Tanganyika

From an early time, the Tanganyika region piqued the curiosity of Western and Arab scholars who were eager to identify the sources of the Nile. The region covers nearly 135,000 kmø, or a little under 6% of the country's total territory, in an area roughly located between the Lomami-Lualaba ridge line to the west, a rocky swell to the east, and, in the south, the Kamalondo depression and the barrier of lakes Mweru (northern point), Mweru Wantipa (Republic of Zambia), and Tanganyika (bottom). Only the northern limit running along the 5th parallel south, from the intersection with Kiangwe river to the eastern border of DR Congo, appears to disregard natural circumstances completely. Like its predecessors, this monograph of the Provinces-Decentralisation project devotes a large portion to historical, socio-administrative, political, and socio-economic developments. It nonetheless seeks to provide an analysis and survey of knowledge not limited to these aspects alone. Discussions of its nature (fauna, vegetation, hydrology, geology, geography) and other areas of human science (anthropology, musicology) all contribute to a better understanding of Tanganyika, in the wealth and complexity of these many dimensions.