Chapter 90 New Administrative Division (Easter Egg Chapter Map for reference)

August 11, 1867.

With the last batch of citizens of the Sultanate of Zanzibar being sent to Zanzibar Island, the East African Colony completely took control of the mainland part of the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

In order to facilitate the management of the colony and thoroughly digest the newly acquired lands.

After a series of studies and discussions between Ernst and senior colonial government officials, the administrative divisions of the East African colonies were further divided.

First, the Kenya colony was divided into three administrative regions and incorporated into the East African colony in order from west to east.

In the west, the Kenya Western Region was established with Kisumu on the northern shore of the Great Lake (Lake Victoria) Kavirondo Bay as its capital.

Like Mwanza, Kisumu is located on the shores of the bay of the Great Lake (Lake Victoria). In the past, Kisumu was the third largest city in Kenya, and Mwanza was the second largest city in Tanzania. This shows how superior the conditions in the Great Lakes region are.

In the future, after the plague in the northwest is over, we will seize Kampala, the capital of the Buganda Kingdom, and build a troika of urban and economic development around the Great Lakes region.

The central region has Nairobi as its capital and the Kenya Central Region is established.

There is no need to say much about Nairobi. It was the capital of Kenya in its previous life and it is also the largest city in East Africa. It has huge development potential. The coffee plantations currently being developed in the East African colonies are not far from Nairobi.

The eastern region of Kenya was established with Mombasa as its capital.

As one of the two most important ports in East Africa in the future (the other is Dar es Salaam), Mombasa has excellent transportation conditions and is currently the most prosperous and lively area in Kenya.

In addition to the division of Kenya, Ernst and the East African colonial government also made minor adjustments to the administrative regions within Tanzania.

First, the jurisdiction of the First Town, the central seat of the East African colonial government, was redivided, with Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam incorporated into the First Town to establish the Central District.

The newly established Central District is fully staffed. Although it is the smallest among the administrative districts in the East African colonies, it is the strongest. In addition to the First Town, the administrative center of East Africa, the two port cities of Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam are also included, and there is also the Second Town, the earliest planned immigration base.

The infrastructure construction of these four cities can be said to be the most complete among the current East African colonies, and their future development prospects will not be bad.

The capital of the Upper Coastal Region was also changed from the Third Town (Kitunga) to Tanga.

Tanga Port is one of the only four port cities in the East African colonies. It is also one of the few cities in the East African colonies that has industry (sisal processing plant), and its potential far exceeds that of the third town.

Kitonga was downgraded as it was too close to the first town and it was difficult to highlight its advantages. However, the third town with its first-mover advantage is still the second-ranked city in the Upper Coastal Area.

With the evacuation of residents of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, other coastal territories of the former Zanzibar were also incorporated into the neighboring regions.

In this way, the Middle Coastal Region and the Lower Coastal Region also became coastal regions. From south to north, the coastal regions of the East African colonies were the Eastern Kenya Region, the Upper Coastal Region, the Central Region, the Middle Coastal Region, and the Lower Coastal Region.

Thus, the number of districts in the East African colony increased from ten to fourteen (the First Town became the Central District, plus the three districts in Kenya).

In order to develop the southern part of the East African colony, the conference also decided to build a new port city on the southern coast of the East African colony.

That is Mtwara, located in the Lower Coastal Region, and its service objects are mainly the Lower Coastal Region and the Eastern Lake Malawi Region.

Influenced by previous East African colonial policies and geographical location, the Lower Coastal Region and the East Lake Malawi Region can be said to be the two regions with the lowest colonial presence in East Africa.

Previously, the main development and expansion directions of the East African colonies were mainly in the west and north. In the middle, a war was fought with the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and no attention was paid to the south.

This has resulted in its immigration rate being even slower than that of the western inland areas and at the same level as several large regions in the central area.

It is understandable that there are fewer immigrants in several large regions in the central area, after all, the threat to the center of the East African colony is relatively small.

But the south has to be taken seriously. The Portuguese in the south are not vegetarians. Although Portugal has been on a downward trend over the years, its overseas power is not something that Ernst or even the current Prussia and Austro-Hungarian Empire can challenge.

Therefore, it is extremely important to strengthen the population in the south and consolidate the security of the East African colonies.

The colonists of this era had a great deal of autonomy, so even if Portugal had no ideas about the East African colonies, and the top leaders of the Portuguese East African colonies had ulterior motives, Portugal could not do anything about it.

The Portuguese have been in the Mozambique region since 1497, and their colony of Mozambique (also known as Portuguese East Africa) has a history of four hundred years here.

The foundation of such a deep-rooted rule is still quite solid. From a historical perspective, the Portuguese did have their eyes on East African colonies and even had conflicts with the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

Therefore, we cannot take it lightly. The capital of the Lower Coast Region, Ronroda, and the capital of the East Lake Malawi Region, Songea, are very close to Portuguese East Africa. It is necessary to strengthen the military forces in the two places to deter the Portuguese.

The colonial activities of this era were actually not that grand. It was just a group of people using advanced weapons to conquer backward areas and plunder local resources.

Excellent resources, such as gold and silver minerals, will naturally be fought over, so colonists often fight against each other.

East Africa is relatively poor, with no outstanding resources, and the environment is not superior. With vast grasslands, it could not compete with West Africa even in the slave trade era.

The only advantage of the East African colony was that Ernst personally planned its development route and vigorously promoted its construction.

Therefore, the superiority of the plan was reflected everywhere in the East African colonies. The number of immigrants in the East African colonies increased rapidly, while the number of indigenous people decreased sharply.

For example, the Portuguese next door developed Mozambique for hundreds of years, but the number of their immigrants was not as much as that of the East African colonies which had been developed for less than two years. Moreover, they made extensive use of black labor and allowed it to grow. It seems very good at the moment, but it sowed the seeds for the future independence of Portuguese East Africa (independence in 1975).

In the past, Portuguese East Africa ruled Mozambique for five hundred years, which is not an exaggeration to say that it has ruled since ancient times. But in the end, it left in disgrace.

As for the current East African colonies, the population of indigenous people has dropped directly from several million to hundreds of thousands, and they are still consumables. The scale will continue to decline in the future. In a few years, the entire East African colonies will be dominated by European and Chinese immigrants (it will take 20 to 30 years to completely eliminate them, after all, the major projects that follow will still require their efforts).

(End of this chapter)