Rufiji River

A branch of ancient sea routes led down the East African coast called "Azania" by the Greeks and Romans in the 1st century CE as described in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (and, very probably, {{lang-zh|澤散|Zesan}} in the 3rd century by the Chinese),{{cite web |url=http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html |title=The Peoples of the West |translator=Hill, John E. |date=September 2004 |work=from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢 |publisher=University of Washington |access-date=2009-04-18}} at least as far as the port known to the Romans as Rhapta, which was probably located in the delta of the Rufiji River in modern Tanzania."The Egypto-Graeco-Romans and Panchea/Azania: sailing in the Erythraean Sea." Felix A. Chami. In: Society for Arabian Studies Monographs 2 Trade and Travel in the Red Sea Region. Proceedings of Red Sea Project I held in the British Museum October 2002, pp. 93-104. Edited by Paul Lunde and Alexandra Porter. {{ISBN|1-84171-622-7}}.

During the First World War, from October 1914 to July 1915, the river delta was the scene of a protracted naval operation. These were the attempts, and later achievement, by the Royal Navy to neutralize and destroy the German cruiser Königsberg.

The catchment basin for the Rufiji River complex is {{Convert|177429|sqkm|sqmi|0}}.{{Cite web|author=Arvidson, Anders|title=Initial Assessment of Socioeconomic and Environmental Risks and Opportunities of Large-scale Biofuels Production in the Rufiji District|date=May 2009|publisher=SEKAB BioEnergy (T) Ltd|page=23|url=http://www.tabef.or.tz/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Risk-Assessment-of-SEKABscluster-approach-in-Rufiji-District-2805091.pdf|display-authors=etal|access-date=2015-10-18|archive-date=2012-09-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910175844/http://www.tabef.or.tz/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Risk-Assessment-of-SEKABscluster-approach-in-Rufiji-District-2805091.pdf|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station}}

Tanzania president John Magufuli has approved the construction of a controversial{{Cite journal|last1=Hoag |first1=Heather J. |last2=Öhman |first2=May-Britt |year=2008 |title=Turning water into power: Debates over the Development of Tanzania's Rufiji River Basin, 1945-1985 |journal=Technology and Culture |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=624–651 |doi=10.1353/tech.0.0061 |pmid=18831291 |s2cid=27222691 |url=https://repository.usfca.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=hist }}{{Cite book|last1=Siderius |first=Christian |display-authors=etal |year=2021 |chapter=Chapter 6: High Stakes Decisions Under Uncertainty: Dams, Development and Climate Change in the Rufiji River Basin |editor1-last=Conway |editor1-first=Declan |editor2-last=Vincent |editor2-first=Katharine |title=Climate Risk in Africa: Adaptation and Resilience |location=Cham, Switzerland |publisher=Palgrave Macmillian |pages=93–113 |isbn=978-3-030-61159-0 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-61160-6_6 |s2cid=234340454 |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/46818/2021_Book_ClimateRiskInAfrica.pdf?sequence=1#page=114 }} new dam and power station on the river at Stiegler's Gorge.{{Cite news|title=Tanzania to Construct Hydropower Plant on National Reserve |newspaper=Voice of America |date=July 26, 2019 |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_tanzania-construct-hydropower-plant-national-reserve/6172693.html }} The power station is expected to provide 2,100 megawatts of electricity, more than triple Tanzania's existing installed hydropower capacity which is only 562 megawatts.{{Cite news|last=Tairo |first=Apolinari |date=July 26, 2019 |title=Tanzania launches Rufiji power plant |newspaper=The EastAfrican |url=https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/Construction-of-Tanzania-hydro-plant-begins/2560-5211880-ig941w/index.html }} Construction of the dam started on July 26, 2019, and it is expected be ready by 2022.{{Cite news|last=Takouleu |first=Jean Marie |date=24 July 2019 |title=Stiegler's Gorge dam construction begins on July 26 |publisher=Afrik 21 |url=https://www.afrik21.africa/en/tanzania-stieglers-gorge-dam-construction-begins-on-july-26/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725050527/https://www.afrik21.africa/en/tanzania-stieglers-gorge-dam-construction-begins-on-july-26/ |archive-date=25 July 2019 |url-status=live }}

{{Reflist}}

• Chami, F. A. 1999. "The Early Iron Age on Mafia island and its relationship with the mainland." Azania Vol. XXXIV 1999, pp. 1–10.
• Chami, Felix A. 2002. "The Egypto-Graeco-Romans and Panchea/Azania: sailing in the Erythraean Sea." In: Society for Arabian Studies Monographs 2 Trade and Travel in the Red Sea Region. Proceedings of Red Sea Project I held in the British Museum October 2002, pp. 93–104. Edited by Paul Lunde and Alexandra Porter. {{ISBN|1-84171-622-7}}.
• Miller, J. Innes. 1969. Chapter 8: "The Cinnamon Route". In: The Spice Trade of the Roman Empire. Oxford: University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-814264-1}}
• Ray, Himanshu Prabha, ed. 1999. Archaeology of Seafaring: The Indian Ocean in the Ancient Period. Pragati Publications, Delhi.

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120813015647/http://www.waterandnature.org/en/resources/publications/thematic-collection/facts-figures/watersheds-world Map of the Rufiji River basin at Water Resources eAtlas]

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{{Rivers of Tanzania}}

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Category:Rivers of Tanzania