German East Africa

German East Africa Deutsch-Ostafrika (German)
1885–1918
Service flag of the Colonial Office Coat of arms of the German Empire
Green: German East Africa Dark gray: Other German possessions Darkest gray: German Empire (1911 borders)
Status	Colony of Germany
Capital	Bagamoyo (1885–1890) Dar es Salaam (1890–1916) Tabora (1916, temporary)[1]
Common languages	German (official) Swahili Arabic Kirundi Kinyarwanda Maa Kisukuma Iraqw Chaga languages
Religion	Islam traditional African religion Christianity (Catholic Church and Lutheranism)
Emperor
• 1885–1888	Wilhelm I
• 1888	Frederick III
• 1888–1918	Wilhelm II
Governor
• 1885–1891 (first)	Carl Peters
• 1912–1918 (last)	Heinrich Schnee
Historical era	New Imperialism
• Established by the DOAG	27 February 1885
• Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty	1 July 1890
• Maji Maji Rebellion	21 October 1905
• East African campaign	3 August 1914
• Surrender	25 November 1918
• Formal disestablishment	28 June 1919
Area
1912	995,000 km2 (384,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1912	7,700,000
Currency	German East African rupie
Preceded by Succeeded by German East Africa Company Zanzibar Rwanda Burundi Tanganyika Ruanda-Urundi Mozambique

German East Africa (GEA; German: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozambique. GEA's area was 994,996 km² (384,170 sq mi),^[2][3] which was nearly three times the area of present-day Germany and almost double the area of metropolitan Germany at the time.

The colony was organised 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 the territory was divided amongst Britain, Belgium and Portugal, and was reorganised as a mandate of the League of Nations.