The region is home to Bagamoyo town, a historical Swahili settlement, and the first colonial capital of German East Africa.

[2]: page 2  From 2002 to 2012, the region's 2.2 percent average annual population growth rate was the seventeenth-highest in the country.

The native peoples of the Pwani Region are the Zaramo, Kwere, Doe, Ndengereko, Zigua, and Rufiji.

In 2012, the region had 1,098,668 residents, up from 885,017 in the 2002 Population Census, indicating a considerable increase of 213,651 individuals (24.1%) during the intercensal period.

Agriculture generates the majority of the region's monetary income, primarily through the sale of coconuts, oranges, mango, and cassava on a large scale.