Ruvuma Region is one of the 31 administrative districts in Tanzania. The regional capital is Songea Municipality. According to the 2012 national census, the area had a population of 1,376,891, which is lower than the pre-census forecast of 1,449,830. In 2002-2012, the region’s average annual population growth rate of 2.1 percent was the top twenty in the country. This Region was also the most densely populated with a population of 22 people per square kilometer (57/sq mi).
The region is named after the Ruvuma River, which forms most of its southern border with Portuguese-speaking Mozambique (where it is known as “Ruvuma”). The district is also bordered to the north by the Morogoro Region, to the northeast by the Lindi Region, to the east by the Mtwara Region, and to the northwest by the Njombe Region. Ruvuma has many different tribes, such as the Mpoto.
The Regional Commissioner for the Ruvuma Region is Christina Solomon Mndeme.
