Dodoma

Did You Know?

• The Parliament of Tanzania is located in Dodoma, and the office of the President and ministerial headquarters moved to the Mtumba area in October 2019.
• Dodoma features a semi-arid climate with average lows dropping to 13 °C in July and most of its 610 mm of annual rainfall occurring between December and April.
• The city is represented in the Tanzanian Premier League by Dodoma Jiji FC, formerly called Polisi Dodoma.

History

The modern settlement was founded in 1907 by German colonists during construction of the central railway, on the site of a small market town called Idodomya. Its colonial layout segregated a European quarter from a native village. After independence, the government considered relocating the capital as early as 1961 and 1966. In 1974, following a nationwide party referendum, the government announced the move from Dar es Salaam to a more central location, estimated to cost £186 million and take ten years.

The Dodoma region had been evaluated as a potential capital site by Germany in 1915, by Britain in 1932, and by the post-independence National Assembly. The location was chosen for its agreeable climate, room for development, geographic centrality, and its rural environment, seen as appropriate for a ujamaa capital. The new capital was viewed as more economically viable than restructuring Dar es Salaam and as a way to divert development from the coast.

Objectives included symbolising Tanzania's social and cultural values, supplementing capital functions with industrial-commercial development, and avoiding colonial planning mistakes and problems of big cities.

Demographics

In Dodoma, women slightly outnumber men, making up 51.5 percent of the 2022 city population of 765,179, while men account for 48.5 percent. Households average 4.4 people. Roman Catholics represent 19.2 percent of residents. While the city’s role as a government hub attracts many ethnic groups, its original inhabitants include the Gogo, Rangi, and Sandawe.

Education

Dodoma hosts several universities, including the Open University of Tanzania, St Johns University of Tanzania, and the University of Dodoma, which has about 35,000 students; both of the latter opened in 2007. The Anglican Church runs the only international school in the city, Canon Andrea Mwaka School, established in 1950, which follows the English National curriculum and offers IGCSE examinations to about 280 students from Nursery to Form 4.

Transport

Dodoma Airport, north of the city centre, is managed by the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority and serves small aircraft operated by Precision Air, Air Tanzania, Auric Air, and Flightlink. Construction of the new Msalato International Airport, about 14 km north of the city centre, began after a December 2019 announcement; as of 2026, infrastructure works were about 85 percent complete and building works over 70 percent complete, supported by a US$272 million financing package.

The city is served by Dodoma Railway Station on the Central Railway Line, which connects to Dar es Salaam 465 km to the east. In 2019, Tanzania Railways commissioned a study into a Dodoma commuter rail network. Dodoma is also connected to Dar es Salaam by the electrified Standard Gauge Railway, with commercial passenger services starting on 1 August 2024. This line is part of a wider network intended to connect Dar es Salaam with Mwanza, Kigoma, and neighboring countries.

A daladala station serves the city on B129 southwest of Dodoma. The Cairo-Cape Town Highway passes through Dodoma, and a major highway connects the city with Dar es Salaam via Morogoro to the east. Roads also lead west to Mwanza and Kigoma via Singida and Tabora, and the Great North Road links Dodoma with Babati and Arusha to the north, and with Iringa, Njombe, Songea, Mbeya, and Vwawa to the south.