Tanga

Tanga is both the name of the most northerly seaport city of Tanzania, and the surrounding region. A 1999 population of 211,965 makes Tanga Town one of the largest cities in the country.

Tanga was chosen in 1889 as a military post of German East Africa, and became a district office in 1891. The local economy was based on sisal, which had been brought to the colony several years earlier, and population in the area grew rapidly. The town was also established as the terminus of the Usambara railway line, which runs inland to Moshi at the foot of Kilimanjaro.

As the coastal town closest to Kenya, Tanga was on the front line at the outset of World War I. A British landing was thrown back on 4 November 1914 in the Battle of Tanga, and the town was not taken until 7 July 1916.

Reference

• Byron Farwell, The Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 (W. W. Norton, 1986)

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In Spanish, a Tanga is the name people use to refer to a tonge panty. Tangas are fairly popular in Latin American beaches and on some television shows.