Tanzania, it is the country's largest city and its communications, and economic center. The major industries produce foods and beverages, oil, textiles, clothing, shoes, cement, aluminum products, and pharmaceuticals. Although it has limited access to the sea, Dar-es-Salaam is Tanzania's main port; exports include cotton, sisal, coffee, diamonds, and hides. The port can handle oceangoing vessels, but dhows still carry some goods bound for coastal African and SW Asian ports. A railroad runs from Dar-es-Salaam to Kigoma, on Lake Tanganyika, and the Tazara Railway (also known as the Great Uhuru or Tanzam Railway) links Dar-es-Salaam with the Zambian Copperbelt. Dar-es-Salaam has an international airport.

Founded in 1866 by the sultan of Zanzibar , Dar-es-Salaam was a small town when German forces occupied it in 1887. In 1891 it became the capital of German East Africa , but its main growth began during World War II. It is the site of the Univ. of Dar-es-Salaam, Kivukoni Acad. of Social Sciences, Dar-es-Salaam Technical College, the Open Univ. of Tanzania, the College of Business Education, the Ardhi Institute, the Institute of Kiswahili Research, a botanical garden, the national archives, and the National Museum of Tanzania. Many political exiles were drawn to Dar-es-Salaam when Tanzania was an outspoken supporter of African liberation movements (1960s to early 1990s). In 1996, Tanzania's national assembly moved to Dodoma , but many government offices remain in Dar-es-Salaam. In Aug., 1998, a terrorist bomb exploded at the U.S. Embassy in Dar-es-Salaam, killing 11 people.

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Mzizima Developed in 1862 from a small fishing village, Mzizima ‘Entire Place’, by the Sultan of Zanzibar, Mājid ibn Said, who renamed it Dār as‐Sālam ‘Haven of Peace’. With a good harbour, the dār might conceivably be a shortening of bandar but, more likely, simply the Arabic for ‘house’ with as‐ (al‐) ‘the’ and sālam ‘peace’. The Sultan intended to move his capital here from Zanzibar, but he died before this plan could be implemented. In 1887 the German East Africa Company took possession of the port. Between 1891 and 1916 it was the capital of German East Africa; it remained the capital when the UK administered the territory for the League of Nations and then for the United Nations, and of Tanganyika when it became independent in 1961; in 1964 it became the capital of Tanzania, although Dodoma is planned to become the capital in 2005.

Dar es Salaam Former capital of Tanzania, on the Indian Ocean, e Tanzania. Founded in the 1860s by the sultan of Zanzibar, it was capital of German East Africa (1891–1916) and of Tanganyika (1916–74). It is Tanzania's commercial centre, largest city and port. Industries: textiles, chemicals, oil products. Pop. (2002 est.) 2,596,900.