# Dar es Salaam > A fishing village that a sultan turned into a harbour, the Germans turned into a capital, and more than five million people have turned into the commercial engine of East Africa — and one of the fastest-growing cities on earth. Canonical: https://seeyoutanzania.com/guides/dar-es-salaam Last updated: 2026-10-13 Edited by: Kabeer Dalvi (https://seeyoutanzania.com/about) ## At a glance - **Region:** Dar es Salaam Region, Indian Ocean coast - **Population:** 5,383,728 (2022 census) - **Founded:** 1865–66, by Sultan Majid bin Said - **Name:** Arabic dār as-salām — 'abode of peace' - **Airport:** Julius Nyerere International (DAR) ## Map of Dar es Salaam Region **Districts and councils:** Dar es Salaam City · Kigamboni Municipal · Kinondoni Municipal · Temeke Municipal · Ubungo Municipal Councils as counted in the 2022 census (National Bureau of Statistics). ## Three capitals in a hundred years There was a fishing settlement called Mzizima here first. The city proper begins in 1865–66, when **Sultan Majid bin Said of Zanzibar** decided to develop the sheltered natural inlet on the mainland opposite his islands and gave the place its name — *dār as-salām*, the abode of peace. He died in 1870 and the project stalled almost immediately; for a decade or so it was a half-built idea. The Germans revived it. The German East Africa Company established a station in 1887, and when the colonial administration moved its capital from Bagamoyo in 1891, Dar es Salaam had what Bagamoyo lacked — a harbour deep enough for steamships. The **Central Railway Line**, driven inland towards Lake Tanganyika, made it the outlet for a whole interior. The buildings from that period are still standing along the front: the Old Boma of 1866–67, St Joseph's Cathedral, the old hospital. British forces took the city on 3 September 1916 after naval bombardment, and it remained the capital through the Tanganyika Territory and into independence in 1961. In 1973 the decision was taken to move the capital inland to **Dodoma** — a deliberate act of the *ujamaa* period, intended to pull development away from the coast. The National Assembly moved to Dodoma in February 1996, but most of government stayed in Dar es Salaam until the ministries were ordered to relocate in 2016. What the city did instead was grow. From about 20,000 people in 1900 and 93,000 in 1957, to 273,000 in 1967, to over 4.3 million at the 2012 census and 5.4 million at the 2022 census — a rate that has put Dar es Salaam among the fastest-growing cities in the world, with projections well into the teens of millions by 2030. Losing the capital did nothing to slow it, because what drives it is not government. It is the port. ## The port, and everything that follows from it Everything begins with the harbour. The Port of Dar es Salaam handles the great majority of Tanzania's cargo, and — because the country sits between the ocean and a set of landlocked neighbours — it is also the sea outlet for Zambia, the DRC's copperbelt, Burundi, Rwanda and parts of Malawi. That transit role is a national strategic asset and a permanent object of investment and argument. Around the port sits the industry: cement, textiles, food processing, brewing, vehicle assembly. Around the industry sits the trade, and the trade's centre is **Kariakoo** — a district whose name is a Swahili rendering of the British 'Carrier Corps' who were quartered there in the First World War, and which is now one of the largest markets in East Africa. Wholesalers here supply retailers a thousand kilometres inland. The formal economy is only part of it. Dar es Salaam runs on daladalas, bajaji and bodabodas, on street vending, on repair workshops, on an enormous informal sector that absorbs most of the people arriving from the countryside. The city's growth has outrun its infrastructure — traffic is genuinely severe, and the bus rapid transit system built to address it is one of the more successful African urban transport projects, and still not enough. For visitors, the practical fact is that Dar is the hinge: the ferry to Zanzibar, the flights to the southern parks, the road to the coast. Most people pass through it. A few stay, and find it more interesting than its reputation. **What the city does** - **The port:** Handles around 90% of national cargo - **Transit trade:** Serves Zambia, DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi - **Manufacturing:** Cement, textiles, food processing, brewing - **Finance:** Banking and the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange - **Fishing:** Artisanal fleet, sold at the Feri fish market ## Swahili, at the scale of a city Dar es Salaam is a Swahili coastal city that grew into a national one. The population is majority Muslim, with a substantial Christian minority, and the calendar reflects both — Ramadan changes the rhythm of the whole city, and Eid and Christmas are equally public occasions. The music is the most exportable thing here. **Bongo Flava** — the Tanzanian fusion of hip-hop, R&B and taarab-descended melody — was made in this city, and *bongo* is itself Dar es Salaam's nickname, from *ubongo*, brains: the place you need your wits about you. Before it there was dansi, the Congolese-influenced big-band music of the independence decades, and beneath both, taarab from the islands. The food is coastal and mixed: grilled fish and octopus, pilau and biryani, cassava, the Zanzibari-descended snacks that appear on every corner after dark. The city's South Asian community — a presence of well over a century — has shaped what people eat as much as the coast has. The two museums worth the time are the **National Museum**, which holds fossil material from Olduvai including *Paranthropus boisei*, and the **Village Museum**, an open-air collection of traditional dwellings from across the country. The **Nyumba ya Sanaa** and the Tingatinga cooperative are where to see art actually being made — Tingatinga painting, the enamel-on-board style with its flat bright animals, began here in the 1960s and has become the country's most recognisable visual export. ## Towns, parks and places across Dar es Salaam Region ### Kigamboni (District & beaches) Across the harbour mouth, reached by ferry or the Nyerere Bridge. It has 65 km of coastline and the city's quieter beaches. ### Kimbiji, Mbutu Bandarini and Mbuamaji (Heritage sites) Three national historic sites on the Kigamboni coast, south of the harbour mouth. ### Kunduchi ruins (Heritage site) A national historic site on the north coast, with the ruins of a mosque among old Swahili remains. ### Mbudya Island (Marine reserve) An uninhabited island off Kunduchi, part of the Dar es Salaam Marine Reserves, visited by boat for the day. ### Msasani Peninsula and Coco Beach (Beach) The city's public beach at Oyster Bay — busiest at weekends and in the early evening. ## What to see ### The National Museum *Museum.* Olduvai and Laetoli material, including hominin fossils, alongside the colonial and independence collections. ### Kariakoo Market *Market.* Vast, loud and genuinely useful. Go in the morning, carry nothing you mind losing. ### The Village Museum *Open-air museum.* Traditional dwellings from across Tanzania, reconstructed full-size. Better than it sounds. ### St Joseph's Cathedral & the Old Boma *Heritage.* The German seafront survives in fragments along Sokoine Drive. The Boma of 1866–67 is among the oldest buildings in the city. ### Kivukoni fish market *Market.* The morning auction on the harbour front. Arrive by seven or don't bother. ### Bongoyo Island *Marine reserve.* Half an hour by boat from Msasani. Sand, reef and grilled fish — the city's standard escape. ## Common questions ### Where is Dar es Salaam? In Tanzania, on the Indian Ocean coast of East Africa. It is the country's largest city and main port, and it forms its own region, Dar es Salaam Region. ### Is Dar es Salaam the capital of Tanzania? No. The capital is Dodoma, chosen in 1973. Dar es Salaam was the capital before that and is still the largest city and the commercial centre. The full answer is on our Dodoma page. ### What does Dar es Salaam mean? The name comes from the Arabic dār as-salām, 'abode of peace'. Sultan Majid bin Said of Zanzibar gave it to the harbour town he founded here in 1865–66. ### How many people live in Dar es Salaam? 5,383,728 at the 2022 census, which makes it by far the largest city in Tanzania and one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. ## Before you go - **Getting there:** Julius Nyerere International (DAR) is the country's main gateway. Ferries to Zanzibar leave from the harbour front and take about two hours. - **Getting around:** Traffic is heavy and unpredictable. Allow far more time than distance suggests; the DART bus lanes are the fastest way along the corridors they serve. - **When to come:** June to October is dry and less humid. The long rains fall April–May and the short rains November–December. - **Safety:** Ordinary big-city care. Avoid displaying phones on the street, use arranged transport at night, and treat Kariakoo as a place to travel light. - **Money:** Shillings. ATMs everywhere; cards accepted in hotels, malls and larger restaurants. - **Time:** East Africa Time, UTC+3, no daylight saving. ## Checked against - [Dar es Salaam — history and geography](https://www.britannica.com/place/Dar-es-Salaam), Encyclopaedia Britannica - [Port of Dar es Salaam — cargo throughput](https://www.ports.go.tz/), Tanzania Ports Authority - [2022 Population and Housing Census results](https://www.nbs.go.tz/), National Bureau of Statistics, Tanzania - [National Museum of Tanzania — collections](https://www.nm.go.tz/), National Museum of Tanzania - [Kigamboni District — coastline and historic sites](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kigamboni_District), Wikipedia - [Dar es Salaam — history, population and port](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dar_es_Salaam), Wikipedia