Ulanga River
Encyclopedia
The Ulanga River, also known as the Kilombero River, is a river that starts in the southwest of Tanzania
on the eastern slope of the East African Rift
that flows northeast into the Rufiji River
then to the Indian Ocean
.
The Ulanga river is formed by the convergence of major rivers coming the south, that flow north from the mountain ranges of the Mbeya
and Iringa
regions on on the eastern slope of the East African Rift
and south from the Udzungwa Mountains
and Mahenge Mountains. From south the Ruhudji River winds eastward, losing height quite rapidly, to the head of the great floodplain of the Ulanga Valley. The floodplain occupies the flat floor of the Ulanga Valley at 210–250 m.a.s.l. The valley is oriented south-west north-east, between densely forested escarpments in the Udzungwa Mountains, which tower at 2,250 meters above the valley floor (7°47′0"S 36°36′0"E), on the north-western side and the Mahenge Mountains on the southern side (8°45′0"S 36°39′0"E). The Ruhudji receives several important tributaries and then divides on the floodplain into a number of channels, which produce a myriad network in the central part of the floodplain. Other affluents draining the mountains on opposing sides of the valley join the network so that in the central part there are ten major channels flowing roughly in parallel. A zone of permanent swamps, 45 km long, extends up to 4 km away from the west bank of the Kihansi
River. The Kihansi was dammed in its upstream ranges above the Kihansi Gorge in 1995. The southern central parts of the floodplain descend 40 meters over a distance of 210 km. At Ifakara
the valley narrows in to be about 4 km wide and the rivers are united into the main stream of the Ulanga River. East of Ifakara the Ulanga flows through a delta of oxbow lakes and is joined on its left bank by the Msolwa River. This stream comes from the high escarpment of the Udzungwas and trverses the northern part of the floodplain, skirting another zone of permanent swampland to the west. From the point of confluence the Ulanga River swings sharply southeast and leaves the floodplain (and the Ramsar Site) on the border of the Selous Game Reserve. The Ulanga River then continuous for 65 km to confluence with the Luwegu where they merge at the Shuguli Falls to become the Rufiji River
. The Rufiji then flows northeast through the Selous Game Reserve
on its way to the Indian Ocean
.
had begun claiming areas of East Africa
for Germany
. The Tanganyika
n coast proved relatively easy, but conquest of the inland areas of the colony—right up to the Belgian Congo
—was more difficult as large parts were still unexplored. For this reason, Governor
Gustav Adolf von Götzen
led an expedition to claim these hinterlands. He took with him Georg von Prittwitz and Hermann Kersting.
The Ulanga river and of its tributary the Kihansi
were first surveyed in 1897-98 by von Prittwitz in an attempt to determine whether either river would afford a navigable waterway from the coast to the mountainous district of Uhehe. From Perondo von Prittwitz navigated the Kihansi in a canoe, determining that the Kihansi was too difficult to navigate due to the great number of sharp curves with narrow channel obstructed by hippopotami
. The Ulanga with its broad smooth curves was easy to navigate by a light-draught steamer.
The Ulanga River forms the boundary between the Ulanga District
and Kilombero District
of the Morogoro Region
in the southwest of Tanzania
.
The majority of the villagers in the Ulanga Valley are subsistence farmers of maize and rice, though many make a living fishing. There are large plantations of teak wood in the Ulanga valley. In the north-west of the district, Illovo Sugar Company's sugar-cane plantations occupy most of the lowlying area.
, elephant
, hippopotamus
, lion
, and puku
. The majority of the world's Puku population live in the Ulanga Valley. The Ulanga Valley is home to one of the largest populations of Nile crocodile
in Africa and is an important breeding ground for bird species such as the African Openbill, White-headed Lapwing, and the African Skimmer
. The Ulanga Valley is also home to a number of species only found in the Valley, such as the Udzungwa colobus monkey
and three species of birds, the Ulanga weaver, two undescribed species of cisticolas.
The Ulanga river is home to 23 species of fish that are caught on a regular basis including three species of fish not found downstream in the Rufiji: Alestes stuhlmannii
and two species of Cithannus congicus. Fish from the Rufiji River system migrate upstream to the Ulanga to spawn, usually at the beginning of the rains in November with peak spawning activity coming in December period.
and its subsequent film adaptation was a steam-powered launch, owned by a Belgian mining corporation, that plied the upper reaches of the Ulanga River.
Animal painter Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert
featured the Ulanga River in his painting The Gallery of Trees Ulanga River.
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
on the eastern slope of the East African Rift
East African Rift
The East African Rift is an active continental rift zone in eastern Africa that appears to be a developing divergent tectonic plate boundary. It is part of the larger Great Rift Valley. The rift is a narrow zone in which the African Plate is in the process of splitting into two new tectonic plates...
that flows northeast into the Rufiji River
Rufiji River
The Rufiji River lies entirely within the African nation of Tanzania. The river is formed by the convergence of the Kilombero and Luwegu rivers. It is approximately 600 km long, with its source in southwestern Tanzania and its mouth on the Indian Ocean at a point between Mafia Island called Mafia...
then to the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
.
Geology
The Ulanga Valley is an intact natural wetland ecosystem comprising a myriad of rivers, which make up the largest seasonally freshwater lowland floodplain in East Africa. The Ulanga River supplies ⅔ of the Rufiji waters.The Ulanga river is formed by the convergence of major rivers coming the south, that flow north from the mountain ranges of the Mbeya
Mbeya
Mbeya is a city located in southwest Tanzania, Africa. Mbeya's urban population was 280,000 in 2005. Mbeya is the capital of the surrounding rural Mbeya region ....
and Iringa
Iringa
Iringa is a city in Tanzania with a population of 112,900 . It is situated at a latitude of 7.77°S and longitude of 35.69°E. The name is derived from the Hehe word lilinga, meaning fort....
regions on on the eastern slope of the East African Rift
East African Rift
The East African Rift is an active continental rift zone in eastern Africa that appears to be a developing divergent tectonic plate boundary. It is part of the larger Great Rift Valley. The rift is a narrow zone in which the African Plate is in the process of splitting into two new tectonic plates...
and south from the Udzungwa Mountains
Udzungwa Mountains
The Udzungwa Mountains are a mountain range south east of Dodoma in Tanzania and are part of the Eastern Arc Mountains. They are covered with tropical rainforest, mountain forest, miombo woodland, grassland, steppe and are home to many large mammals, including the Udzungwa Red Colobus and Tana...
and Mahenge Mountains. From south the Ruhudji River winds eastward, losing height quite rapidly, to the head of the great floodplain of the Ulanga Valley. The floodplain occupies the flat floor of the Ulanga Valley at 210–250 m.a.s.l. The valley is oriented south-west north-east, between densely forested escarpments in the Udzungwa Mountains, which tower at 2,250 meters above the valley floor (7°47′0"S 36°36′0"E), on the north-western side and the Mahenge Mountains on the southern side (8°45′0"S 36°39′0"E). The Ruhudji receives several important tributaries and then divides on the floodplain into a number of channels, which produce a myriad network in the central part of the floodplain. Other affluents draining the mountains on opposing sides of the valley join the network so that in the central part there are ten major channels flowing roughly in parallel. A zone of permanent swamps, 45 km long, extends up to 4 km away from the west bank of the Kihansi
Kihansi Dam
Kihansi Dam is a hydroelectric dam located on the Kihansi River at the end of the Kihansi Gorge before the convergence with the Ulanga River in Tanzania approximately 450 km southwest of the capital Dar Es Salaam.-Kihansi Dam:...
River. The Kihansi was dammed in its upstream ranges above the Kihansi Gorge in 1995. The southern central parts of the floodplain descend 40 meters over a distance of 210 km. At Ifakara
Ifakara
Ifakara is a small rural town in the Kilombero district, Morogoro region, south central Tanzania. It is the headquarter of the Kilombero district administration and the main trading centre for Kilombero and Ulanga districts...
the valley narrows in to be about 4 km wide and the rivers are united into the main stream of the Ulanga River. East of Ifakara the Ulanga flows through a delta of oxbow lakes and is joined on its left bank by the Msolwa River. This stream comes from the high escarpment of the Udzungwas and trverses the northern part of the floodplain, skirting another zone of permanent swampland to the west. From the point of confluence the Ulanga River swings sharply southeast and leaves the floodplain (and the Ramsar Site) on the border of the Selous Game Reserve. The Ulanga River then continuous for 65 km to confluence with the Luwegu where they merge at the Shuguli Falls to become the Rufiji River
Rufiji River
The Rufiji River lies entirely within the African nation of Tanzania. The river is formed by the convergence of the Kilombero and Luwegu rivers. It is approximately 600 km long, with its source in southwestern Tanzania and its mouth on the Indian Ocean at a point between Mafia Island called Mafia...
. The Rufiji then flows northeast through the Selous Game Reserve
Selous Game Reserve
The Selous Game Reserve is one of the largest faunal reserves of the world, located in the south of Tanzania. It was named after Englishman Sir Frederick Selous, a famous big game hunter and early conservationist, who died at Beho Beho in this territory in 1917 while fighting against the Germans...
on its way to the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
.
History
Starting in 1885, Karl PetersKarl Peters
Karl Peters , was a German colonial ruler, explorer, politician and author, the prime mover behind the foundation of the German colony of East Africa...
had begun claiming areas of East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
for Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The Tanganyika
Tanganyika
Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
n coast proved relatively easy, but conquest of the inland areas of the colony—right up to the Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
—was more difficult as large parts were still unexplored. For this reason, Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Gustav Adolf von Götzen
Gustav Adolf von Götzen
Count Gustav Adolf von Götzen was a German explorer and Governor of German East Africa. He was the second European to set foot in Rwanda, after Dr Oscar Baumann, and later presided over the bloody quashing of the Maji Maji Rebellion in what is now Tanzania.- Early life :Götzen studied law at the...
led an expedition to claim these hinterlands. He took with him Georg von Prittwitz and Hermann Kersting.
The Ulanga river and of its tributary the Kihansi
Kihansi Dam
Kihansi Dam is a hydroelectric dam located on the Kihansi River at the end of the Kihansi Gorge before the convergence with the Ulanga River in Tanzania approximately 450 km southwest of the capital Dar Es Salaam.-Kihansi Dam:...
were first surveyed in 1897-98 by von Prittwitz in an attempt to determine whether either river would afford a navigable waterway from the coast to the mountainous district of Uhehe. From Perondo von Prittwitz navigated the Kihansi in a canoe, determining that the Kihansi was too difficult to navigate due to the great number of sharp curves with narrow channel obstructed by hippopotami
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
. The Ulanga with its broad smooth curves was easy to navigate by a light-draught steamer.
Political & Economic
Ulanga
Ulanga is the name of a river and one of the 6 districts of the Morogoro Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the North and West by the Kilombero District, to the East by the Lindi Region and to the South by the Ruvuma Region....
and Kilombero District
Kilombero
Kilombero is the name of a river and a district in Morogoro Region, south-western Tanzania.The district is situated in a vast floodplain, between the Kilombero river in the south-east and the Udzungwa-Mountains in the north-west...
of the Morogoro Region
Morogoro Region
Morogoro Region is one of the regions of Tanzania. Its capital is Morogoro. It is bordered to the North by the Tanga Region, to the East by the Pwani and Lindi Regions, to the South by the Ruvuma Region and to the West by the Iringa and Dodoma Regions....
in the southwest of Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
.
The majority of the villagers in the Ulanga Valley are subsistence farmers of maize and rice, though many make a living fishing. There are large plantations of teak wood in the Ulanga valley. In the north-west of the district, Illovo Sugar Company's sugar-cane plantations occupy most of the lowlying area.
Wildlife
The Ulanga Valley is characterized by its large populations of large mammals such as the buffaloAfrican Buffalo
The African buffalo, affalo, nyati, Mbogo or Cape buffalo is a large African bovine. It is not closely related to the slightly larger wild Asian water buffalo, but its ancestry remains unclear...
, elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
, hippopotamus
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
, lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
, and puku
Puku
The Puku is an antelope found in wet grasslands in southern Democratic Republic of Congo, in Namibia and in Zambia.Puku stand about 80 centimetres at the shoulder and weigh from 70 to 80 kilograms. Puku are sandy brown in colour, the underbelly is a slightly lighter brown...
. The majority of the world's Puku population live in the Ulanga Valley. The Ulanga Valley is home to one of the largest populations of Nile crocodile
Nile crocodile
The Nile crocodile or Common crocodile is an African crocodile which is common in Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Gabon, South Africa, Malawi, Sudan, Botswana, and Cameroon...
in Africa and is an important breeding ground for bird species such as the African Openbill, White-headed Lapwing, and the African Skimmer
African Skimmer
The African Skimmer is a skimmer that lives in Senegal to northern Congo River and southern Nile Valley, southern Tanzania to the Zambezi Valley, and then to Natal and Angola.- Appearance :...
. The Ulanga Valley is also home to a number of species only found in the Valley, such as the Udzungwa colobus monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
and three species of birds, the Ulanga weaver, two undescribed species of cisticolas.
The Ulanga river is home to 23 species of fish that are caught on a regular basis including three species of fish not found downstream in the Rufiji: Alestes stuhlmannii
Alestes stuhlmannii
Alestes stuhlmannii is a species of fish in the Alestidae family. It is endemic to the Ulanga River in Tanzania.-References:* Hanssens, M & Snoeks, J. 2005. . Downloaded on 3 August 2007....
and two species of Cithannus congicus. Fish from the Rufiji River system migrate upstream to the Ulanga to spawn, usually at the beginning of the rains in November with peak spawning activity coming in December period.
In popular culture
The eponymous boat in C.S. Forester's novel The African QueenThe African Queen (novel)
The African Queen is a 1935 novel written by C. S. Forester, which was adapted to the 1951 film with the same name.-Plot summary:The story opens in mid-1914. Rose Sayer, a 33-year-old English woman, is the companion and housekeeper of her brother Samuel, an Anglican missionary in Central Africa...
and its subsequent film adaptation was a steam-powered launch, owned by a Belgian mining corporation, that plied the upper reaches of the Ulanga River.
Animal painter Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert
Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert
Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert was a German painter, author and illustrator, who specialized in animal images.-Personal life:...
featured the Ulanga River in his painting The Gallery of Trees Ulanga River.