HISTORY OF PEOPLE FROM SINGIDA REGION

Singida is one of the regions of Tanzania. The region is bordered to the North by Shinyanga Region, to the Northeast by Manyara Region, to the East by Dodoma Region  to the Southeast by Iringa Region, to the Southwest by Mbeya Region and to the West by Tabora Region. It is one of the poorest regions in Tanzania. Singida is itself a region, a district, and a town.

It is accessible from Arusha through Babati and Kateshi in Manyara Region; Dar es Salaam, Iringa, and Mbeya through Dodoma are all tamarc. Connection to Tabora, Shinyanga, Mwanza and Nzega in Tabora Region is passable all the year round.

PEOPLE:

Singida residents are very generous people, funny, lovers of visitors. They find that it is a blessing to receive guests in their homes.
By tradition and culture of the people of Singida, any visitor who reaches their homes 'must' eat or drink something. Leaving without eating or drinking anything, is very upset.
Singida residents are very dedicated  to work as well as business, agriculture and livestock keeping. Many have understood the importance of education, in contrast to the old saw that education is not important.
Also they understand the importance of educating girls as well. Formerly, men only had the right for education.

They were afraid to build modern houses, believing that they could be witched, which now is no longer the trust to many. Although some are still threatened, but majority are well educated, therefore they are ready for development if they are capable.

The main problem is education, capital and healthy. These are major cases which, if efficiated, people of Singida will improve fast.

Geographical Location:

Singida region is located below the equator between latitudes 3052’ and 7034’. Longitudinally the region is situated between 33027’ and 350 26’ east of Greenwich. To the north, it shares borders with Shinyanga Region; Arusha, Manyara and on the east borders Dodoma. To the south it shares borders with Iringa and Mbeya while on the west there is Tabora Region.

Singida region has a total surface area of 49,438 km², out of which 95.5 km² or 0.19 percent are covered by water bodies of Lake Eyasi, Kitangiri, Singidani, Kindai and Balengida. The remaining 49,342.5 km² is land area. Singida region is deemed to be neither small nor big. It is the 13th in size and occupies about 5.6 percent of mainland Tanzania's total area of 881,289 km².

Climate:

 In regard to climate there are two key features which are temperature and rainfall. The region forms part of the semi-arid central zone of Tanzania, which experiences low rainfall and short rainy seasons which are often erratic, with fairly widespread drought in one year out of four. Total rainfall ranges from 500 mm to 800 mm per annum, with high geographical, seasonal and annual variation. There are two rather well defined seasons, the short rainy season during the months of December to March or sometimes goes to April and the long dry season from April to November.

The wetter areas in Singida region are along the escarpment near Kiomboi in Iramba district and in the south-west of Manyoni district near Rungwa, where the long-term mean annual rainfall exceeds 800 mm. The mean annual rainfall is in the range of 600 mm to 800 mm over large areas of Iramba and Singida districts. On the eastern side of Manyoni district near the Bahi Swamp and the Rift Valley depression of Mgori and Shelui divisions lies the drier area in the region where the mean annual rainfall is less than 550 mm. The regional mean annual average rainfall is 700 mm.

The temperatures in the region vary according to altitude but generally range from about 15 °C in July to 30 °C during the month of October. Moreover, temperature differences are observed between day and night and may be very high, with hot afternoons going up to 35 °C and chilly nights going down to 10 °C.

Winds follow a monsoonal pattern being north-easterly during the months of November to March and south-easterly for the rest of the year (dry season). In May to October, the winds are usually dry and contribute to the semi-aridity of the region. The fact that maximum wind velocities coincide with the period of greatest water deficiency underlines the climatic impact of these winds on moisture losses and hence desertification.

Population:

 According to the 2012 Tanzania National Census, the population of Singida Region was 1,370,637.

According to the 2002 Tanzania National Census, the population of Singida Region was 1,090,758.

Districts:

 The region is administratively divided into six of the Districts of Tanzania (note: the regions changed between the 2002 census and the 2012 census so the figures are not directly comparable):

  Districts of Singida Region:

Iramba, Ikungi, Singida Rural, Singida Urban, Mkalama

Population   1,500,000 by 2012

TOWN:

In Singida town (i.e. Singida municipal district) and Singida Rural District, the main tribe is the Nyaturu. The town is also home to immigrants from different parts of Tanzania. Iramba district belongs to Nyiramba tribe and Manyoni district belongs to Gogo and few of Nyaturu tribes. Recently a new Mkalama District was created.

Gwau was chief of Singida South around the 1940s, after he died his brother Chief Mange Gwau took over the crown until after Tanzania independence, when chief leadership was abolished. The Gwau family is well known in Singida for the Nyaturu tribe development. 

TRANSPORT:

Singida has a railway station on a branch off the Central Railway of Tanzanian Railways. The railway from Singida joins the Central line at Manyoni.

As of year 2012 a new Asphalt Road has been built(completed) between Singida and Dodoma.

Otherwise there are local buses operating into all areas, except to some of remote areas where there is no tamarc, during rain season, some of the roads are not easily passable.