Chato, Tanzania

Chato
town
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Coordinates: 02°38′16″S 031°46′01″E
Country	Tanzania
Region	Geita
District	Chato
Population  (2016)[1]
• Total	27,776
Time zone	UTC+3 (GMT)
UFI	-2561820
Climate	Aw
Website	Regional website

Chato[2] is a town in Geita Region of northwestern Tanzania, and a port on the southern end of Lake Victoria.[3] It is the administrative centre for Chato District.[4]

History

Chato was originally within the Biharamulo District of the Kagera Region. In 2005 Chato District, with the town of Chato, became a separate district. In 2012, Chato District, was made part of the Geita Region.[4][5]

Former President John Magufuli (2015-2021) was born in Chato on 29 October 1959,[6] and was buried there in March 2021.[7]

Economy

Fishing and fish processing are the major economic activities in Chato,[8] formerly followed by the ginning of cotton which ceased in 1998.[5] The Tanzanian government had plans to expand the port, and undertook to build a Chato airport[5] and a new rail line to connect Chato with the country's standard gauge railway system.[9][10] However, Chato is not a major Tanzanian port on the lake, and the ports of Mwanza South, Kemondo Bay and Musoma already have rail links.[11]

See also

• Tanzania Ports Authority#Ports of Lake Victoria

Notes and references

1. "Chato". Hudson Institute of Mineralogy.
2. Chato (Approved) at GEOnet Names Server, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
3. Regional Commissioner's Office (2003). Socio-economic Profile: Kilimanjaro Region. Socio-economic profiles for the various regions, volume 7 (Second ed.). Dar es Salaam: National Bureau of Statistics (Tanzania). p. 241.
4. Staff (9 March 2012). "Tanzania: State Gazettes New Regions, Districts". Daily News. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Archived from the original on 23 August 2012.
5. Ndesanjo, Ronald (1 July 2019). "Chato: The land of cotton, fish, tarmacs, and national parks". Udadisi.
6. "Tanzania's president expresses doubts about COVID vaccines". AP NEWS. 27 January 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
7. Suluhu, Samia (26 March 2021). "Tanzania president burial: John Pombe Magafuli burial fotos of how Tanzania bury dia former president for im hometown of Chato" (in Nigerian Pidgin). BBC News. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021.
8. Shida, Yohana (26 March 2021). "Scarcity of fish hits mourning Chato". Daily News. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Tanzania Standard Newspapers Ltd. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021.
9. Mu Xuequan, ed. (13 July 2019). "Tanzania set to improve transportation in Lake Victoria to facilitate trade". Xinhua. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020.
10. Ndalu, Dorothy (11 January 2021). "Magufuli secures $1.32b China support for Tanzania SGR". The East African. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021.
11. "Table 3.24: Summary of Lake Ports of Tanzania" (PDF). Comprehensive Transport and Trade System Development Master Plan in the United Republic of Tanzania, Volume 2 Chapter 3. Ministry of Transport, The United Republic of Tanzania. March 2014. p. 3-44. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 April 2021.