and Kigoma, on Lake Tanganyika. This mostly continued with only little change after the British took over governance after World War I. Colonial rule from Mwanza was limited comparatively to rest of Tanzania and East Africa. 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. That Usukuma as a whole had a very large population and no warrior culture meant that less effort was required to govern such a large population. This led to colonial governors using, allowing, local chiefs to rule rather than involve themselves, not understanding that political power was held by the councils of elders who appointed and dismissed the chiefs. Post-colonial era The Lake Zone, became the Lake Region after independence. In 1963, the Mwanza Region was created. Geography The region covers an area of , of which is water and dry land. Mwanza Region is home to Ukerewe Island, the largest lake island in Africa as well as Saanane Island National Park, the smallest national park in Tanzania. The major rivers found in the region are; Moame River, Isanga River, Mirongo River, Nyarua River and Ndemabolia River. 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. Rainwater from the plains flows into Lake Victoria in the north. The "mbuga soil" ranges in texture from sand to sandyloam to sand-clay or loom-clay. Economy According to the 2012 census, agriculture accounted for around 62.8 percent of the economically active population (crops and livestock). The remainder of the population is engaged with simple jobs (7%) trade and small companies (6.1%), crafts (4.9%), and fishing (3.3 percent). The region's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was TZS 7,451,706 million in 2016, and its GDP per person was TZS 2,004,353, according to the 2017 Tanzania Human Development Report. Out of 26 regions, the region's GDP per capita came in at number seven. The HDI for the region is 0.646, which places it eighth nationally and is higher than the national HDI of 0.614 as of 2016. The MPI index has a score of 0.228, placing it 14th overall and somewhat below the national average index of 0.217. However, the poverty rate8 in the Mwanza region was 49.01%, which is just somewhat higher than