Kilwa District Council
Kilwa District (Swahili language: Wilaya ya Kilwa) is one of the five districts of the Lindi Region of Tanzania. As of the 2012 census, the population was Kilwa district was 190,744, making it the 2nd most populous district in Lindi region. The district seat (capital) is the town of Kilwa Masoko. The district is named after the medieval Swahili city state of Kilwa Kisiwani.
The are that is now Kilwa district has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years. The area is the ancestral home to three Bantu people groups, namely the Mwera people and the Matumbi people together with the Machinga people. However, Kilwa district is known globally for its Middle Ages Swahili historical sites on the islands Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara which are part of the seven Tanzanian World Heritage Site. The Swahili city-state of Kilwa was once the greatest Swahili port city that met an unfortunate end on July 1505 when the Portuguese burned and looted the city. In the 1866 the area of what is now Kilwa district was occupied by Germans who established their headquarters at Kilwa Kivinje and used it as a based to quell the Maji Maji rebellion that was based on the Matumbi Hills north of the Kilwa district.
In 1918 when Tanganyika became a British protectorate, Kilwa Masoko was chosen as it is the district seat and they built a deepwater port to assist with their commercial vessels. To this day Kilwa Masoko remains the capital of Kilwa district.
Kilwa district is located in Lindi Region in southern Tanzania, the total district area is 13, 347.50 square Kilometers (1,334,750 ha) of which 12, 125.9 square kilometers is surface land and 1,221.52 square kilometers is the ocean, to the north it borders with Rufiji district, Coast region, Lindi and Ruangwa districts in south, Liwale district in west and to the east it borders with Indian Ocean. In the last national census of 2012 Kilwa district had 190,744 people of which 91,661 were males and 99,083 were female.
The economy of Kilwa district hinges on crop production, livestock keeping, fishing, trade and to a very limited extent on industrial activities. Like in most districts in Tanzania, Kilwa residents and their District Council draw a substantial amount of income and food from small holder cultivators. The most popular crops are cashew nuts, sesame and coconuts. Marginal contribution in council revenue comes from cashew nut, sesame and seaweed farming an activity that is attaining economic significance as the market grows. The average per capital income is estimated to Tshs: 850,000/= per year. Like in many other districts in the country, the social sector of Kilwa district is constituted of Land, education, health, water, and energy. There services in many cases fall short of the actual demand and are also unevenly distributed. The imbalance in the distribution of services is attributed to uneven distribution of population, which is concentrated in the central and southern parts of the district, particularly in the wards surrounding Kilwa town.
Wards
The Kilwa District is administratively divided into 21 wards and two townships:
Chumo
Kandawale
Kinjumbi
Kikole
Kipatimu
Kiranjeranje
Kilwa Kivinje
Lihimalyao
Likawage
Mandawa
Kilwa Masoko
Miguruwe
Mingumbi
Miteja
Mitole
Nanjirinji
Njinjo
Pande
Songo songo
Tingi
Kibata
Somanga
Namayuni