Msalala District

Msalala District is a district council in the Shinyanga Region of Tanzania's lake zone established in 2012. The district lies in the middle of the region just north-east of the town of Kahama.

Msalala
District
Drawing of Urima village from 1883
Msalala District location in the Shinyanga Region
Coordinates: 3.596°S 32.445°E / -3.596; 32.445
Country	Tanzania
Region	Shinyanga Region
District	Msalala District
Established[1]	2013
Headquarters	Masabi, Mega
Government
• Type	Council
• Chairman[2]	Mibako Mabubu
• Director[2]	Edward Charles Fussi
Area [1]
• Total	2,635.52 km2 (1,017.58 sq mi)
Population  (2022)
• Total	378,214
• Density	143.506/km2 (371.680/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+3 (EAT)
Postcode[3]	37xxx
Area code	028
Website	District Website

History

The district was created in 2012 by splitting the Kahama District into two new councils of Msalala District and Ushetu District.^[1]

Geography

Msalala district lies in the middle of the Shinyanga Region between the Shinyanga District in the east, and Kahama Town in the west. To the north of the district is the Geita Region, and to the south the Tabora Region. The district covers an area of 2,635.52 square kilometres (1,017.58 sq mi).^[1][4]: 12

Climate

The districts climate is hot semi-arid with the BSh Koppen-Geiger system classification. The average temperature is 24.2 °C (75.6 °F) with an average rainfall of 624 millimetres (24.6 in).^[5]

Administrative divisions

Msalala has one division, 18 wards, and 92 villages.^[4]: 12

Wards (2016 population)^[6]: 131

• Bugarama (19,839)
• Bulige (11,407)
• Bulyan' hulu (27,504)
• Busangi (12,495)
• Chela (22,542)
• Ikinda (7,376)
• Isaka (14,426)
• Jana (17,481)
• Kashishi (14,561)
• Lunguya (13,588)
• Mega (10,823)
• Mwakata (9,125)
• Mwalugulu (19,604)
• Mwanase (16,177)
• Ngaya (13,770)
• Ntobo (10,955)
• Segese (19,940)
• Shilela (10,636)

Demographics

In 2016 the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics report there were 272,249 people in the district, from 250,727 in 2012. People of the district are of the tribes of Wasukuma, Wasumbwa, and Wanyamwezi with small populations of Waha, Wahangaza and Wadakama.^{[6]: 131 [1]}

Economy

Msalala's economy is primarily agriculture. Primary crops are rice, maize, lentils, peanuts, and cotton. There are many large gold and diamond mines in and near the district such as Bulyanhulu Gold Mine, Buzwagi Gold Mine, and the Williamson diamond mine.^[7][4]: 26

Education

The district has 96 primary schools and 17 secondary schools.^[4]: 31

Health

Msalala has 4 health centers and 28 clinics. In 2018, 143,203 (52%) of the population had safe and reliable clean water.^[4]: 30-32

Infrastructure

Isaka Dry Port

Roads

Masala District has 25 square kilometres (9.7 sq mi) of paved road, 205 km² (79 sq mi) of gravel road, and 485 km² (187 sq mi) of dirt road for a total road network of 715 km² (276 sq mi). A paved national trunk road that runs between the city of Shinyanga and town of Kahama through Isaka, and southern part of the district, near the border with the Tabora Region.^[1][8]

Rail

A metre-gauge railway of the Mwanza branch of Central Line runs through the district with a station in Isaka. A second new standard-gauge railway of the Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway line is currently being built that will also have a station in Isaka. Isaka is the end point of phase 3 and starting point of phase 4 of the Tanzania SGR project. The phase 3 (lot 2) between Isaka and Tabora was awarded in July, 2022 and began construction in August 2022, while the phase 4 between Isaka and Mwanza began construction in 2021.^[9][10]