GEITA Region, Located in north Tanzania lies between latitudes 2 28’south of the equator and longitude 310 15’to 320 48’eastof the Greenwich .the region is 1,100 to 1, 300 meters above sea level and shares borders with Kagera region to the West and North Shinyanga region to the south Eastern parts; and Mwanza region to the North . The region is also bound by the Lake Victoria Water.
Administrative Units Land area and population
Geita region was established in March 2012, from parts of Shinyanga , Kagera and Mwanza Region, it Is one of Tanzania’s 30 administrative regions comprising of five districts namely : Geita, Bukombe ,Chato, Nyang’wale and Mbogwe. The district is divided into divisions which in turn are subdivided into wards. The ward consists of villages or sub villages. In total the region is made up of 18 divisions, 98 wards, 463 villages and 30 sub villages. Geita town is the region capital.
The region has a total area of 942, 748sq kilometers, which covers 4.3% of mainland total area , making it one of the smallest region in the country, with a total surface area of 21, 879sq.kms, of which 1,946sq.kms in covered by water dominated by lake Victoria, living 19,933sq.kms of dry land. Geita district has the largest water area(1,050sq.kms) followed by Chato (896 sq.kms). Bukombe, Mbogwe and Nyang’hwale have small amount of water areas.
Geita District has the highest population at 807, 619 people and Nyang’hwale district has the lowest, 148, 320 people. The proportion of females to males continuous to be high in all the five districts. The average household size in the region is 6.1 with Nyang’wale recording the highest (6.8) while Geita and Chato have the lowest, 5.9.
Ethnicity
In terms of Ethnicity the region is homogeneous. Majority of indigenous people are Bantu. Predominant tribes are the Basukuma and Sumbwa who are concentrated mainly in Geita, Bukombe and Mbogwe Districts. In the urban district of Geita many ethnic groups of Tanzania are represented. The Haya, Bazinza and Nyamwezi are the other groups found in significant numbers in the region.
Climate and Soils
The region has moderate temperatures of between 220C to 300C with average rainfall of 900mm – 120mm per annum. Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed with short rains from September to December followed by a dry spell from January – February before long and heavy rains set in between march till end of May. From the first of June to September the region is subjected to dry season. During hot and rainy season the humidity ranges between 35% and 60% respectively.
Geita region is characterized by undulating land spotted with hills and mountains. The land is characterized by black cotton soil, loam ,sand, sandy loam and clay loam soil which are suitable for growing varieties of crops including cassava, banana, sweet potatoes, beans, groundnuts, paddy, maize, cotton, millet ,sim –sim, wheat, passion fruits, finger millet, sisal, sunflower, jatropha, coffee, tobacco ,pyrethrum, macadamia nuts, sorghum, mangoes among of others.
