Tanzania
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Tanzania -- Transport

Roads Tanzania has 5,000 km of roads, but only 5.3% of these have all-weather surfacing. Many are rutted, corrugated, and nearly impassable during heavy rains. Generally, the network of roads has improved since independence. The average road density is 5.3% km of road per 100 square kilometers. The annual rate of new vehicle registration is 10,000. The nation has given high priority to trucks involved in agricultural transport. About 60% of Tanzania's internal freight is in private hands, the remainder in the public sector. In 1992, the European Economic Community agreed to lend 48 million ECUs to repair the road between Musoma in Tanzania to Mukuyu in Kenya. The World Bank has allocated $871 million for further road projects.

Railways A railway network of 2,580 km, completed in 1914, links Dar es Salaam with the central and northern parts of the country, and with Kenya and Zambia. Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) proposed to carry out a rehabilitation project of $279 million, but received only $76 million from the International Development Assistance in 1991 and $29 million from the African Development Fund in 1992 for the project. Tazara (the Tanzanian /Zambian Railway Authority) operates 2,580 km of track between Dar es Salaam and Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia. This line was built by the Chinese, who offered a $680 million interest-free loan for the project. This line provided contact to the rich Kilombera valley region and an outlet to the sea, reducing the country's dependence on southern transport routes. The rehabilitation of this route has been financed by the World Bank and some bilateral donors.

Ports Dar es Salaam is Tanzania's main port, with eleven deep water berths. The other ports, Mtwara, Tanga, Zanzibar, and Lindi are managed by the Tanzanian Harbours Authority (THA). The port of Dar es Salaam receives and exports cargo not only for Tanzania, but for Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zaire. After 1977, the tonnage handled by the port declined due to inadequate loading/unloading facilities. As a result, some Zambian cargo was moved to other ports. A program of modernization has begun with assistance from the World Bank and bilateral donors. Traffic at the ports of Tanga has stagnated as exports have declined; Mtwara has been under-utilized due to the underdevelopment of the hinterland it serves as well as to a poor communication network. A program to improve the port at Dar es Salaam, funded by the World Bank and bilateral donors, promised to double its cargo-handling capacity to more than 7 million tons. This program was to be completed in 1995 [1] .

Railways:
total: 3,569 km (1995)
narrow gauge: 2,600 km 1.000-m gauge; 969 km 1.067-m gauge
note: the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), which operates 1,860 km of 1.067-m narrow gauge track between Dar es Salaam and New Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia (of which 969 km are in Tanzania and 891 km are in Zambia) is not a part of Tanzania Railways Corporation; because of the difference in gauge, this system does not connect to Tanzania Railways.

Highways:
total: 88,200 km
paved: 3,704 km
unpaved: 84,496 km (1996 est.)
Waterways: Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, Lake Nyasa
Pipelines: crude oil 982 km
Ports and harbors: Bukoba, Dar es Salaam, Kigoma, Kilwa Masoko, Lindi, Mtwara, Mwanza, Pangani, Tanga, Wete, Zanzibar
Merchant marine:
total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 30,371 GRT/41,269 DWT
ships by type: cargo 3, oil tanker 2, passenger-cargo 2, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1 (1997 est.)
Airports: 123 (1997 est.)
Airports–with paved runways:
total: 11
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (1997 est.)
Airports–with unpaved runways:
total: 112
1,524 to 2,437 m: 17
914 to 1,523 m: 60
under 914 m: 35 (1997 est.)

Source: CIA World Fact Book

[1] Kaplan, Irving, ed. 1978. Tanzania, A Country Study, Foreign Area Studies, American University: Washington D.C.

 

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