Dar es salaam

Dar es Salaam is a located on the coast of the Indian Ocean in central-east Tanzania. With a landmass of about 1,121.3 square kilometers, the city is specifically located between latitudes 6.4o and 6.9o south of the Equator, and between longitudes 39.0 Degrees and 39.5 Degrees east of Greenwich. As a coastal area in the tropics, Dar es Salaam receives an annual temperature average of 26 Degrees  Celsius

The hottest months are January, February and March when the average temperatures can be as high as 33 Degrees Celsius, whereas the coolest months are June, July and August with the temperature averages falling to about 23 Degrees Celsius. There is virtually no month in which rain does not fall in the city. The hottest months are usually wetter due to heavy rainfall. The average rainfall in the wet months can be between 150mm and 240mm from February to May. In the cooler months, the rainfall averages can be as low as 20mm in September and as high as 40mm in June. But during the rainy months, rainfall levels of single days were frequently higher than average. In the 1930s report produced by R Mackay, the Malarial Research Officer for Dar es Salaam, the township recorded the amount of about 503mm in one day in 1920. In 1936, it recorded about 1348mm for one day.2 As such, Dar es Salaam has the highest rainfall levels, which is one of the factors for frequent flooding.3 Given the city’s relative wetness and dryness, the weather seasons are put into two categories: the wet and dry season. The period from December to May is wet, and the period from June to November is dry.4 This seasonal categorisation of weather is also true for many other parts of Tanzania. Topographically, Dar es Salaam rises gently from 0 to 100 metres above sea level. There are hills, creeks, coastal plains, swamps and coastal plateaus in the city 

Over the last two centuries, the history of Dar es Salaam has been a story of the city’s transformation from a predominantly wild, trifling and less colonised rural area into an exuberantly vibrant, highly politicised, densely inhabited and economically significant city. As the most dynamic and transient urban space, Dar es Salaam has become a representation of Tanzania’s urban mutations and history. Politically, the city has been the centre of modern nation-state formation and politics. German East Africa, British Tanganyika and independent Tanzania all used Dar es Salaam as their state capital. All government departments and agencies had their headquarters in the city.