About Mwanza

The city deals with much of the lake trade with neighbouring Uganda and Kenya. Industries include fishing, meatpacking, and manufacturing textiles and soap. Mwanza is connected by rail with Dar es Salaam and Dodoma. To the South, a dirt road connects Mwanza to Shinyanga and Singida and progress has been made to pave it. To the East, Mwanza is connected to the Western Gate of the Serengeti and Musoma via tarmac road. Mwanza is the cultural centre of the Sukuma, the largest ethnic group in Tanzania. A famous landmark is the Bismarck Rock, a large outcrop of granite rocks. In 1996, a national tragedy occurred off Mwanza's shores as the MV Bukoba sank in Lake Victoria, drowning hundreds of passengers. Mwanza is the site of the controversial documentary film Darwin's Nightmare, which links the city's commercial fishing industry to the arms smuggling business that has destabilized the neighboring Great Lakes Region. The documentary was seen as a slap in the face by the Tanzanian government as well as many Tanzanians, whose country's political stability and history of peace has made it a haven for millions of refugees from neighboring Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.