Dar es Salaam, (Arabic: “Abode of Peace”) , also spelled Dār al-Sālam, seat of government, largest city, industrial centre, and major port of Tanzania, eastern Africa. Its climate is hot and humid, with an annual rainfall of 43 inches (1,100 mm). Dar es Salaam was founded in 1862 by the sultan of Zanzibar on the site of the village of Mzizima. It remained only a small port until the German East Africa Company established a station there in 1887. The starting point (1907) for the Central Line railroad, it served as the capital of German East Africa (1891–1916), Tanganyika (1961–64), and Tanzania (1964–74). (In 1974 Dodoma was designated Tanzania’s national capital. Pending completion of the transfer of official functions to Dodoma, however, Dar es Salaam remains the seat of most government administration.) The city was the scene of a terrorist attack on the U.S. embassy by Islamic militants in 1998, in which 10 Tanzanians were killed and scores more were injured.