Mikindani
Mikindani is a coastal town in southern Tanzania with around 10,000 inhabitants (2005 estimate) and is now a suburb of the district capital Mtwara with around 100,000 inhabitants (2005 estimate). The name is derived from Swahili Mikinda (palm) and means in German something like : " Near the palms".
history
Arab foundation
A settlement at the northern end of the bay probably existed as early as the 9th century. The place itself was founded by the Arabs from Oman , who operated trade routes inland from here from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Trade goods were mainly slaves , which made the hinterland heavily depopulated and ivory . The original center was the settlement of Pemba (not to be confused with the island of the same name) about 2 km north of the current city. The place is indicated for the first time on nautical charts from 1796 and in 1824 by the British coastal expedition under Lt. Boteler described. On March 24, 1866, David Livingstone went ashore here to begin his last research trip inland. Around 1870 the place was almost devastated by raids by neighboring tribes, with the establishment of plantations for rubber extraction a few years later a significant boom began. The focus of the settlement was moved to the current location.
German colonial times
After the establishment of the German East Africa colony , Mikindani was raised to the status of a district branch in 1890 , an administration building (so-called boma ) was built in 1895 , along with a port and customs building (because of the close border with Portuguese East Africa ). Robert Koch carried out various research work here for about 1 year. In 1916, the buildings at the harbor were badly damaged by a British attack during World War I.
British colonial and independence
After 1948 the British Colonial Authority relocated its main activity to the newly established Mtwara, 10 km further east. Since Mtwara has only existed for 60 years, but Mikindani has been around for centuries, the city administration of Mtwara decided to rename it to "Mtwara-Mikindani City Council" after the incorporation.
economy
In Mikindani there are two hotels that meet European standards, one of them even with a pool (probably the only one within a radius of over 200 km), a simple restaurant, a diving center and a few shops. All intercity buses from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam stop in the center of the village. For airport Mtwara with daily at least one scheduled flight to Dar es Salaam and several flights per week to Pemba , Beira and Maputo in Mozambique are there kms around the 10th Numerous fishing boats anchor in the sheltered bay.
Web links
- Mikindani in the colonial dictionary
- Topographic map of German East Africa. Sheet Mikindani G 7 (1916)
Coordinates: 10 ° 17 ′ S , 40 ° 7 ′ E