DAR-ES-SALAAM, a seaport of East Africa, in 6° So' S., 39° 20' E., capital of Tanganyika Territory. Pop. (1927) about 25,000, including some 600 Europeans and 4,5oo Asiatics. The harbour is small but perfectly sheltered (hence its name); the entrance to it is through a narrow opening in the palm-covered shore. The depth of water at the entrance is from 20 to 34 ft. according to the tides. Since 1927 a wharf 3oo ft. long has been made where ships can berth. A railway (built 19o5-1914), start ing from the harbour, goes via Tabora to Kigoma-Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika, a distance of 772 miles.
In 1862 Sayyed Majid, sultan of Zanzibar, decided to build a town on the shores of the bay, and began the erection of a palace, which was never finished. In 1871 Majid died, and his scheme was abandoned. In 1876, the construction of a road from the har bour to Victoria Nyanza was begun. The project failed, but in I92S the port came into railway connection with Victoria Nyanza by the completion of the Tabora-Mwanza line. In 1887 Carl Peters occupied the bay for the German East Africa Company and in 1891 Dar-es-Salaam was made the administrative centre for German East Africa. A town was laid out on an ambitious scale, and it has fine buildings and a good botanical garden; the native quarter is distinct from that of the Europeans. Dar-es-Salaam was occupied by the British forces in 1916; the wireless station was destroyed in I9I4