Njombe Region was established on 1st March 2012 and was announced in the Official Gazette No.9 under order No.72. In executing the power conferred to the President by the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania Article 2(2), Njombe region was established after the President’s decision of regionalising Iringa region into two regions of Njombe and Iringa. The Region is divided into four Districts namely Njombe, Wanging’ombe, Makete and Ludewa. Also there are six Local Government Authorities namely Njombe and Makambako Town Councils, Njombe, Makete, Wanging’ombe and Ludewa District Councils.
The Region is located in Southern Highlands Zone which comprises of Ruvuma, Iringa, Mbeya, Njombe and part of Morogoro Regions. It borders Iringa Region in the north, Morogoro Region in the east and Ruvuma Region in the South. The Republic of Malawi via Lake Nyasa and part of Mbeya Region borders Njombe Region in the north-west, while in the west the borders are shared with Mbeya Region again. The Region lies between latitude 080 50’ and 10030’ South of the equator and between longitude 330 45’ and 350 45’ East of Greenwich.
Njombe Region has a total surface area of 24,994 sq.km out of which 21,172 sq km and 3,822 sq km are covered by land and water respectively.
Climate
The region’s climate is influenced by a number of factors which have led formation of three climatic zones namely, Highlands zone, Midlands zone and Lowlands zones.
Ethnic Groups
The indigenous ethnic groups are the Bena, Kinga, Pangwa, Manda, Nyakyusa, Wanji, Magoma, Mahanji, and Kisi.
Population size and growth
According to the Population and Housing Census of 2012, the total population of Njombe Region was 702,097 but the projected population up to December 2019 is 820,355. The population growth rate of Njombe is 0.8.
