Shinyanga District Council is one of the six councils that make up the Shinyanga region. The Council is located between latitudes 30.20 ‘and 30.95’ south of the equator and between longitude 320.30 and 330.30 east of the Greenwich Meridian, south of Lake Victoria.
On the east it is bordered by Kishapu District and Shinyanga Municipal Council, on the west it is bordered by Kahama and Geita Districts, and on the north it is bordered by Kwimba District and on the south by Nzega District.
Shinyanga District was established on January 1, 1984 under the provisions of Act 8 and 9 of the Local Government (District Authorities) 1982.
Area
The District Council has an area of 4,212 square kilometers which is equivalent to 1.7% of the total area (72.9 kms2) covered by forest reserves. An area of 1,713.7 kms2 (40.6%) is used for agricultural activities, 2,096.8 kms2 (49.7%) for livestock and 210.6 kms2 (5%) for human settlements. The remaining area of 118 kms2 (2.8%) of land is for use for economic activities composed of rocks.
According to the 2002 Tanzania National Census, the population of the Shinyanga Rural District was 277,518
Wards
The Shinyanga Rural District is administratively divided into 16 wards:
Didia
Ilola
Imesela
Iselamagazi
Itwangi
Lyabukande
Mwakitolyo
Mwamala
Mwantini
Pandagichiza
Salawe
Samuye
Solwa
Tinde
Usanda
Usule