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Image courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA.
Image courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA.
Rufiji District Council
Image courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA.

Rufiji District Council

Tanganyika /ˌtæŋɡənˈjiːkə/ was a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania, that existed from 1961 until 1964. It first gained independence from the United Kingdom on 9 December 1961 as a state headed by Queen Elizabeth II before becoming a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations exactly a year later. After signing the Articles of Union on 22 April 1964 and passing an Act of Union on 25 April, Tanganyika officially joined with the People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar on Union Day, 26 April 1964. The new state changed its name to the United Republic of Tanzania within a year.

Rufiji is one of the 6 districts of the Pwani Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the North by the Kisarawe and Mkuranga Districts, to the East by the Indian Ocean, to the South by the Lindi Region and to the West by the Morogoro Region.

The district name comes from the Rufiji River which runs through the district.

According to the 2002 Tanzania National Census, the population of the Rufiji District was 203,102.