were renamed regions, and the Dodoma Region was established. However, in 1973, the Tanzanian government announced that the 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. The same year, the Tanzanian government launched a national soil conservation programme, known as the Dodoma Soil Conservation Programme, to improve soil fertility and productivity in the worst affected areas of the region. Geography Dodoma is the 8th largest region by area after Manyara Region. Dodoma Region, which is primarily semi-arid, covers an area of , making it slightly larger than Switzerland (). The Dodoma Region lies in the heart of Tanzania in the eastern-central part of the country, the main city being about from the coast. The region is bordered by the Manyara Region to the north, the Tanga Region to the north east, the Singida Region to the west, the Iringa Region to the south, and the Morogoro Region to the east and southeast. About 413,110 hectares, or 2.5 percent of Tanzania's 885,987 square kilometer mainland, are in the Region. The distribution of the region's area across the districts favors Chamwino DC (19.5%) and Chemba DC (18.5%) more than Mpwapwa DC (18.1%), Bahi DC (14.4%), Kondoa DC (13.5%), Kondoa TC (1.1%), Kongwa DC (9.8%), and Dodoma CC, which is last (6.2 percent). The Wami River Sub-Basin "extends from the semi-arid Dodoma Region to the humid inland swamps in the Morogoro Region to Saadani Village in the coastal Bagamoyo District", and the Kikuyu River also flows through the Region, flowing near the city of Dodoma itself. Protected areas include the Swaga Swaga Game Reserve. The region produces beans, seeds, grain, peanuts, coffee, tea, and tobacco. Cattle are also raised and marketed. A total of 220,989 hectares, or 5.44 percent of the region's 4,131,100 hectares of land, are covered by natural forest reserves. The majority of these natural forest reserves are in the Chamwino (100,391 hectares), Kondoa (37,199 hectares), Bahi (28,058 hectares), Mpwapwa (22,958 hectares), Kongwa (11,883 hectares), and Chemba regions (20,500 hectares). Climate Due to irregular and low rainfall, the Dodoma Region is primarily semi-arid. The most significant climatic characteristic in the area is rainfall. It occurs between November/December and April/May during a single rainy