Dar es-Salaam

Dar es-Salaam (Arabic: دار السلام, meaning: Place of Peace) is the largest megacity in Tanzania and the East African Protectorate. Established by Majid bin Said of Zanzibar in the mid-1860s, Dar es-Salaam grew to prominence as a trade city during German colonization. By the late twenty-first century, the city's population boomed into the world's most populous and developed a heated rivalry with Kenya's Mombasa. The pair of cities eventually transformed the incorporated East African Protectorate of the United Earth Government, making the nation among the most prosperous on Earth.

Since the 23rd century, Dar es-Salaam's skyline was dominated by "the Baobab", a distinctive multi-decked vertical metroplex. The structure, which was kilometers tall and wide, was originally pitched as an arcology, or a self-contained urban community, but even before its construction had finished, it had become embedded into the city's ever-expanding urban sprawl in ways far more organic than its designers had intended. The structure was since expanded several times, with entire sub-cities rising on its surface. By the 26th century, many sections of the megastructure remain unmapped. Some parts of the interior may not have been visited for decades, even centuries, while others are practically under the control of underworld gangs.

During the Battle for Earth, the city was evacuated in the face of Covenant invasion but, while ransacked by raiding parties, managed to avoid the same destruction that befell Mombasa. Dar es-Salaam temporarily served as the security center for the Excession and housed Concord representatives. After the Human-Covenant War, the city became home to millions of Mombasa refugees and the first Earth-side alien refugee epicenter due to the surrender of Covenant forces. Dar es-Salaam's industrial community played a key role in Project Rebirth and funded construction for the Zanzibar Tether in the late 2550s.