ABSTRACT
Geographically Ufipa falls into three divisions: (1) an undulating and largely treeless plateau about 140 miles long and varying
in breadth from 30 to 50 miles. The main ranges of hills run in a roughly north-south direction and at least two peaks exceed 7,000 feet. Sumbawanga, the main administrative and commercial centre, is at 5,650 feet. Towards the north and south the undulating grassland of the plateau gives way to Brachystegia scrub;
(2) the shore of Lake Tanganyika, at about 2,530 feet; (3) the Rukwa valley, at something over 2,600 feet. Annual rainfall, which is restricted to the wet season lasting from mid-November
to mid-May, averages between 30 and 40 inches on the plateau and in the Rukwa valley and 40 to 50 inches on the Tanganyika shore.51
