[4] The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of North Macedonia.

[6] According to oral history, around c.1500 a group of 250 Bantu people, from the shores north of modern Geita, looking for a new home.

When reaching what is near - and east of - today's Mwanza City, the son called out, "nye-nsukumale-aha", meaning "I, a Sukuma am here".

[8][9] The Mwanza Region is home to the Basukuma, who are the largest and one of the oldest tribes in Tanzania and the Great Lakes.

Prior to German colonization Sukuma had wealth from their large herds of cattle, good soil, and trade of gold, and ivory using the central corridor of Tabora.

[10][7][9] In 1857, British explorers, Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke mention "Muanza" as a settlement in 1858 and confirm the presence of the Basukuma on the Lake shore and at the island of Ukerewe.

Two main reasons for this is the Basukuma have never had a warrior culture and colonial governors had a large misunderstanding of how Sukuma governed.

[10] The region is situated between 1200 and 1,400 meters above sea level on Lake Victoria's southern shore.The area is primarily flat, with little mountains and hills made of granite stone strewn about.

The remainder of the population is engaged with simple jobs (7%) trade and small companies (6.1%), crafts (4.9%), and fishing (3.3 per cent).

The most common crop, maize, makes up 51.8% of the planted area and is primarily grown in Buchosa, Kwimba, and Misungwi districts.

[14] The region's primary producers of fruits and vegetables are Buchosa, Magu, Ukerewe, and Ilemela with the surpluses shipped to Dar es Salaam.

Magu has been cultivating horticulture products as a second crop using residual moisture on a portion of the 1,178 acres designated for rice.

[14] Ukerewe, Magu, Mwanza City, Sengerema, Ilemela, Misungwi, and Buchosa districts are the primary fishing hotspots in the area.

[14] According to a 2015 industrial census, the Mwanza region came in fourth overall in terms of the number of large-scale manufacturing enterprises in the nation, behind Dar es Salaam, Arusha, and Kagera.

The majority of commercial mining activities are still in the survey stage, and largely foreign corporations are conducting research to determine the quantity and grade of mineral reserves.

At Misungwi, Ilemela, and Mwanza City Council, local enterprises have so far primarily invested in small scale mining operations (largely extracting gold, quarrying, and sand minerals).

[14] The Sukuma tribe is the majority people group in Mwanza, Shinyanga, Geita, and Simiyu Regions together traditionally known as Usukuma or Sukumaland.

Those of other tribes commonly found in Mwanza, mostly in ports and cities, are the Haya, Nyamwezi, Sumbwa, Kuria, Luo, Jita, and Shashi.

For 2002–2012, the region's 3.0 per cent average annual population growth rate was the eighth highest in the country.

Mwanza city's Makongoro Road is named after a prominent Sukuma chief who controlled the area in the late 1800s.

[22] While the Mwanza Region is most famous for its ngoma, all aspects of modern Tanzanian culture and music is widely present.

Despite the seeming low percentage of persons with post-secondary education, the country's labor laws are pliable and permit businesses to hire employees from any location within the nation.