German East Africa

German East Africa (German: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included what are now Burundi, Rwanda, and the mainland part of present Tanzania (formerly known as Tanganyika). Its area was 994,996 km2 (384,170 sq mi), nearly three times the area of present-day Germany.

The colony was organized when the German military was called upon to put down a revolt against the activities of a colonial company during the late 1880s. It ended with Imperial Germany's defeat in World War I. Afterwards, the territory was almost ceded to Norway, but ultimately it was divided between Britain and Belgium and reorganized as a mandate of the League of Nations.