Tanganyika national surveying and mapping authority

The mapping and surveying of Tanganyika (later Tanzania) evolved through several phases, reflecting the region’s shifting colonial and post-colonial administrations. During German colonial rule (1885–1919), the Karte von Deutsch-Ostafrika (1:300,000) was published by Dietrich Reimer in Berlin between 1893 and 1914. Following the establishment of the British mandate in 1919, the Tanganyika Survey Department was formed, initially collaborating with the War Office (GSGS). During World War II, mapping efforts were led by the Survey Directorate, East African Forces. After 1946, the Survey Department operated under various governmental structures: as part of the Department of Lands and Mines until 1950, the Department of Surveys and Town Planning (1950–1952), the Department of Lands and Surveys (1952–1959), the Ministry of Lands and Surveys (1959–1960), and finally the Ministry of Lands, Forests, and Wildlife (1960–1962). Throughout this period, it worked closely with the British Directorate of Military Survey and the Directorate of Colonial Survey (later the Directorate of Overseas Survey). Following Tanganyika’s independence in 1961, the Survey Department continued its role as the Surveys and Mapping Division within the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, maintaining its collaboration with the Directorate of Overseas Survey (DOS).