A gateway to Bujumbura in Burundi (the border is only 50 km north on the coast) and to Mpulungu in Zambia, Kigoma is the most important port on Lake Tanganyika. It is also the terminus of the railroad line that crosses the center of the country from Dar es Salaam. The town was created by the Germans during the colonial era. Before the arrival of the train, there were only a few fishing villages. Today, Kigoma is a large port town. A few tourists come to visit the national parks of Gombe and Mahale Mountains.Kigoma exudes an atmosphere unlike any other in the country. The region is inhabited by the Ha ethnic group, partly Islamized by the Arabs until the 19th century. The Has are somewhat isolated, due to poor road access, and are known for their many beliefs and rituals. The town center can be reduced to the railway station traffic circle and the streets leading off from it. The Mwanga district is on the Lumumba road, some 2 km further on. The coast road follows the lake towards the village of Bangwe, then Katanga, passing the Tanesco power station. There's an ATM of the NBC Lumumba Avenue bank. For meals, choose the Hilltop Hotel or other hotel restaurants.Burundian and Congolese refugee camps. The Burundian crisis that erupted in the spring of 2015 resulted in political repression and community tensions that drove more than 355,000 Congolese and Burundian refugees into exile until 2018 in the region. According to the latest figures from UNHCR (the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), there are still over 150,000 Burundian refugees living in three huge camps: Nyarugusu, Nduta and Mtendeli. But some are also former refugees from the 1993-2005 civil war. The situation has become tense of late, and in November 2020 a Human Rights Watch report referred to kidnapping, ransoms and torture by Tanzanian security forces on Burundians to force them to return home.

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