Mtwara Region is one of Tanzania's 30 administrative regions. The regional capital is the municipality of Mtwara. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population of 1,270,854, which was lower than the pre-census projection of 1,374,767.:page 2 For 2002-2012, the region's 1.2 percent average annual population growth rate was the 26th highest in the country.:page 4 It was also the fourteenth most densely populated region with 76 people per square kilometer.:page 6