Malagarasi

Geography

The Malagarasi is the second-longest river in Tanzania, at 475 kilometres (295 mi).

The source of the river is near the Tanzania-Burundi border. The first 80 kilometres (50 mi) of the river form the international boundary between Tanzania and Burundi. Several tributaries from the Burundi highlands join its right bank. After the confluence with the Lumpungu River, the Malagarasi enters Tanzania, makes a circle and empties into the eastern side of Lake Tanganyika about 25 miles (40 km) south of Kigoma, near Ilagala. It is one of the lake's primary inflows. Moyowosi River is the principal tributary, along with its affluent the Nikongo River; other tributaries include Ugalla River, Gombe River, Ruchugi River, Lumpungu River, and Nguya River.

History

According to ecologist Rosemary Lowe-McConnell, "the Malagarasi and the Rungwa River are assumed to be relict headwaters of the extended pre-rift Zaire system". The Malagarasi pre-dates Lake Tanganyika and was in pre-rift times a tributary of the Congo River to its west. Lake Tanganyika has since said to have "undergone both transgression and regression, depositing new sediments, altering the delta, and changing the course of the river". Over its history, the lake level has altered dramatically between 100 and 200 metres (330 and 660 ft); historical accounts from the late nineteenth century indicate that it was about 10 metres (33 ft) higher than it is today.