Dar Es Salaam is the former capital and largest city in Tanzania. It is the largest city in East Africa by population, as well as a regionally important economic centre. Located on the Swahili coast, the city is one of the fastest growing cities in the world.
Until 1974, Dar Es Salaam served as Tanzania’s capital city, at which point the capital city commenced transferring to Dodoma, which was officially completed in 1996. However, as of 2017, it continues to remain a focus of central government bureaucracy, although this is in the process of fully moving to Dodoma. In addition, it is Tanzania’s most prominent city in arts, fashion, media, music, film and television and a leading financial centre, with the Dar Es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) being the country’s first and most important stock exchange market.
The city is the leading arrival and departure point for most tourists who visit Tanzania, including the national parks for safaris and the islands of Unguja and Pemba. Dar Es Salaam is also the largest and most populous Swahili-speaking city in the world.
It is the capital of the co-extensive Dar Es Salaam Region, which is one of Tanzania’s 31 administrative regions and consists of five districts: Kinondoni in the north, Ilala in the centre, Ubungo, Temeke in the south and Kigamboni. The region had a population of 4,364,541 as of the official 2012 census.
