Dodoma region hosts the nation's capital city, where the legislative assembly of Bunge is based.

[4] [1] [5] Dodoma's name derives from the Gogo word Idodomya, the place where an elephant sunk into the mud.

It began as a small Gogo village in the early 19th century, consisting of several traditional tembe houses.

Thousands of people emigrated, and others sold starving cattle for just a shilling at the market in Dodoma.

[7] When the British took over the country, they favoured Dar es Salaam and Arusha, and Dodoma began to decline in importance.

It declined further in the 1960s when the Tanzam Highway was built by the Chinese, connecting Dar es Salaam to Morogoro and Iringa.

[6] On 9 December 1961, Tanganyika won independence from Britain, and Dodoma remained the capital of the central province.

[8] In 1973, the Tanzanian government announced that the administrative capital would be moved from Dar es Salaam to a more central location to better serve the needs of the people.

Dodoma was selected for this purpose, as it was an already established town at a major crossroads with an agreeable climate and scope for development.

[12] The Dodoma region lies in the heart of Tanzania in the eastern-central part of the country, the main city being about 300 miles (480 km) from the coast.

The region produces beans, seeds, grain, peanuts, coffee, tea, and tobacco.

Dodoma received a human development index1 (HDI) score of 0.479, placing it 17th out of 26 regions in mainland Tanzania.

A total of 376,924 out of 450,305 private households in the area (84 percent) were involved in agriculture according to the 2012 population and housing census.

[5] The central plateau zone, where the Dodoma region lies, is well known for producing fruits like grapes, mango, papaya, guava, baobab, tamarind, and dates.

Additionally, many farmers in Dodoma city and adjacent districts rely heavily on the production of grapes for their livelihood.

[5] Maize, sorghum, millet, rice, pulses (mostly pigeon peas), cassava, potatoes, bananas, and plantains are some of the principal food crops grown in Dodoma.

The main food crops grown in the area are maize and sorghum, primarily in the districts of Kongwa, Chemba, Kondoa, Mpwapwa, and Chamwino.

In Dodoman villages, livestock prevent malnutrition, produce revenue, and determine the economic and social standing of households.

The Tanzania meat company (TMC) and S&Y Gourmet were the two businesses in the area that processed livestock products in the fiscal year that ended in June 2017.

[5] The Dodoma region is easily accessible all year round thanks to its good road infrastructure.

[16] Dodoma lies along the great North road, a major infrastructural network of Africa which connects Cairo to Cape Town.

Historical sites in the region include locations where freedom fighters from Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia, and South Africa stayed while training for their nations' independence.

[5] The Dodoma region is the ancestral homeland to the following ethnic groups: Gogo, Rangi, Sandawe and Burungi.