Lindi


Lindi is a coastal town located at the far end of Lindi Bay, on the Indian Ocean in southeastern Tanzania. The town is 450 kilometers south of Dar es Salaam and 105 kilometers north of Mtwara, the southernmost coastal town in Tanzania, and gives its name to the surrounding Lindi Region, one of the most sparsely populated areas of the country. The town population was 78,841 as of the 2012 national census.

Overview

Lindi is located at the mouth of the Lukuledi River. Its port facilities are still rudimentary, allowing one or two small cargo and passenger boats at a time, and cannot accommodate ocean-going ships. The region was once an important sisal-producing plantation area, especially in Kikwetu, surrounding the Lindi airstrip, 25 kilometers north of town. Around 2012 Lindi was finally linked to Dar es Salaam by a continuous tarmac road, making Lindi accessible throughout the rainy season. An older tarmac road connects Lindi town to Mtwara, passing through Mikindani, formerly an important Arab business settlement for traders sailing along the east coast from Muscat, Oman, Malindi or Mombasa to Sofala. The Rondo Forest Reserve, is an important site of biodiversity which is located at the Rondo Plateau. Part of a Coastal Forest mosaic, the Rondo Plateau has risen sharply from sea level to about 885M and therefore enjoys a unique microclimate.

Administration

Lindi is administratively divided into 18 wards:
  1. Ndoro
  2. Makonde
  3. Mikumbi
  4. Mitandi
  5. Rahaleo
  6. Mwenge
  7. Matopeni
  8. Wailes
  9. Nachingwea
  10. Rasbura
  11. Mtanda
  12. Jamhuri
  13. Msinjahili
  14. Mingoyo
  15. Ng'apa
  16. Tandangongoro
  17. Chikonji
  18. Mbanja