Deutsch-Ostafrika

German East Africa
Deutsch-Ostafrika
German colony
1885–1919
Flag (proposed) Coat of arms (proposed)
Green: Territory comprising German colony of German East Africa Dark grey: Other German possessions Darkest grey: German Empire Note: The map shows present-day national borders, but the maximum historical extent of German territory is depicted.
Capital		Bagamoyo (1885–90) Dar es Salaam (1890–1918)
Languages		German (official) Swahili, Kirundi, Kinyarwanda, Maa, Iraqw, Chaga languages
Religion		Islam, traditional African religion, Christianity (Catholic Church and Lutheran)
Political structure		Colony
Emperor
•	1871–1888	Wilhelm I
•	1888–1888	Frederick III
•	1888–1918	Wilhelm II
Governor
•	1895–96 (first)	Hermann Wissmann
•	1912–18 (last)	Heinrich Schnee
Historical era		New Imperialism
•	Established by the German East Africa Company	27 February 1885
•	Border agreement under the Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty	1 July 1890
•	Maji Maji Rebellion	21 October 1905
•	Surrender to Britain	25 November 1918
•	Formally disestablished under the Treaty of Versailles	10 January 1920 1919
Area
•	1913	995,000 km2 (384,000 sq mi)
Population
•	1913 est.	7,700,000
Density		8/km2 (20/sq mi)
Currency		German East African rupie
Preceded by Succeeded by German East Africa Company Sultanate of Zanzibar Kingdom of Rwanda Kingdom of Burundi Tanganyika (territory) Kenya Colony Ruanda-Urundi Portuguese East Africa
Today part of		Burundi  Kenya  Mozambique  Rwanda  Tanzania

German East Africa (German: Deutsch-Ostafrika) (GEA) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, and the mainland part of Tanzania. GEA's area was 994,996 square kilometres (384,170 sq mi), which was nearly three times the area of present-day Germany.

The colony was organized when the German military was asked in the late 1880s to put down a revolt against the activities of the German East Africa Company. It ended with Imperial Germany's defeat in World War I. Ultimately, GEA was divided between Britain and Belgium and was reorganized as a mandate of the League of Nations.

Like other colonial powers, the Germans expanded their empire in the Africa Great Lakes region, ostensibly to fight slavery and the slave trade. Unlike other imperial powers, however, they never formally abolished either, preferring instead to curtail the production of new "recruits" and regulate the existing slaving business.

The colony began when Carl Peters, an adventurer who founded the Society for German Colonization, signed treaties with several native chieftains on the mainland opposite Zanzibar. On 3 March 1885, the German government announced that it had granted an imperial charter, which was signed by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck on 27 February 1885. The charter was granted to Peters' company and was intended to establish a protectorate in the African Great Lakes region. Peters then recruited specialists who began exploring south to the Rufiji River and north to Witu, near Lamu on the coast.