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Swahili language

(Encyclopedia)Swahili language, member of the Bantu group of African languages (see African languages and Bantu languages). Swahili is spoken by 30 million people, chiefly in Tanzania, Kenya, Congo (Kinshasa), Buru...

Leakey, Mary Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Leakey, Mary Douglas, 1913–96, British archaeologist, b. London as Mary Douglas Nicol; wife of Louis Leakey and mother of Richard Leakey. She had little formal education, but a fascination with arch...

Natron, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Natron, Lake nāˈtrən [key], c.35 mi (60 km) long and 15 mi (20 km) wide, in the Great Rift Valley, E Africa, on the Kenya-Tanzania border. It has soda, salt, and magnesite deposits. ...

Ruvuma

(Encyclopedia)Ruvuma ro͞ovo͞oˈmə [key], river, c.450 mi (724 km) long, rising in N Mozambique, near Lake Nyasa and flowing E to the Indian Ocean. It forms most of the Tanzania-Mozambique border. In its lower co...

Mbeya

(Encyclopedia)Mbeya, city (2005 pop. 280,000), SW Tanzania. Located on the Tazara Railway, Mbeya was founded as a gold mining town in the 1920s. It is a market town for the fertile surrounding highlands, which prod...

Rufiji

(Encyclopedia)Rufiji ro͞ofēˈjē [key], river, c.375 mi (600 km) long, rising in the highlands of SW Tanzania, E Africa, and flowing NE then E to the Indian Ocean opposite Mafia Island. The Great Ruaha River is i...

Usambara

(Encyclopedia)Usambara o͞osämbäˈrä [key], mountains, c.70 mi (110 km) long and from 20 to 40 mi (30–60 km) wide, NE Tanzania. On its slopes, which rise to c.8,000 ft (2,440 m), coffee, sisal, tea, and cincho...

Haya

(Encyclopedia)Haya hīˈə [key], people of Africa living on Lake Victoria in the extreme northwest of Tanzania. They originally came from W Uganda, a region they left because of endless wars. There are now about 1...

German East Africa

(Encyclopedia)German East Africa, former German colony, c.370,000 sq mi (958,300 sq km), E Africa. Dar es Salaam was the capital. German influence emerged in the area in 1884 when Carl Peters, the German explorer, ...

Kabila, Laurent-Désiré

(Encyclopedia)Kabila, Laurent-Désiré käbēˈlä [key], 1939–2001, Congolese political and rebel leader. He studied at universities in France and Tanzania. returning home in 1960. He supported Patrice Lumumba,...

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