Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
within the
African Great Lakes
The African Great Lakes ( sw, Maziwa Makuu; rw, Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the second-largest fresh water lake in the ...
region. It borders
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
to the north;
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
to the northeast;
Comoro Islands
The Comoro Islands or Comoros ( Shikomori ''Komori''; ar, جزر القمر , ''Juzur al-qamar''; french: Les Comores) form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the southeastern coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and northw ...
and the Indian Ocean to the east;
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
and
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...
to the south;
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
to the southwest; and
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
,
Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
, and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
to the west.
Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. According to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
, Tanzania has a population of million, making it the most populous country located entirely south of the
equator
The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...
.
Many important
hominid
The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the east ...
fossils have been found in Tanzania, such as 6-million-year-old
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58[Australopithecus
''Australopithecus'' (, ; ) is a genus of early hominins that existed in Africa during the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene. The genus ''Homo'' (which includes modern humans) emerged within ''Australopithecus'', as sister to e.g. ''Australopi ...](_blank)
ranged across Africa between 4 and 2 million years ago, and the oldest remains of the genus ''
Homo
''Homo'' () is the genus that emerged in the (otherwise extinct) genus ''Australopithecus'' that encompasses the extant species ''Homo sapiens'' ( modern humans), plus several extinct species classified as either ancestral to or closely relate ...
'' are found near
Lake Olduvai. Following the rise of ''
Homo erectus
''Homo erectus'' (; meaning "upright man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, with its earliest occurrence about 2 million years ago. Several human species, such as '' H. heidelbergensis'' and '' H. antecessor' ...
'' 1.8 million years ago, humanity spread all over the Old World, and later in the New World and Australia under the species ''
Homo sapiens
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
''. ''H. sapiens'' also overtook Africa and absorbed the older species of humanity.
Later in the Stone and Bronze Age, prehistoric migrations into Tanzania included
Southern Cushitic speakers who moved south from present-day Ethiopia;
Eastern Cushitic people who moved into Tanzania from north of
Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana (), formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. B ...
about 2,000 and 4,000 years ago;
and the
Southern Nilotes, including the
Datoog, who originated from the present-day South Sudan–Ethiopia border region between 2,900 and 2,400 years ago.
These movements took place at about the same time as the settlement of the
Mashariki Bantu from West Africa in the
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...
and
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
areas. They subsequently migrated across the rest of Tanzania between 2,300 and 1,700 years ago.
German rule began in mainland Tanzania during the late 19th century when Germany formed
German East Africa
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 Mozam ...
. This was followed by British rule after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The mainland was governed as
Tanganyika
Tanganyika may refer to:
Places
* Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state
* Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania
* Tanzania Main ...
, with the
Zanzibar Archipelago
The Zanzibar Archipelago ( ar, أرخبيل زنجبار, sw, Funguvisiwa la Zanzibar) consists of several islands lying off the coast of East Africa south of the Somali sea. The archipelago is also known as the Spice Islands. There are four ...
remaining a separate colonial jurisdiction. Following their respective independence in 1961 and 1963, the two entities merged in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania.
Tanganyika joined the British
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
in 1961 and Tanzania remains a member of the Commonwealth as a unified republic.
Tanzania's population is composed of about 120
ethnic
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
,
linguistic
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, and religious groups. The
sovereign state
A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...
of Tanzania is a
presidential
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...
constitutional republic and since 1996 its official capital city has been
Dodoma
Dodoma ( in Gogo), officially Dodoma City, is the national capital of Tanzania and the capital of the Dodoma Region, with a population of 410,956.
In 1974, the Tanzanian government announced that the capital would be moved to Dodoma for social a ...
where the president's office, the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
, and all government ministries are located.
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
, the former capital, retains most government offices and is the country's largest city, principal port, and leading commercial centre.
Tanzania is a
''de facto'' one-party state with the
democratic socialist
Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...
Chama Cha Mapinduzi party in power.
Tanzania is mountainous and densely forested in the north-east, where
Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
is located. Three of
Africa's Great Lakes are partly within Tanzania. To the north and west lie
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...
, Africa's largest lake, and
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
, the continent's deepest lake, known for its unique species of fish. To the south lies
Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
It is the fifth largest fre ...
. The eastern shore is hot and humid, with the
Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
Archipelago just offshore. The
Menai Bay Conservation Area
The Menai Bay Conservation Area (MBCA) is located in Menai Bay, Zanzibar Tanzania. At , it is Zanzibar's largest marine protected area. It was officially established as a conservation area in August 1997 in the traditional fishing area, known as ...
is Zanzibar's largest marine protected area. The
Kalambo Falls
The Kalambo Falls on the Kalambo River is a single-drop waterfall on the border of Zambia and Rukwa Region, Tanzania at the southeast end of Lake Tanganyika. The falls are some of the tallest uninterrupted falls in Africa (after South Africa's ...
, located on the
Kalambo River at the Zambian border, is the second-highest uninterrupted
waterfall
A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...
in Africa.
["Kalambo Falls"](_blank)
''Encyclopædia Britannica''.
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
is the largest
religion in Tanzania
Christianity is the most widely professed religion in Tanzania, with a substantial Muslim minority. Smaller populations of Animists, practitioners of other faiths, and religiously unaffiliated people are also present.
Current statistics on th ...
, but there are also substantial
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
and
animist
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—Animal, animals, Plant, plants, Ro ...
minorities.
[Religion in Tanzania](_blank)
Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C.
It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...
Over 100 different
languages are spoken in Tanzania, making it the most linguistically diverse country in East Africa.
The country does not have a ''de jure'' official language,
although the national language is
Swahili.
Swahili is used in
parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
debate, in the lower courts, and as a medium of instruction in primary school. English is used in foreign trade, in diplomacy, in higher courts, and as a medium of instruction in secondary and higher education;
[ although the Tanzanian government is planning to discontinue English as the primary language of instruction, it will be available as an optional course.] Approximately 10% of Tanzanians speak Swahili as a first language, and up to 90% speak it as a second language
A person's second language, or L2, is a language that is not the native language (first language or L1) of the speaker, but is learned later. A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a fo ...
.[
]
Etymology
The name "Tanzania" was created as a clipped compound
''Clipped'' is a video featuring five tracks by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. First released in 1991, it contained three tracks from ''The Razors Edge (AC/DC album), The Razors Edge'' and two from ''Blow Up Your Video''.
In 2002 a DVD ve ...
of the names of the two states that unified to create the country: Tanganyika
Tanganyika may refer to:
Places
* Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state
* Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania
* Tanzania Main ...
and Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
. It consists of the first three letters of the names of the two states ("Tan" and "Zan") and the suffix, "ia" to form Tanzania.
The name "Tanganyika" is derived from the Swahili words ''tanga'' ("sail") and ''nyika'' ("uninhabited plain", "wilderness"), creating the phrase "sail in the wilderness". It is sometimes understood as a reference to Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
.
The name of Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
comes from "zenji
Zen master is a somewhat vague English term that arose in the first half of the 20th century, sometimes used to refer to an individual who teaches Zen Buddhist meditation and practices, usually implying longtime study and subsequent authorizat ...
", the name for a local people (said to mean "black"), and the Arabic word "barr", which means coast or shore.
History
Ancient
Tanzania is one of the oldest continuously inhabited areas on Earth. Traces of fossil remains of humans and hominids date back to the Quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...
era. The Olduvai Gorge
The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge in Tanzania is one of the most important paleoanthropology, paleoanthropological localities in the world; the many sites exposed by the gorge have proven invaluable in furthering understanding of early human ev ...
, in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (, ) is a protected area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Ngorongoro District, west of Arusha City in Arusha Region, within the Crater Highlands geological area of northern Tanzania. The area is nam ...
, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
, features a collection with remnants of tools that document the development and use of transitional technology
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
.
The indigenous populations of eastern Africa are thought to be the linguistically isolated Hadza and Sandawe hunter-gatherers of Tanzania.
The first wave of migration was by Southern Cushitic speakers who moved south from Ethiopia and Somalia into Tanzania. They are ancestral to the Iraqw, Gorowa, and Burunge. Based on linguistic evidence, there may also have been two movements into Tanzania of Eastern Cushitic people at about 4,000 and 2,000 years ago, originating from north of Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana (), formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. B ...
.
Archaeological evidence supports the conclusion that Southern Nilotes, including the Datoog, moved south from the present-day South Sudan / Ethiopia border region into central northern Tanzania between 2,900 and 2,400 years ago.
These movements took place at approximately the same time as the settlement of the iron-making Mashariki Bantu from West Africa in the Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...
and Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
areas. They brought with them the west African planting tradition and the primary staple of yams. They subsequently migrated out of these regions across the rest of Tanzania between 2,300 and 1,700 years ago.
Eastern Nilotic
The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan; they are believed to have begun to diverge about 3,000 years ago, and have sprea ...
peoples, including the Maasai Maasai may refer to:
* Maasai people
*Maasai language
* Maasai mythology
* MAASAI (band)
See also
* Masai (disambiguation)
* Massai
Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...
, represent a more recent migration from present-day South Sudan within the past 500 to 1,500 years.
The people of Tanzania have been associated with the production of iron and steel. The Pare people
The Pare (pronounced "Pahray") people are members of an ethnic group indigenous to the Pare Mountains of northern Tanzania, part of the Kilimanjaro Region. Historically, Pareland was also known as ''Vuasu'' (South Pare) and ''Vughweno'' (North ...
were the main producers of sought-after iron for peoples who occupied the mountain regions of north-eastern Tanzania. The Haya people
The Haya (or Bahaya) are a Bantu ethnic group based in Kagera Region, northwestern Tanzania, on the western side of Lake Victoria. With over one million people, it is estimated the Haya make up approximately 2% of the population of Tanzania. His ...
on the western shores of Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...
invented a type of high-heat blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...
, which allowed them to forge carbon steel
Carbon steel is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states:
* no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, cobalt ...
at temperatures exceeding more than 1,500 years ago.
Travellers and merchants from the Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
and India have visited the east African coast since early in the first millennium AD. Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
was practised by some on the Swahili Coast as early as the eighth or ninth century A.D.
Medieval
Bantu-speakers built farming and trade villages along the Tanzanian coast from the outset of the first millennium. Archaeological finds at Fukuchani
Fukuchani is a village on the Tanzanian island of Unguja, part of Zanzibar. It is located on the northwest coast of the island, between Kibaoni and Kendwa. As of 2012 census, the village had a population of 2,208 people, with a population density ...
, on the north-west coast of Zanzibar, indicate a settled agricultural and fishing community from the 6th century CE at the latest. The considerable amount of daub found indicates timber buildings, and shell beads, bead grinders, and iron slag have been found at the site. There is evidence for limited engagement in long-distance trade: a small amount of imported pottery has been found, less than 1% of total pottery finds, mostly from the Gulf and dated to the 5th to 8th century. The similarity to contemporary sites such as Mkokotoni
Mkokotoni is a city located on the Tanzanian island of Unguja (Zanzibar). The city serves as the capital of the Zanzibar North region
Unguja North Region, Zanzibar North Region or North Zanzibar Region (''Mkoa wa Unguja Kaskazini'' in Swahili) ...
and Dar es Salaam indicate a unified group of communities that developed into the first centre of coastal maritime culture. The coastal towns appear to have been engaged in Indian Ocean and inland African trade at this early period. Trade rapidly increased in importance and quantity beginning in the mid-8th century and by the close of the 10th century Zanzibar was one of the central Swahili trading towns.
Growth in Egyptian and Persian shipping from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf revitalised Indian Ocean trade
Indian Ocean trade has been a key factor in East–West exchanges throughout history. Long-distance trade in dhows and proas made it a dynamic zone of interaction between peoples, cultures, and civilizations stretching from Southeast Asia to Eas ...
, particularly after the Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
relocated to Fustat (Cairo). Swahili agriculturalists built increasingly dense settlements to tap into trade, these forming the earliest Swahili city-states. The Venda-Shona Kingdoms of Mapungubwe
The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (or Maphungubgwe) (c. 1075–c. 1220) was a medieval state in South Africa located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers, south of Great Zimbabwe. The name is derived from either TjiKalanga and Tshivenda. ...
and Zimbabwe in South Africa and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
, respectively, became a major producer of gold around this same period. Economic, social, and religious power was increasingly vested in Kilwa
Kilwa Kisiwani (English: ''Kilwa Island'') is an island, national historic site, and hamlet community located in the township of Kilwa Masoko, the district seat of Kilwa District in the Tanzanian region of Lindi Region in southern Tanzania. K ...
, Tanzania's major medieval city-state. Kilwa controlled a number of smaller ports stretching down to modern-day Mozambique. Sofala
Sofala, at present known as Nova Sofala, used to be the chief seaport of the Mwenemutapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in Sofala Province of Mozambique. It was founded by Somali merchants. This name wa ...
became the major gold emporium and Kilwa grew rich off the trade, lying at the southern end of the Indian Ocean Monsoons. Kilwa's major rivals lay to the north, in modern-day Kenya, namely Mombasa and Malindi. Kilwa remained the major power in East Africa until the arrival of the Portuguese at the end of the 15th century.
Colonial
Claiming the coastal strip, Omani
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
Sultan Said bin Sultan
Sayyid Saïd bin Sultan al-Busaidi ( ar, سعيد بن سلطان, , sw, Saïd bin Sultani) (5 June 1791 – 19 October 1856), was Sultan of Muscat and Oman, the fifth ruler of the Busaid dynasty from 1804 to 4 June 1856. His rule commenced fol ...
moved his capital to Zanzibar City
Zanzibar City or Mjini District, often simply referred to as Zanzibar (''Wilaya ya Zanzibar Mjini'' or ''Jiji la Zanzibar'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of two administrative districts of Mjini Magharibi Region in Tanzania. The district co ...
in 1840. During this time, Zanzibar became the centre for the east African slave trade
The Indian Ocean slave trade, sometimes known as the East African slave trade or Arab slave trade, was multi-directional slave trade and has changed over time. Africans were sent as slaves to the Middle East, to Indian Ocean islands (including Ma ...
. Between 65 and 90 per cent of the Arab- Swahili population of Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
was enslaved. One of the most infamous slave traders on the East African coast was Tippu Tip
Tippu Tip, or Tippu Tib (1832 – June 14, 1905), real name Ḥamad ibn Muḥammad ibn Jumʿah ibn Rajab ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al Murjabī ( ar, حمد بن محمد بن جمعة بن رجب بن محمد بن سعيد المرجبي), ...
, who was the grandson of an enslaved African. The Nyamwezi slave traders operated under the leadership of Msiri
Msiri (c. 1830 – December 20, 1891) founded and ruled the Yeke Kingdom (also called the Garanganze or Garenganze kingdom) in south-east Katanga (now in DR Congo) from about 1856 to 1891. His name is sometimes spelled 'M'Siri' in articles in Fr ...
and Mirambo
Mtyela Kasanda (1840–1884), better known as King Mirambo, was a Nyamwezi king, from 1860 to 1884. He created the largest state by area in 19th-century East Africa in present day Urambo district in Tabora Region of Tanzania. Urambo district is n ...
. According to Timothy Insoll
Timothy Insoll (born 1967) is a British archaeologist and Africanist and Islamic Studies scholar. Since 2016 he has been Al-Qasimi Professor of African and Islamic Archaeology at the University of Exeter. He is also founder and director of the C ...
, "Figures record the exporting of 718,000 slaves from the Swahili coast during the 19th century, and the retention of 769,000 on the coast." In the 1890s, slavery was abolished.
In the late 19th century, Germany conquered the regions that are now Tanzania (minus Zanzibar) and incorporated them into German East Africa
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 Mozam ...
(GEA). The Supreme Council of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference
Events
January
* January 1
** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia.
** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...
awarded all of GEA to Britain on 7 May 1919, over the strenuous objections of Belgium. The British colonial secretary, Alfred Milner
Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, (23 March 1854 – 13 May 1925) was a British statesman and colonial administrator who played a role in the formulation of British foreign and domestic policy between the mid-1890s and early 1920s. From De ...
, and Belgium's minister plenipotentiary
A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word ...
to the conference, , then negotiated the Anglo-Belgian agreement of 30 May 1919 where Britain ceded the north-western GEA provinces of Ruanda and Urundi to Belgium. The conference's Commission on Mandates ratified this agreement on 16 July 1919. The Supreme Council accepted the agreement on 7 August 1919. On 12 July 1919, the Commission on Mandates agreed that the small Kionga Triangle
The Kionga Triangle (german: Kionga-Dreieck, pt, Triângulo de Quionga) was a small region of German East Africa situated at the mouth of the Ruvuma River. The Ruvuma served as the border between the German colony and Portuguese Mozambique, and ...
south of the Rovuma River
Ruvuma River, formerly also known as the Rovuma River, is a river in the African Great Lakes region. During the greater part of its course, it forms the border between Tanzania and Mozambique (in Mozambique known as ''Rio Rovuma''). The river is ...
would be given to Portuguese Mozambique
Portuguese Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique) or Portuguese East Africa (''África Oriental Portuguesa'') were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colony. Portuguese Moz ...
, with it eventually becoming part of independent Mozambique. The commission reasoned that Germany had virtually forced Portugal to cede the triangle in 1894. The Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
was signed on 28 June 1919, although the treaty did not take effect until 10 January 1920. On that date, the GEA was transferred officially to Britain, Belgium, and Portugal. Also on that date, "Tanganyika" became the name of the British territory. In the mid-1920s, the British implemented a system of indirect rule
Indirect rule was a system of governance used by the British and others to control parts of their colonial empires, particularly in Africa and Asia, which was done through pre-existing indigenous power structures. Indirect rule was used by variou ...
in Tanzania.
The Maji-Maji rebellion, between 1905 and 1907, was an uprising of several African tribes in German East Africa against the colonial authorities, in particular because of forced labor and deportation of certain tribes. It was the subject of a bloody repression, which combined with famine caused 300 000 deaths among the population.
During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, about 100,000 people from Tanganyika joined the Allied forces and were among the 375,000 Africans who fought with those forces.["African participants in the Second World War"](_blank)
mgtrust.org. Tanganyikans fought in units of the King's African Rifles
The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from Britain's various possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions withi ...
during the East African Campaign in Somalia and Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
against the Italians, in Madagascar against the Vichy French
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...
during the Madagascar Campaign
The Battle of Madagascar (5 May – 6 November 1942) was a British campaign to capture the Vichy French-controlled island Madagascar during World War II. The seizure of the island by the British was to deny Madagascar's ports to the Imperial ...
, and in Burma against the Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
during the Burma Campaign. Tanganyika was an important source of food during this war, and its export income increased greatly compared to the pre-war years of the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
Wartime demand, however, caused increased commodity prices and massive inflation within the colony.
In 1954, Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, aft ...
transformed an organisation into the politically oriented Tanganyika African National Union
The Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) was the principal political party in the struggle for sovereignty in the East African state of Tanganyika (now Tanzania). The party was formed from the Tanganyika African Association by Julius Nyerere ...
(TANU). TANU's main objective was to achieve national sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
for Tanganyika. A campaign to register new members was launched, and within a year, TANU had become the leading political organisation in the country. Nyerere became Minister of British-administered Tanganyika in 1960 and continued as prime minister when Tanganyika became independent in 1961.
Modern
British rule came to an end on 9 December 1961. Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
, who had acceded to the British throne in 1952, continued to reign through the first year of Tanganyika's independence, but now distinctly as Queen of Tanganyika
Elizabeth II was Queen of Tanganyika from 1961 to 1962, when Tanganyika was an independent sovereign state and a constitutional monarchy. She was also the monarch of other sovereign states, including the United Kingdom. Her constitutional roles ...
, represented by the governor general
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
. Tanganyika also joined the British Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
in 1961. On 9 December 1962, Tanganyika became a democratic republic under an executive president.
After the Zanzibar Revolution
The Zanzibar Revolution () occurred in January 1964 and led to the overthrow of the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government by local Africans.
Zanzibar was an ethnically diverse state consisting of a number of islands off the east co ...
overthrew the Arab dynasty in neighbouring Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
, accompanied with the slaughter of thousands of Arab Zanzibaris, which had become independent in 1963, the archipelago merged with mainland Tanganyika on 26 April 1964. The new country was then named the ''United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar''. On 29 October of the same year, the country was renamed the United Republic of Tanzania ("Tan" comes from Tanganyika and "Zan" from Zanzibar). The union of the two hitherto separate regions was controversial among many Zanzibaris (even those sympathetic to the revolution) but was accepted by both the Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lak ...
government and the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar
The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous government within Tanzania for Zanzibar, which consists of the northern part of the Zanzibar Archipelago, mainly the islands of Unguja and Pemba.
Structure
The government is made up ...
owing to shared political values and goals.
Following Tanganyika's independence and unification with Zanzibar leading to the state of Tanzania, President Nyerere emphasised a need to construct a national identity for the citizens of the new country. To achieve this, Nyerere provided what is regarded as one of the most successful cases of ethnic repression and identity transformation in Africa. With more than 130 languages spoken within its territory, Tanzania is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in Africa. Despite this obstacle, ethnic divisions remained rare in Tanzania when compared to the rest of the continent, notably its immediate neighbour, Kenya. Furthermore, since its independence, Tanzania has displayed more political stability than most African countries, particularly due to Nyerere's ethnic repression methods.
In 1967, Nyerere's first presidency took a turn to the left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right
* L ...
after the Arusha Declaration
The Arusha Declaration ( sw, Azimio la Arusha) and TANU’s Policy on Socialism and Self Reliance (1967), referred to as the Arusha Declaration, is known as Tanzania’s most prominent political statement of African Socialism, ‘Ujamaa’, or ...
, which codified a commitment to socialism as well as Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...
. After the declaration, banks and many large industries were nationalised.
Tanzania was also aligned with China, which from 1970 to 1975 financed and helped build the TAZARA Railway
The Tazara Railway, also called the Uhuru Railway or the Tanzam Railway, is a railway in East Africa linking the port of Dar es Salaam in east Tanzania with the town of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia's Central Province. The single-track railway is ...
from Dar es Salaam to Zambia. Nonetheless, from the late 1970s, Tanzania's economy took a turn for the worse, in the context of an international economic crisis affecting both developed and developing economies.
In 1978, the neighbouring Uganda, under the leadership of Idi Amin, invaded Tanzania. This disastrous invasion would culminate in Tanzania invading Uganda with the aid of Ugandan rebels and deposing Idi Amin as a result. However, the war severely damaged Tanzania's economy.
Through the 1980s, conservation oriented national parks such as Serengeti
The Serengeti ( ) ecosystem is a geographical region in Africa, spanning northern Tanzania. The protected area within the region includes approximately of land, including the Serengeti National Park and several game reserves. The Serengeti ...
and Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
, with Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
as the tallest freestanding summit on Earth, were included on the UNESCO World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.
From the mid-1980s, the regime financed itself by borrowing from the International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
and underwent some reforms. Since then, Tanzania's gross domestic product per capita has grown and poverty has been reduced, according to a report by the World Bank.
In 1992, the Constitution of Tanzania
The Constitution of Tanzania, formally Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania and also known as Permanent Constitution or Fourth Constitution of Tanzania, was ratified in 1977. Before the current establishment, Tanzania has had three con ...
was amended to allow multiple political parties. In Tanzania's first multi-party elections, held in 1995, the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi won 186 of the 232 elected seats in the National Assembly, and Benjamin Mkapa
Benjamin William Mkapa (12 November 193824 July 2020) was the third president of Tanzania, in office from 1995 to 2005. He was Chairman of the Revolutionary State Political Party (Chama Cha Mapinduzi, CCM).
Early life
Mkapa was born in Lupaso, ...
was elected as president.
The presidents of Tanzania since Independence have been Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, aft ...
1962–1985, Ali Hassan Mwinyi
Ali Hassan Mwinyi (born 8 May 1925) is a Tanzanian politician, who served as the second President of the United Republic of Tanzania from 1985 to 1995.
Previous posts include Interior Minister and Vice President. He also was chairman of the rul ...
1985–1995, Benjamin Mkapa
Benjamin William Mkapa (12 November 193824 July 2020) was the third president of Tanzania, in office from 1995 to 2005. He was Chairman of the Revolutionary State Political Party (Chama Cha Mapinduzi, CCM).
Early life
Mkapa was born in Lupaso, ...
1995–2005 Jakaya Kikwete
Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (born 7 October 1950) is a Tanzanian politician who was the fourth president of Tanzania, in office from 2005 to 2015. Prior to his election as president, he was the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2005 under his ...
2005–2015 John Magufuli
John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (29 October 1959 – 17 March 2021) was the fifth president of Tanzania, serving from 2015 until his death in 2021. He served as Minister of Works, Transport and Communications from 2000 to 2005 and 2010 to 2015 and wa ...
2015–2021 and Samia Hassan Suluhu since 2021. After the long tenure of president Nyerere, the Constitution has a term limit: a president can serve a maximum of two terms. Each term is five years. Every president has represented the ruling party Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM). President Magufuli won a landslide victory and re-election in October 2020. According to the opposition, the election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
was full of fraud and irregularities.
On 17 March 2021, President John Magufuli
John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (29 October 1959 – 17 March 2021) was the fifth president of Tanzania, serving from 2015 until his death in 2021. He served as Minister of Works, Transport and Communications from 2000 to 2005 and 2010 to 2015 and wa ...
died from heart complications while in office. Magufuli's vice president, Samia Suluhu Hassan
Samia Suluhu Hassan (born 27 January 1960) is a Tanzanian politician who has been serving since 19 March 2021 as the sixth (and first female) president of Tanzania. She is a member of the ruling social-democrat Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party ...
, became Tanzania's first female president.
Geography
At , Tanzania is the 13th largest country in Africa and the 31st largest in the world, ranked between the larger Egypt and smaller Nigeria. It borders Kenya and Uganda to the north; Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. Tanzania is located on the eastern coast of Africa and has an Indian Ocean coastline approximately long. It also incorporates several offshore islands, including Unguja
Unguja (also referred to as "Zanzibar Island" or simply "Zanzibar", in grc, Μενουθιάς, Menuthias – as mentioned in The ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'') is the largest and most populated island of the Zanzibar archipelago, in Tanza ...
(Zanzibar), Pemba Pemba may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Places
* Pemba Island, in Tanzania
* Pemba, Mozambique, the capital of Cabo Delgado Province
* Pemba, Zambia, a small town
Individuals
* George Pemba, South African painter
* Pemba (panda), a red panda
* Tsewang Yishe ...
, and Mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
. The country is the site of Africa's highest and lowest points: Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
, at above sea level, and the floor of Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
, at below sea level, respectively.
Tanzania is mountainous and densely forested in the northeast, where Mount Kilimanjaro is located. Three of Africa's Great Lakes are partly within Tanzania. To the north and west lie Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...
, Africa's largest lake, and Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
, the continent's deepest lake, known for its unique species of fish. To the southwest lies Lake Nyasa
Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
It is the fifth largest fre ...
. Central Tanzania is a large plateau, with plains and arable land. The eastern shore is hot and humid, with the Zanzibar Archipelago
The Zanzibar Archipelago ( ar, أرخبيل زنجبار, sw, Funguvisiwa la Zanzibar) consists of several islands lying off the coast of East Africa south of the Somali sea. The archipelago is also known as the Spice Islands. There are four ...
just offshore.
Kalambo Falls
The Kalambo Falls on the Kalambo River is a single-drop waterfall on the border of Zambia and Rukwa Region, Tanzania at the southeast end of Lake Tanganyika. The falls are some of the tallest uninterrupted falls in Africa (after South Africa's ...
in the southwestern region of Rukwa
Rukwa Region (''Mkoa wa Rukwa'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions with a postcode number 55000. The regional capital is the municipality of Sumbawanga. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population ...
is the second highest uninterrupted waterfall in Africa, and is located near the southeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika on the border with Zambia. The Menai Bay Conservation Area
The Menai Bay Conservation Area (MBCA) is located in Menai Bay, Zanzibar Tanzania. At , it is Zanzibar's largest marine protected area. It was officially established as a conservation area in August 1997 in the traditional fishing area, known as ...
is Zanzibar's largest marine protected area.
Climate
Climate varies greatly within Tanzania. In the highlands, temperatures range between during cold and hot seasons respectively. The rest of the country has temperatures rarely falling lower than . The hottest period extends between November and February () while the coldest period occurs between May and August (). Annual temperature is . The climate is cool in high mountainous regions.
Tanzania has two major rainfall periods: one is uni-modal (October–April) and the other is bi-modal (October–December and March–May).[ The former is experienced in southern, central, and western parts of the country, and the latter is found in the north from ]Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...
extending east to the coast.[ The bi-modal rainfall is caused by the seasonal migration of the ]Intertropical Convergence Zone
The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ ), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. It encircles Earth near the thermal e ...
.
Climate change in Tanzania
Climate change in Tanzania is affecting the natural environment and residents of Tanzania. Temperatures in Tanzania are rising with a higher likelihood of intense rainfall events (resulting in flooding) and of dry spells (resulting in droughts).
...
is resulting in rising temperatures with a higher likelihood of intense rainfall events (resulting in flooding) and of dry spells (resulting in droughts). Climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
is already impacting the sectors in Tanzania of agriculture, water resources, health and energy. Sea level rise and changes in the quality of water are expected to impact fisheries and aquaculture.
Tanzania produced a National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) in 2007 as mandated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...
. In 2012, Tanzania produced a National Climate Change Strategy in response to the growing concern of the negative impacts of climate change and climate variability on the country's social, economic and physical environment.
Wildlife and conservation
Tanzania contains around 20% of the species of Africa's enormous warm-blooded animal populace, found over its 21 National parks, reserves, 1 conservation area, and 3 marine parks. Spread over a zone of in excess of 42,000 square kilometres (16,000 sq. mi) and shaping around 38% of the nation's area. Tanzania has 21 national parks, plus a variety of game and forest reserves, including the Ngorongoro Conservation Area
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (, ) is a protected area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Ngorongoro District, west of Arusha City in Arusha Region, within the Crater Highlands geological area of northern Tanzania. The area is nam ...
, however there so many people who live in Ngorongoro and try to affect the environment. In western Tanzania, Gombe Stream National Park
Gombe Stream National Park is a national park in Kigoma District of Kigoma Region in Tanzania, north of Kigoma, the capital of Kigoma Region.Tanzania National Parks“Gombe Stream National Park”, 2008. Established in 1968, it is one of the smal ...
is the site of Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best know ...
's ongoing study of chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...
behaviour, which started in 1960.
Tanzania is highly biodiverse
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...
and contains a wide variety of animal habitats. On Tanzania's Serengeti
The Serengeti ( ) ecosystem is a geographical region in Africa, spanning northern Tanzania. The protected area within the region includes approximately of land, including the Serengeti National Park and several game reserves. The Serengeti ...
plain, white-bearded wildebeest
Wildebeest ( , , ), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-toe ...
(''Connochaetes taurinus mearnsi''), other bovid
The Bovidae comprise the biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes cattle, bison, buffalo, antelopes, and caprines. A member of this family is called a bovid. With 143 extant species and 300 known extinct species, the ...
s and zebra participate in a large-scale annual migration. Tanzania is home to about 130 amphibian
Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...
and over 275 reptile species, many of them strictly endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
and included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
's Red Lists of countries. Tanzania has the largest lion population in the world.
Tanzania had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index
The Forest Landscape Integrity Index (FLII) is an annual global index of forest condition measured by degree of anthropogenic modification. Created by a team of 48 scientists, the FLII, in its measurement of 300m pixels of forest across the globe ...
mean score of 7.13/10, ranking it 54th globally out of 172 countries.
Politics
Government
Tanzania is a one-party dominant state
A dominant-party system, or one-party dominant system, is a political occurrence in which a single political party continuously dominates election results over running opposition groups or parties. Any ruling party staying in power for more th ...
with the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party in power. From its formation until 1992, it was the only legally permitted party in the country. This changed on 1 July 1992, when the constitution was amended. It has held power since independence in 1961, and is the longest-serving ruling party in Africa.
John Magufuli
John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (29 October 1959 – 17 March 2021) was the fifth president of Tanzania, serving from 2015 until his death in 2021. He served as Minister of Works, Transport and Communications from 2000 to 2005 and 2010 to 2015 and wa ...
won the October 2015 presidential election and secured a two-thirds majority in parliament. The main opposition party in Tanzania since multiparty politics in 1992 is called Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) ( Swahili for "Party for Democracy and Progress"). The leader of Chadema party is Freeman Mbowe
Freeman Aikaeli Mbowe (born 14 September 1961) is a Tanzanian politician and the current nominated chairman of the Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema – Political Party for Democracy and Development). He was elected to continue as a Na ...
.
In Zanzibar, the country's semi-autonomous state, The Alliance for Change and Transparency-Wazalendois (ACT-Wazalendo) is considered the main opposition political party. The constitution of Zanzibar requires the party that comes in second in the polls to join a coalition with the winning party. ACT-Wazalendo joined a coalition government with the islands' ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi in December 2020 after Zanzibar disputed elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...
.
In November 2020, Magufuli once again was declared the winner for his second term as president. Election fraud was suspected. The national electoral commission announced that Magufuli received 84%, or about 12.5 million votes and the top opposition candidate, Tundu Lissu
Tundu Antiphas Mughwai Lissu (born 20 January 1968 in Ikungi district, Singida) is a Tanzanian lawyer, CHADEMA politician anMember of Parliamentfor Singida East constituency since 2010. He is also the former President of Tanganyika Law Society ...
received 13%, about 1.9 million votes.
In March 2021, it was announced that Magufuli had died whilst serving in office, meaning that his vice president, Samia Suluhu Hassan
Samia Suluhu Hassan (born 27 January 1960) is a Tanzanian politician who has been serving since 19 March 2021 as the sixth (and first female) president of Tanzania. She is a member of the ruling social-democrat Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party ...
, became the country's president.
Executive
The president of Tanzania
The President of the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania) is the head of state and head of government of the United Republic of Tanzania. The President leads the executive branch of the Government of Tanzan ...
and the members of the National Assembly are elected concurrently by direct popular vote for five-year terms. The vice-president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
is elected for a five-year term at the same time as the president and on the same ticket. Neither the president nor the vice-president may be a member of the National Assembly. The president appoints a prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, subject to confirmation by the assembly, to serve as the government's leader in the assembly. The president selects her cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
from assembly members.
Legislature
All legislative
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...
power relating to mainland Tanzania and union matters is vested in the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
, which is unicameral and has a maximum of 357 members. These include members elected to represent constituencies, the attorney general, five members elected by the Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
house of representatives from among its own members, the special women's seats that constitute at least 30% of the seats that any party has in the assembly, the speaker of the assembly (if not otherwise a member of the assembly), and the persons (not more than ten) appointed by the president. The Tanzania Electoral Commission demarcates the mainland into constituencies in the number determined by the commission with the consent of the president.
Judiciary
Tanzania's legal system is based on English common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
.
Tanzania has a four-level judiciary. The lowest-level courts on the Tanzanian mainland are the Primary Courts. In Zanzibar, the lowest-level courts are the Kadhi's Courts for Islamic family matters and the Primary Courts for all other cases. On the mainland, appeal is to either the District Courts or the Resident Magistrates Courts. In Zanzibar, appeal is to the Kadhi's Appeal Courts for Islamic family matters and the Magistrates Courts for all other cases. From there, appeal is to the High Court of Mainland Tanzania or Zanzibar. No appeal regarding Islamic family matters can be made from the High Court of Zanzibar. Otherwise, the final appeal is to the Court of Appeal of Tanzania.
The High Court of mainland Tanzania has three divisions – commercial, labour, and land – and 15 geographic zones. The High Court of Zanzibar has an industrial division, which hears only labour disputes.
Mainland and union judges are appointed by the Chief Justice of Tanzania
The chief justice of Tanzania is the highest post in the judicial system of Tanzania. The chief justice is appointed by the president and presides over the Court of Appeal of Tanzania.
History
After the First World War, the former German-governed ...
, except for those of the Court of Appeal
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
and the High Court, who are appointed by the president of Tanzania.
Tanzania is a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the R ...
.
Zanzibar
The legislative authority in Zanzibar over all non-union matters is vested in the House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
(per the Tanzania constitution) or the Legislative Council (per the Zanzibar constitution).
The Legislative Council has two parts: the president of Zanzibar and the House of Representatives. The president is Zanzibar's head of government and the chairman of the Revolutionary Council, in which the executive authority of Zanzibar is invested. Zanzibar has two vice-presidents, with the first being from the main opposition party in the house. The second is from the party in power and is the leader of government business in the House.
The president and the members of the House of Representatives have five-year terms and can be elected for a second term.
The president selects ministers from members of the House of Representatives, with the ministers allocated according to the number of House seats won by political parties. The Revolutionary Council consists of the president, both vice-presidents, all ministers, the attorney general
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
of Zanzibar, and other house members deemed fit by the president.
The House of Representatives is composed of elected members, ten members appointed by the president, all the regional commissioners of Zanzibar, the attorney general, and appointed female members whose number must be equal to 30 per cent of the elected members. The House determines the number of its elected members[The Constitution of Zanzibar](_blank)
zltb.go.tz. 2006. with the Zanzibar Electoral Commission determining the boundaries of each election constituency. In 2013, the House had 81 members: fifty elected members, five regional commissioners, the attorney general, ten members appointed by the president, and fifteen appointed female members.
Administrative subdivisions
In 1972, local government on the mainland was abolished and replaced with direct rule from the central government. Local government, however, was reintroduced in the beginning of the 1980s, when the rural councils and rural authorities were re-established. Local government elections took place in 1983, and functioning councils started in 1984. In 1999, a Local Government Reform Programme was enacted by the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
, setting "a comprehensive and ambitious agenda ... overing
In mathematics, an overring ''B'' of an integral domain ''A'' is a subring of the field of fractions ''K'' of ''A'' that contains ''A'': i.e., A \subseteq B \subseteq K. For instance, an overring of the integers is a ring in which all elements are ...
four areas: political decentralization, financial decentralization, administrative decentralization and changed central-local relations, with the mainland government having overriding powers within the framework of the Constitution."
As of 2016, Tanzania is divided into thirty-one regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
(''mkoa''), twenty-six on the mainland and five in Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
(three on Unguja
Unguja (also referred to as "Zanzibar Island" or simply "Zanzibar", in grc, Μενουθιάς, Menuthias – as mentioned in The ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'') is the largest and most populated island of the Zanzibar archipelago, in Tanza ...
, two on Pemba Pemba may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Places
* Pemba Island, in Tanzania
* Pemba, Mozambique, the capital of Cabo Delgado Province
* Pemba, Zambia, a small town
Individuals
* George Pemba, South African painter
* Pemba (panda), a red panda
* Tsewang Yishe ...
). In 2012, the thirty former regions were divided into 169 districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
(wilaya), also known as local government authorities. Of those districts, 34 were urban units, which were further classified as three city councils (Arusha
Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census).
Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern bran ...
, Mbeya
Mbeya is a city located in south west Tanzania, Africa. Mbeya's urban population is 620,000 according to the 2022 census. Mbeya is the capital of the surrounding rural Mbeya region (population, with Mbeya, totals approx. 2 million).
Mbeya is sit ...
, and Mwanza
Mwanza City, also known as Rock City to the residents, is a port city and capital of Mwanza Region on the southern shore of Lake Victoria in north-western Tanzania. With an urban population of 1,182,000 in 2021, it is Tanzania's second largest cit ...
), nineteen municipal councils, and twelve town councils.
The urban units have an autonomous city, municipal, or town council and are subdivided into wards and ''mtaa''. The non-urban units have an autonomous district council but are subdivided into village councils or township authorities (first level) and then into ''vitongoji''.
The city of Dar es Salaam is unique because it has a city council whose area of jurisdiction overlaps three municipal councils. The mayor of the city council is elected by that council. The twenty-member city council is composed of eleven persons elected by the municipal councils, seven members of the National Assembly, and "Nominated members of parliament under 'Special Seats' for women". Each municipal council also has a mayor. "The City Council performs a coordinating role and attends to issues cutting across the three municipalities", including security and emergency services. The city of Mwanza has a city council whose areal jurisdiction overlaps two municipal councils.
Foreign policies and partnerships
Foreign Policies of Tanzania are in process of review to replace the current New Foreign Policy of 2001, which was the first official foreign policy of Tanzania. Before 2001, Tanzanian foreign policy was dictated by the various presidential declarations of Mwalimu Nyerere specifically Circular No. 2 of 1964, Arusha Declaration
The Arusha Declaration ( sw, Azimio la Arusha) and TANU’s Policy on Socialism and Self Reliance (1967), referred to as the Arusha Declaration, is known as Tanzania’s most prominent political statement of African Socialism, ‘Ujamaa’, or ...
, and Policy of Foreign Affairs of 1967. These declarations had focused foreign policy primarily on independence and sovereignty, human rights, and African unity. The current New Foreign Policy of 2001 was established to better address the end of colonialism and the cold war, globalization, market economics and liberalization, and the multi-party state of Tanzania. Its primary focus is economic diplomacy and development.
New Foreign Policy of 2001, which is still used today, has a foundation of 7 principles; sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
, liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
, good neighborliness Good neighborliness is a general principle of international law with particular importance for the field of international environmental law
Environmental law is a collective term encompassing aspects of the law that provide protection to the e ...
, African unity
Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...
, non-alignment, economic diplomacy Economic diplomacy is a form of diplomacy that uses the full spectrum of economic tools of a state to achieve its national interests. The scope of economic diplomacy can encompass all of the international economic activities of a state, including, ...
, and global cooperation for economic development and peace. The primary objectives are outlined as the protection and promotion of cultural and economic interests, establishment of relations with other nations driven by economic interest, economic self-sufficiency, internal and global peace, and regional political and economic integration.
A review of current foreign policy is being undertaken by the sixth phase government to replace the current New Foreign Policy of 2001. Foreign Affairs Minister Liberata Mulamula
Liberata Mulamula, ''née'' Rutageruka (born 1956) is a Tanzania, Tanzanian diplomat and politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Community, East African Cooperation from April 2021 to October 2022. She was appoint ...
has stated the new policies will maintain the priority of and non-alignment of the 2001 policy while making additional top priorities the climate change and refocusing economic diplomacy with a greater focus on value-added exports and the digital economy.
International partnerships
Tanzania is a member of many international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU)
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
, East African Community (EAC), and Southern African Development Community (SADC) among many others. Additionally, due to the strength of Tanzania's non-alignment, unity and internal peace since independence Tanzania frequently act as a mediator and location of treaties and agreements between other nations, such as the Arusha Agreement
''See Arusha (disambiguation).''
The Arusha Agreement was a treaty signed on 24 September 1969 in Arusha, Tanzania, between the European Community and the three East African states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The agreement entered into force o ...
with Europe, as well as the Arusha Accords with Rwanda (1993) and Burundi (2000).
The United Nations has a large current and historical presence in Tanzania and acts as an important partner in itself, and associated IGOs and NGOs, in many functions in the country, as well as functions based in Tanzania and implemented throughout the Great Lakes and Africa as a whole. Of the many functions, the UN and Tanzania partner or the UN works with outside countries, most notably human rights and justice courts and reporting, education, development, climate change, health, and wildlife conservation. While the UN primary offices are in Oysterbay, Dar es Salaam, many other offices, courts, and NGOs are based in Arusha, TZ. The most well-known example is the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; french: Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda; rw, Urukiko Mpanabyaha Mpuzamahanga Rwashyiriweho u Rwanda) was an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nation ...
genocide.
The African Union consists of 55 nations in Africa. Tanzania is a founding member of the AU in 2001, and its predecessor the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) by the predecessors of Tanzania, Tanganyika
Tanganyika may refer to:
Places
* Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state
* Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania
* Tanzania Main ...
and Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
, in 1963. The Judicial Branch of the AU and its courts are located in Tanzania. Originally the Court of Justice of the African Union
The Court of Justice of the African Union was originally intended to be the "principal judicial organ" of the African Union (Protocol of the Court of Justice of the African Union, Article 2.2) with authority to rule on disputes over interpretatio ...
, it has been combined with the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights
The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, also known simply as the African Court, is an international court established by member states of the African Union (AU) to implement provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights ...
to form the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR) which is located in Arusha. Tanzania ratified and joined the AU-brokered African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on 17 January 2022, the largest free trade area in the world.
The East African Community consisting of Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is headquartered in Arusha. Tanzania, along with Kenya and Uganda, is a founding member of the EAC in 2000. Following the German defeat in World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
Tanzania joined the London-based East African Currency Board (EACB) that was a customs union and provider of currency for Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya from 1919 to 1948, the East Africa High Commission (EAHC) from 1948 to 1961, and East African Common Services Organization (EACSO) from 1961 to 1966. In 1966 all three countries formed the first East African Community which lasted until 1976, then the East African Co-operation from 1993 to 2000, before becoming reestablished as the East African Community in 2000.
The EAC has had a customs union
A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a)
Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set up ...
since 2005, with a free trade zone between member states and unified tariffs and trade agreements with non-member states and multinational organizations. The customs union also established a unified organization and sets of rules, such as rules of origin
Rules of origin are the rules to attribute a country of origin to a product in order to determine its "economic nationality". The need to establish rules of origin stems from the fact that the implementation of trade policy measures, such as tari ...
, for all trade within, into, and passing through member states. In 2010 a common market was established within the EAC for the free movement of labor, goods, people, capital, and services, as well as established rights of establishment. The East African Monetary Union (EAMU) is proposed to be established in 2024 that will create a single common currency by the East African Central Bank. From the original reestablishment of the EAC, as laid out in Article 5(2) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, the final goal for the EAC is always the political federation of all member states. In 2017 all member states adopted the confederation
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
of EAC as a transitional precursor to the final federation.
The Southern African Development Community consists of 16 nations, including all countries of southern Africa plus Tanzania and the DRC from the Great Lakes. Tanzania is a founding member of SADC in 1994, as well as its predecessor the Frontline States (FLS), from 1960 to 1994. While FLS aimed to end apartheid, its successor SADC has the aims of furthering peace and security along with the economic and political integration of member states.
Military
The Tanzania People's Defence Force
The Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF) ( sw, Jeshi la Ulinzi la Wananchi wa Tanzania) is the military force of the United Republic of Tanzania. It was established in September 1964, following a mutiny by the former colonial military force ...
(TPDF) (Kiswahili: Jeshi la Wananchi wa Tanzania (JWTZ)) is the armed forces of Tanzania, operating as a people's force under civilian control. It is composed of five branches or commands: Land Force (army), Air Force, Naval Command, National Service, Headquarter (MMJ). Tanzanian citizens are able to volunteer for military service from 15 years of age, and 18 years of age for compulsory National military service upon graduation from advanced secondary school. Conscript service obligation was 2 years as of 2004.
Human rights
Throughout Tanzania, sex acts between men are illegal and carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. According to a 2007 Pew Research Centre
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C.
It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the wor ...
survey, 95 percent of Tanzanians believed that homosexuality should not be accepted by society.
People with albinism
Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino.
Varied use and interpretation of the term ...
living in Tanzania are often attacked, killed or mutilated because of superstitions related to the black-magical practice known as muti
Muthi is a traditional medicine practice in Southern Africa as far north as Lake Tanganyika.
Name
In South African English, the word ''muti'' is derived from the Zulu language, Zulu/Xhosa language, Xhosa/Northern Ndebele language, Northern Nde ...
that say body parts of albinos have magical properties. Tanzania has the highest occurrence of this human rights violation among 27 African countries where muti
Muthi is a traditional medicine practice in Southern Africa as far north as Lake Tanganyika.
Name
In South African English, the word ''muti'' is derived from the Zulu language, Zulu/Xhosa language, Xhosa/Northern Ndebele language, Northern Nde ...
is known to be practised.
In December 2019, Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
reported that the Tanzanian government annulled the right of NGOs as well as individuals to directly file any case against it at the Arusha-based African Court for Human and Peoples' Rights.
Economy and infrastructure
, according to the IMF, Tanzania's gross domestic product (GDP) was an estimated $71 billion (nominal), or $218.5 billion on a purchasing power parity
Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the measurement of prices in different countries that uses the prices of specific goods to compare the absolute purchasing power of the countries' currency, currencies. PPP is effectively the ratio of the price of ...
(PPP) basis. GDP per capita (PPP) was $3,574.
From 2009 through to 2013, Tanzania's per capita GDP (based on constant local currency) grew an average of 3.5% per year, higher than any other member of the East African Community
The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republics of Kenya, Burundi, ...
(EAC) and exceeded by only nine countries in Sub-Saharan Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Tanzania's largest trading partners in 2017 for its US$5.3 billion in exports were India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, and China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. Its imports totalled US$8.17 billion, with India, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, China, and the United Arab Emirates being the biggest partners.
Tanzania weathered the Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
, which began in late 2008 or early 2009, relatively well. Strong gold prices, bolstering the country's mining industry
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
, and Tanzania's poor integration into global markets helped to insulate the country from the downturn. Since the recession ended, the Tanzanian economy has expanded rapidly thanks to strong tourism, telecommunications, and banking sectors.
According to the United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
, however, recent growth in the national economy has benefited only the "very few", leaving out the majority of the population. Tanzania's 2013 Global Hunger Index
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool that attempts to measure and track hunger globally as well as by region and by country, prepared by European NGOs of Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe. The GHI is calculated annually, and its results ap ...
was worse than any other country in the EAC except Burundi.["2013 Global Hunger Index"](_blank)
International Food Policy Research Institute. October 2013 The proportion of persons who were undernourished in 2010–12 was also worse than any other EAC country except Burundi.
In 2020, the World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
declared the rise of the Tanzanian economy from low income to lower middle income country
The category of newly industrialized country (NIC), newly industrialized economy (NIE) or middle income country is a socioeconomic classification applied to several countries around the world by political scientists and economists. They represent ...
, as its GNI per capita
This is a list of countries by gross national income per capita in 2020 at nominal values, according to the Atlas method, an indicator of income developed by the World Bank.
Methodology
The GNI per capita is the dollar value of a country's fin ...
increased from US$1,020 in 2018 to US$1,080 in 2019.
Hunger and poverty
The Global Hunger Index ranked the situation as "alarming" with a score of 42 in the year 2000; since then the GHI has declined to 29.5. Children in rural areas suffer substantially higher rates of malnutrition and chronic hunger, although urban-rural disparities have narrowed as regards both stunting and underweight. Low rural sector productivity arises mainly from inadequate infrastructure investment; limited access to farm inputs, extension services and credit; limited technology as well as trade and marketing support; and heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture and natural resources.
Approximately 68 per cent of Tanzania's 61.1 million citizens live below the poverty line of $1.25 a day. 32 per cent of the population are malnourished. The most prominent challenges Tanzania faces in poverty reduction are unsustainable harvesting of its natural resources, unchecked cultivation, climate change and water- source encroachment, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
There are very few resources for Tanzanians in terms of credit services, infrastructure or availability to improved agricultural technologies, which further exacerbates hunger and poverty in the country according to the UNDP. Tanzania ranks 159 out of 187 countries in poverty according to the United Nation's Human Development Index (2014).
The 2019 World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
report showed that in the last 10 years, poverty has reduced by 8 percentage points, from 34.4% in 2007 to 26.4% in 2018. A further report showed a reduction to 25.7% in 2020.
Agriculture
The Tanzanian economy is heavily based on agriculture, which in 2013 accounted for 24.5 per cent of gross domestic product, provides 85% of exports, and accounted for half of the employed workforce; The agricultural sector grew 4.3 per cent in 2012, less than half of the Millennium Development Goal
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenniu ...
target of 10.8%. 16.4 per cent of the land is arable, with 2.4 per cent of the land planted with permanent crop
A permanent crop is one produced from plants which last for many seasons, rather than being replanted after each harvest.
Traditionally, "arable land" included any land suitable for the growing of crops, even if it was actually being used for the ...
s. Tanzania's economy relies on farming, but climate change has impacted their farming.
Maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
was the largest food crop on the Tanzania mainland in 2013 (5.17 million tonnes), followed by cassava (1.94 million tonnes), sweet potatoes (1.88 million tonnes), beans (1.64 million tonnes), bananas (1.31 million tonnes), rice (1.31 million tonnes), and millet (1.04 million tonnes). Sugar was the largest cash crop
A cash crop or profit crop is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from staple crop (or "subsistence crop") ...
on the mainland in 2013 (296,679 tonnes), followed by cotton (241,198 tonnes), cashew nuts (126,000 tonnes), tobacco (86,877 tonnes), coffee (48,000 tonnes), sisal (37,368 tonnes), and tea (32,422 tonnes). Beef was the largest meat product on the mainland in 2013 (299,581 tonnes), followed by lamb/mutton (115,652 tonnes), chicken (87,408 tonnes), and pork (50,814 tonnes).
According to the 2002 National Irrigation Master Plan, 29.4 million hectares in Tanzania are suitable for irrigation farming; however, only 310,745 hectares were actually being irrigated in June 2011.
Industry, energy and construction
Industry and construction is a major and growing component of the Tanzanian economy, contributing 22.2 per cent of GDP in 2013. This component includes mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity and natural gas, water supply, and construction. Mining contributed 3.3 per cent of GDP in 2013. The vast majority of the country's mineral export revenue comes from gold, accounting for 89 per cent of the value of those exports in 2013. It also exports sizeable quantities of gemstones, including diamonds
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...
and tanzanite
Tanzanite is the blue and violet variety of the mineral zoisite (a calcium aluminium hydroxyl sorosilicate), caused by small amounts of vanadium. Tanzanite belongs to the epidote mineral group. Tanzanite is only found in Simanjiro District of M ...
. All of Tanzania's coal production, which totalled 106,000 short tons in 2012, is used domestically.
Only 15 per cent of Tanzanians had access to electric power in 2011, rising to 35.2 per cent in 2018.["Access to electricity (% of population)"](_blank)
World Bank. The government-owned Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited
The Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) is a Tanzanian parastatal organisation established in 1964. It is wholly owned by the government of Tanzania. The Ministry of Energy and Minerals regulates the operations of TANESCO.
Its bu ...
(TANESCO) dominates the electric supply industry in Tanzania. The country generated 6.013 billion kilowatt hours
A kilowatt-hour (unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bil ...
(kWh) of electricity in 2013, a 4.2 per cent increase over the 5.771 billion kWh generated in 2012. Generation increased by 63 per cent between 2005 and 2012; Almost 18 per cent of the electricity generated in 2012 was lost because of theft and transmission and distribution problems.["Tanzania: Electricity and Heat for 2012"](_blank)
The electrical supply varies, particularly when droughts disrupt hydropower electric generation; rolling blackouts are implemented as necessary. The unreliability of the electrical supply has hindered the development of Tanzanian industry. In 2013, 49.7 per cent of Tanzania's electricity generation came from natural gas, 28.9 per cent from hydroelectric sources, 20.4 per cent from thermal sources, and 1.0 per cent from outside the country. The government has built a gas pipeline from Mnazi Bay to Dar es Salaam. This pipeline was expected to allow the country to double its electricity generation capacity to 3,000 megawatts by 2016. The government's goal is to increase capacity to at least 10,000 megawatts by 2025.
According to PFC Energy
PFC Energy is a global energy research and consultancy group.
About
Its services include upstream and gas, midstream and downstream oil, markets and country strategies, and financial sector consulting, as well as scenario planning and country ...
, 25 to 30 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas resources have been discovered in Tanzania since 2010, bringing the total reserves to over 43 trillion cubic feet by the end of 2013. The value of natural gas actually produced in 2013 was US$52.2 million, a 42.7 per cent increase over 2012.
Commercial production of gas from the Songo Songo Island field in the Indian Ocean commenced in 2004, thirty years after it was discovered there.["Natural Gas"](_blank)
. ''ewura.go.tz''. 9 March 2012 Over 35 billion cubic feet of gas was produced from this field in 2013, with proven, probable, and possible reserves totalling 1.1 trillion cubic feet. The gas is transported by pipeline to Dar es Salaam. As of 27 August 2014, TANESCO owed the operator of this field, Orca Exploration Group Inc.
A newer natural gas field in Mnazi Bay in 2013 produced about one-seventh of the amount produced near Songo Songo Island but has proven, probable, and possible reserves of 2.2 trillion cubic feet. Virtually all of that gas is being used for electricity generation in Mtwara
Mtwara (Portuguese: ''Montewara'') is the capital city of Mtwara Region in southeastern Tanzania. In the 1940s, it was planned and constructed as the export facility for the disastrous Tanganyika groundnut scheme, but was somewhat neglected when t ...
.
The Ruvuma and Nyuna regions of Tanzania have been explored mostly by the discovery company that holds a 75 per cent interest, Aminex, and has shown to hold in excess of 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. A pipeline connecting offshore natural gas fields to Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam was completed at the end of April 2015.
Tourism
Travel and tourism contributed 17.5 per cent of Tanzania's gross domestic product in 2016 and employed 11.0 per cent of the country's labour force (1,189,300 jobs) in 2013.["World Travel and Tourism Council Data, 2013"](_blank)
''Knoema''. Overall receipts rose from US$1.74 billion in 2004 to US$4.48 billion in 2013, and receipts from international tourists rose from US$1.255 billion in 2010 to US$2 billion in 2016. In 2016, 1,284,279 tourists arrived at Tanzania's borders compared to 590,000 in 2005. The vast majority of tourists visit Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
or a "northern circuit" of Serengeti National Park
The Serengeti National Park is a large national park in northern Tanzania that stretches over . It is located entirely in eastern Mara Region and north east portion of Simiyu Region and contains over of virgin savanna. The park was established in ...
, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (, ) is a protected area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Ngorongoro District, west of Arusha City in Arusha Region, within the Crater Highlands geological area of northern Tanzania. The area is nam ...
, Tarangire National Park
Tarangire National Park is a national park in Tanzania's Manyara Region. The name of the park originates from the Tarangire River that crosses the park. The Tarangire River is the primary source of fresh water for wild animals in the Tarangire E ...
, Lake Manyara National Park
Lake Manyara National Park is a protected area in Tanzania's Arusha Region, Arusha and Manyara Regions, situated between Lake Manyara and the Great Rift Valley. It is administered by the Tanzania National Parks Authority, and covers an area of i ...
, and Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
. In 2013, the most visited national park was Serengeti (452,485 tourists), followed by Manyara (187,773) and Tarangire (165,949).
Banking
The Bank of Tanzania
The Bank of Tanzania ( sw, Benki Kuu ya Tanzania) is the central bank of the United Republic of Tanzania. It is responsible for issuing the national currency, the Tanzanian shilling.
The bank was established under the Bank of Tanzania Act 1965. ...
is the central bank
A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union,
and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...
of Tanzania and is primarily responsible for maintaining price stability, with a subsidiary responsibility for issuing the banknotes and coins of the Tanzanian shilling
The shilling ( Swahili: ''shilingi''; abbreviation: TSh; code: TZS) is the currency of Tanzania. It is subdivided into 100 ''cents'' (''senti'' in Swahili).
The Tanzanian shilling replaced the East African shilling on 14 June 1966 at par.
No ...
. At the end of 2013, the total assets of the Tanzanian banking industry were TSh 19.5 trillion, a 15 per cent increase over 2012.
Transport
Most transport in Tanzania is by road, with road transport constituting over 75 per cent of the country's freight traffic and 80 per cent of its passenger traffic. The road system is in generally poor condition. Tanzania has two railway companies: TAZARA
The Tazara Railway, also called the Uhuru Railway or the Tanzam Railway, is a railway in East Africa linking the port of Dar es Salaam in east Tanzania with the town of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia's Central Province. The single-track railway is ...
, which provides service between Dar es Salaam and Kapiri Mposhi
Kapiri Mposhi is a Zambian town, seat of the Kapiri Mposhi District, Central Province. Located north of Lusaka, it stands on the Great North Road and is significant for the railway connection between Zambia Railways line from Kitwe to Lusaka ...
(in a copper-mining district in Zambia), and Tanzania Railways Limited
The Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) is a state-owned enterprise that runs one of Tanzania's two main railway networks.
When the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation was dissolved in 1977 and its assets divided between Kenya, Tanza ...
, which connects Dar es Salaam with central and northern Tanzania. Rail travel in Tanzania often entails slow journeys with frequent cancellations or delays, and the railways have a deficient safety record.
In Dar es Salaam, there is a huge project of rapid buses, Dar Rapid Transit (DART) which connects suburbs of Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
city. The development of the DART system consists of six phases and is funded by the African Development Bank, the World Bank and the Government of Tanzania. The first phase began in April 2012, and it was completed in December 2015 and launched operations in May 2016.
Tanzania has four international airports, along with over 120 small airports or landing strips. Airport infrastructure tends to be in poor condition. Airlines in Tanzania include Air Tanzania
Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) ( sw, Kampuni ya Ndege ya Tanzania) is the flag carrier airline of Tanzania based in Dar es Salaam with its hub at Julius Nyerere International Airport.
It was established as Air Tanzania Corporation (ATC ...
, Precision Air
Precision Air Services Plc (operating as Precision Air; DSE:PAL) is a Tanzanian airline based at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam. The airline operates scheduled passenger services to Nairobi, Entebbe, and to various airpo ...
, Fastjet
Fastjet Limited is a UK based holding company of fastjet Zimbabwe, an airline operating in Africa. The airline was initially created following the acquisition of Fly540, an airline operating in East Africa; flights in fastjet's own name commen ...
, Coastal Aviation
Coastal Aviation is an airline that operates out of Julius Nyerere International Airport, Terminal 1, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It services many areas in Tanzania, but also operates regionally to neighboring countries, including Kenya and Rwan ...
, and ZanAir
ZanAir Limited is a domestic airline based in Zanzibar, Tanzania. It was founded in 1992 in Zanzibar.
History
ZanAir was established in 1992 by Carl G. Salisbury, who believed there was a market to be explored in regards to the tourism industry ...
.
Communications
In 2013, the communications sector was the fastest growing in Tanzania, expanding 22.8 per cent; however, the sector accounted for only 2.4 per cent of gross domestic product that year.
As of 2011, Tanzania had 56 mobile telephone subscribers per 100 inhabitants, a rate slightly above the sub-Saharan average. Very few Tanzanians have fixed-line telephones. Approximately 12 per cent of Tanzanians used the internet , though this number is growing rapidly. The country has a fibre-optic cable network that replaced unreliable satellite service, but internet bandwidth remains very low.
Water supply and sanitation
Water supply and sanitation in Tanzania has been characterised by decreasing access to improved water source
An improved water source (or improved drinking-water source or improved water supply) is a term used to categorize certain types or levels of water supply for monitoring purposes. It is defined as a type of water source that, by nature of its co ...
s in the 2000s (especially in urban areas), steady access to some form of sanitation (around 93 per cent since the 1990s), intermittent water supplies, and generally low quality of service.[Ministry of Water and Irrigatio]
Water Sector Status Report 2009
retrieved Feb 2010 Many utilities are barely able to cover their operation and maintenance costs through revenues because of low tariffs and poor efficiency. There are significant regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
differences, with the best performing utilities being Arusha
Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census).
Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern bran ...
, Moshi, and Tanga Tanga may refer to:
Places Burkina Faso
* , a town in eastern Burkina Faso
* Tanga, Sidéradougou, a village in western Burkina Faso
* Tanga-Pela, a village in northern-central Burkina Faso
Other places
* Tanga, Tanzania, a city and port on th ...
.[Caroline van den Berg, Eileen Burke, Leonard Chacha and Flora Kessy]
Public Expenditure Review of the Water Sector
September 2009
The government of Tanzania has embarked on a major sector reform process since 2002. An ambitious National Water Sector Development Strategy that promotes Integrated Water Resources Management
Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slight ...
and the development of urban and rural water supply was adopted in 2006. Decentralisation has meant that responsibility for water and sanitation service provision has shifted to local government authorities and is carried out by 20 urban utilities and about 100 district utilities, as well as by Community Owned Water Supply Organisations in rural areas.
These reforms have been backed by a significant increase of the budget starting in 2006, when the water sector was included among the priority sectors of the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty. The Tanzanian water sector remains heavily dependent on external donors, with 88 per cent of the available funds being provided by external donor organisations.[National Water Sector Development Strategy 2006 to 2015](_blank)
Retrieved 23 February 2010 Results have been mixed. For example, a report by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (English: ''German Agency for International Cooperation GmbH''), often simply shortened to GIZ, is the main German development agency. It is headquartered in Bonn and Eschb ...
noted that "despite heavy investments brought in by the World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
and the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, (the utility serving Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
) has remained one of the worst performing water entities in Tanzania."Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
''Gemeinschaft'' () and ''Gesellschaft'' (), generally translated as "community and society", are categories which were used by the German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies in order to categorize social relationships into two types. The Gesellschaf ...
br>Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reforms in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia:Challenges and Lessons
2008, pp. 8–9
Economic statistics controversy
Two articles in the ''Economist'' in July 2020 raised doubts about official claims of economic growth: "If Tanzania's economy grew by almost 7% in the fiscal year to the end of June 2019, why did tax revenue fall by 1%? And why has bank lending to companies slumped? Private data are bad, too. In 2019 sales at the biggest brewer fell by 5%. Sales of cement by the two biggest producers were almost flat. None of these things is likely if growth is storming ahead. The discrepancies are so large that it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the government is lying."
Tim Staermose, a proponent of African investment, took issue with these data: "Some of these statements by ''The Economist'', based on the evidence I have gathered from primary sources – namely, the statutory financial reports that listed companies in Tanzania are legally obligated to release – are simply not true. Bank lending to companies as far as I can see has not, 'slumped.' The two biggest banks in Tanzania, which between them account for approximately 40% of the banking sector, both reported strong loan growth in 2019. ... As for cement sales being 'almost flat,' again, this is total nonsense. ... In 2019 Twiga sold 6% more cement by volume than it did in 2018. In the first six months of 2020, Twiga already sold 8% more cement than it had done by the same stage in 2019. Again, these numbers are very consistent with an economy that's reported to be growing at around 7% per annum. ... nthe 5% fall in beer sales in 2019 ... the published 2019 annual report by Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL) will tell you there were one-off circumstances that largely drove the decline ... hich
Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
resulted in sales falling. But TBL's profits actually rose in 2019."
Food and nutrition
Poor nutrition remains a persistent problem within Tanzania and varies hugely throughout the country's regions. USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
reports that 16% of children are underweight and 34% experience stunted growth as a result of malnutrition. 10 regions house 58% of children suffering from stunted growth while 50% of acutely malnourished children can be found in 5 regions. Over a 5-year period, the Mara district of Tanzania saw a 15% reduction in stunting in children under 5 years old, falling from 46% to 31% in 2005 and 2010 respectively. Dodoma
Dodoma ( in Gogo), officially Dodoma City, is the national capital of Tanzania and the capital of the Dodoma Region, with a population of 410,956.
In 1974, the Tanzanian government announced that the capital would be moved to Dodoma for social a ...
, on the other hand, saw a 7% increase in the prevalence of stunting in this age group, rising from 50% in 2005 to 57% in 2010. Overall availability of food does not necessarily contribute to overall stunting figures. Iringa
Iringa is a city in Tanzania with a population of 151,345 (). It is situated at a latitude of 7.77°S and longitude of 35.69°E. The name is derived from the Hehe language, Hehe word ''lilinga'', meaning fort. Iringa is the administrative capita ...
, Mbeya
Mbeya is a city located in south west Tanzania, Africa. Mbeya's urban population is 620,000 according to the 2022 census. Mbeya is the capital of the surrounding rural Mbeya region (population, with Mbeya, totals approx. 2 million).
Mbeya is sit ...
and Rukwa
Rukwa Region (''Mkoa wa Rukwa'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions with a postcode number 55000. The regional capital is the municipality of Sumbawanga. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population ...
regions, where overall availability of food is considered acceptable, still experience stunting incidents in excess of 50%. In some areas where food shortages are common, such as in the Tabora
Tabora is the capital of Tanzania's Tabora Region and is classified as a municipality by the Tanzanian government. It is also the administrative seat of Tabora Urban District. According to the 2012 census, the district had a population of 226,999. ...
and Singida
Singida is a town in central Tanzania. The town is the location of the regional headquarters of Singida Region as well as the district headquarters of Singida Urban District. The region and district are named after the town.
Transport
Road lin ...
regions, stunting instances remain comparatively less than those seen in Iringa, Mbeya and Rukwa. The Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre attributes these discrepancies to variance in maternal malnutrition, poor infant feeding practices, hygiene practices and poor healthcare services. Periods of drought can have significant impacts on the production of crops in Tanzania. Drought in East Africa has resulted in massive increases in the prices of food staples such as maize and sorghum
''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...
, crops crucial to the nutrition of the majority of Tanzania's population. From 2015 to 2017 the price of maize when bought wholesale more than tripled, from TSh per kilogramme to per kilogramme.
Tanzania remains heavily agricultural, with 80% of the total population engaging in subsistence farming. Rural areas are subjected to increased food shortages in comparison to urbanised areas, with a survey carried out within the country in 2017 finding 84% of people in rural areas suffering food shortages over a 3-month period compared to 64% of residents in cities. This disparity between rural and city nutrition can be attributed to various factors; increased nutritional needs due to manual labour, more limited access to food as a result of poor infrastructure, high-susceptibility to the damaging effects of nature and the "Agricultural Productivity Gap". The Agricultural Productivity Gap postulates that "value added per worker" is often much lower within the agricultural sector than that found within non-agricultural sectors. Furthermore, allocation of labour within the agricultural sector is largely allocated ineffectively.
Programmes targeting hunger
USAID programmes focusing on nutrition operate within the Morogoro
Morogoro is a city in the eastern part of Tanzania west of Dar es Salaam. Morogoro is the capital of the Morogoro Region.
It is also known informally as "Mji kasoro bahari" which translates to “city short of an ocean/port." The Belgian based ...
, Dodoma
Dodoma ( in Gogo), officially Dodoma City, is the national capital of Tanzania and the capital of the Dodoma Region, with a population of 410,956.
In 1974, the Tanzanian government announced that the capital would be moved to Dodoma for social a ...
, Iringa
Iringa is a city in Tanzania with a population of 151,345 (). It is situated at a latitude of 7.77°S and longitude of 35.69°E. The name is derived from the Hehe language, Hehe word ''lilinga'', meaning fort. Iringa is the administrative capita ...
, Mbeya
Mbeya is a city located in south west Tanzania, Africa. Mbeya's urban population is 620,000 according to the 2022 census. Mbeya is the capital of the surrounding rural Mbeya region (population, with Mbeya, totals approx. 2 million).
Mbeya is sit ...
, Manyara
Manyara Region (''Mkoa wa Manyara'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the town of Babati. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population of 1,425,131, which was lower than the ...
, Songwe and Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
regions of Tanzania. These " Feed the Future" programmes heavily invest in nutrition, infrastructure, policy, capacity of institutions and agriculture which is identified by the organisation as a key area of economic growth in the country. A Tanzanian government led initiative "Kilimo Kwanza" or "Agriculture First" aims to encourage investment into agriculture within the private sector and hopes to improve agricultural processes and development within the country by seeking the knowledge of young people and the innovation that they can potentially provide. During the 1990s, around 25% of Tanzania's population were provided access to iodised oil aimed to target iodine deficiency within expecting mothers, as result of studies showing the negative effects of in-utero iodine deficiency on cognitive development in children. Research showed that children of mothers with access to the supplement achieved on average greater than a third of a year more education than those who did not.
Programmes led by the World Food Programme
The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен ...
operate within Tanzania. The Supplementary Feeding Programme (SFP) aims to target acute malnutrition by supplying blended food fortified with vitamins to pregnant women and mothers to children under 5 on a monthly basis. Pregnant women and mothers to children under 2 have access to the Mother and Child Health and Nutrition Programme's "Super Cereal" which is supplied with the intent of reducing stunting in children. World Food Programme supplementation remains the main food source for Tanzania's refugees. Super Cereal, Vegetable Oil, Pulses and Salt are supplied as part of the Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation to meet the average person's minimum daily caloric requirement of 2,100 kcal. UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
state that continued investment in nutrition within Tanzania is of the utmost importance: Estimates predict that Tanzania stands to lose $20 billion by 2025 if nutrition within the country remains at its current level, however improvements in nutrition could produce a gain of around $4.7 billion
Save the Children, with the help of UNICEF and Irish Aid
, logo = File:Irish Aid logo.jpg
, picture = File:Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Ireland).jpg
, picture_caption = Iveagh House in Dublin, DFA headquarters
, agency_type =
, logo_caption =
, company_type =
, formed = ...
funding created the Partnership for Nutrition in Tanzania (PANITA), in 2011. PANITA aims to use civil society organisations to target nutrition within the country. Alongside this, various sectors associated with nutrition are targeted such as agriculture, water, sanitation, education, economic development and social progress. PANITA is responsible for ensuring significant attention is given to nutrition in development plans and budgets created on national and regional levels within Tanzania. Since its conception, PANITA has grown from 94 to 306 participating civil society organisations nationwide. Agriculture within Tanzania is targeted by the Irish Aid led initiative Harnessing Agriculture for Nutrition Outcomes (HANO), which aims to merge nutrition initiatives with agriculture in the Lindi District of the country. The project aims to reduce stunting by 10% in children aged 0 to 23 months.
Science and technology
Tanzania's first "National Science and Technology Policy" was adopted in 1996. The objective of the government's "Vision 2025" (1998) document was to "transform the economy into a strong, resilient and competitive one, buttressed by science and technology".
Under the umbrella of the One UN Initiative, UNESCO and Tanzanian government departments and agencies formulated a series of proposals in 2008 for revising the "National Science and Technology Policy". The total reform budget of US$10 million was financed from the One UN fund and other sources. UNESCO provided support for mainstreaming science, technology, and innovation into the new "National Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy" for the mainland and Zanzibar namely, Mkukuta II and Mkuza II, including in the field of tourism.
Tanzania's revised science policy was published in 2010. Entitled "National Research and Development Policy", it recognises the need to improve the process of prioritisation of research capacities, develop international co-operation in strategic areas of research and development, and improve planning for human resources. It also makes provisions for the establishment of a National Research Fund. This policy was, in turn, reviewed in 2012 and 2013.
In 2010, Tanzania devoted 0.38 per cent of GDP to research and development. The global average in 2013 was 1.7 per cent of GDP. Tanzania had 69 researchers (in head counts) per million population in 2010. In 2014, Tanzania counted 15 publications per million inhabitants in internationally catalogued journals, according to Thomson Reuters' Web of Science (Science Citation Index Expanded). The average for sub-Saharan Africa was 20 publications per million inhabitants and the global average 176 publications per million inhabitants. Tanzania was ranked 90th in the Global Innovation Index
The Global Innovation Index is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for, and success in, innovation, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization. It was started in 2007 by INSEAD and ''World Business'', a British maga ...
in 2021, up from 97th in 2019.
Demographics
According to the 2012 census, the total population of Tanzania was 44,928,923. The under-15 age group represented 44.1% of the population.
The population distribution in Tanzania is significantly uneven. Most people live on the northern border or the coast, with much of the remainder of the country being sparsely populated.[Joseph Lake (2013) "Economy" in ''Africa South of the Sahara'', edited by Europa Publications and Iain Frame, Routledge. ] Density varies from in the Katavi Region
Katavi Region (''Mkoa wa Katavi'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Estonia. Kagera Region is bordered to ...
to in the Dar es Salaam Region
Dar es Salaam Region (''Mkoa wa Dar es Salaam'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions and is located in the east coast of the country. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land and ...
.
Approximately 70% of the population is rural, although this percentage has been declining since at least 1967. Dar es Salaam (population 4,364,541)[2012 Census General Report]
nbs.go.tz. March 2013 is the largest city and commercial capital. The capital of the country and economic centre of Tanzania, Dodoma
Dodoma ( in Gogo), officially Dodoma City, is the national capital of Tanzania and the capital of the Dodoma Region, with a population of 410,956.
In 1974, the Tanzanian government announced that the capital would be moved to Dodoma for social a ...
(population 410,956)[ is located in central Tanzania, and hosts the ]National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
.
At the time of the foundation of the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964, the child mortality rate was 335 deaths per 1,000 live births. Since independence, the rate of child deaths has declined to 62 per 1000 births.
The population consists of about 125 ethnic groups. The Sukuma, Nyamwezi, Chagga
The Chaga or Chagga (Swahili language: WaChaga) are Bantu-speaking indigenous Africans and the third-largest ethnic group in Tanzania. They traditionally live on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and eastern Mount Meru in both Kilimanjaro Regi ...
, and Haya peoples each have a population exceeding 1 million. Approximately 99 per cent of Tanzanians are of native African
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** Ethn ...
descent, with small numbers of Arab, European, and Asian descent.[ The majority of Tanzanians, including the Sukuma and the Nyamwezi, are ]Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
.
The population also includes people of Arab and Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
origin, and small European and Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
communities. Many also identify as Shirazis. Thousands of Arabs and Indians were massacred during the Zanzibar Revolution
The Zanzibar Revolution () occurred in January 1964 and led to the overthrow of the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government by local Africans.
Zanzibar was an ethnically diverse state consisting of a number of islands off the east co ...
of 1964. As of 1994, the Asian community numbered 50,000 on the mainland and 4,000 on Zanzibar. An estimated 70,000 Arabs and 10,000 Europeans lived in Tanzania.
Some albinos
Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino.
Varied use and interpretation of the term ...
in Tanzania have been the victims of violence in recent years. Attacks are often to hack off the limbs of albinos in the perverse superstitious belief that possessing the bones of albinos will bring wealth. The country has banned witch doctors to try to prevent the practice, but it has continued and albinos remain targets.
According to 2010 Tanzanian government statistics, the total fertility rate
The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if:
# she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime
# she were t ...
in Tanzania was 5.4 children born per woman, with 3.7 in urban mainland areas, 6.1 in rural mainland areas, and 5.1 in Zanzibar. For all women aged 45–49, 37.3 per cent had given birth to eight or more children, and for currently married women in that age group, 45.0 per cent had given birth to that many children.
Religion
Official statistics on religion are unavailable because religious surveys were eliminated from government census reports after 1967. Tanzania's religious field is dominated by Christianity and Islam as well as of different African traditional religions connected to ethnic customs. The word for religion in Swahili, ''dini,'' generally apply to the world religions of Christianity and Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
meaning that followers of traditional African religions are considered to be of "no religion". Religious belonging is often ambiguous, with some people adhering to multiple religious identities at the same time (for instance being Christian but also following African traditional rituals) something which suggests that religious boundaries are flexible and contextual.
According to a 2014 estimate by the ''CIA World Factbook
''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...
'', 61.4% of the population was Christian, 35.2% was Muslim, 1.8% practised traditional African religions, 1.4% were unaffiliated with any religion, and 0.2% followed other religions. Nearly the entire population of Zanzibar is Muslim. Of Muslims, 16% are Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
, 20% are non-denominational Muslims
Non-denominational Muslims () are Muslims who do not belong to, do not self-identify with, or cannot be readily classified under one of the identifiable Islamic schools and branches.
Non-denominational Muslims are found primarily in Central Asi ...
, 40% are Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
, 20 per cent are Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
, and 4% are Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
.
Within the Christian community the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
is the largest group (51% all Christians). Among the Protestants, the large number of Lutherans
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
and Moravians
Moravians ( cs, Moravané or colloquially , outdated ) are a West Slavic ethnographic group from the Moravia region of the Czech Republic, who speak the Moravian dialects of Czech or Common Czech or a mixed form of both. Along with the Silesi ...
points to the German missionary past of the country, while the number of Anglicans
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...
point to the British missionary history of Tanganyika. A growing number have adopted Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement , and Adventists
Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Wil ...
likewise have an increasing presence because of external missionary activities from Scandinavia and the United States, especially during the first part of the 20th century. All of them have had some influence in varying degrees from the Walokole movement (East African Revival
The East African Revival ( lg, Okulokoka) was a movement of renewal in the Church in East Africa during the late 1920s and 1930s. It began on a hill called Gahini in then Belgian Ruanda-Urundi in 1929, then spreading to the eastern mountains of ...
), which has also been fertile ground for the spread of charismatic
Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects.
Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...
and Pentecostal groups.
There are also active communities of other religious groups, primarily on the mainland, such as Buddhists
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
, Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
, and Bahá'ís.
Languages
More than 100 languages are spoken in Tanzania, making it the most linguistically diverse country in East Africa.[ Among the languages spoken are four of Africa's language families: ]Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
, Cushitic
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As o ...
, Nilotic
The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun-sp ...
, and Khoisan
Khoisan , or (), according to the contemporary Khoekhoegowab orthography, is a catch-all term for those indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who do not speak one of the Bantu languages, combining the (formerly "Khoikhoi") and the or ( in t ...
.[ There are no ''de jure'' official languages in Tanzania.]
Swahili is used in parliamentary debate, in the lower courts, and as a medium of instruction in primary school. English is used in foreign trade, in diplomacy, in higher courts, and as a medium of instruction in secondary and higher education,[ The Tanzanian government, however, has plans to discontinue English as a language of instruction.] In connection with his Ujamaa
Ujamaa ( in Swahili) was a socialist ideology that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania after it gained independence from Britain in 1961.
More broadly, ujamaa may mean "cooperative economics ...
social policies, President Nyerere encouraged the use of Swahili to help unify the country's many ethnic groups. Approximately 10 per cent of Tanzanians speak Swahili as a first language, and up to 90 per cent speak it as a second language.[ Many educated Tanzanians are trilingual, also speaking English.] The widespread use and promotion of Swahili is contributing to the decline of smaller languages in the country. Young children increasingly speak Swahili as a first language, particularly in urban areas. Ethnic community languages (ECL) other than Kiswahili are not allowed as a language of instruction. Nor are they taught as a subject, though they might be used unofficially in some cases in initial education. Television and radio programmes in an ECL are prohibited, and it is nearly impossible to get permission to publish a newspaper in an ECL. There is no department of local or regional African Languages and Literatures at the University of Dar es Salaam.
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
is co-official in Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
.
The Sandawe people
The Sandawe are an indigenous ethnic group of Southeast Africa, based in the Chemba District of Dodoma Region in central Tanzania. In 2000, the Sandawe population was estimated to be 40,000.
The Sandawe language is a tonal language that uses c ...
speak a language that may be related to the Khoe languages
The Khoi languages are the largest of the non-Bantu language families indigenous to Southern Africa. They were once considered to be a branch of a Khoisan language family, and were known as Central Khoisan in that scenario. Though Khoisan is n ...
of Botswana and Namibia, while the language of the Hadzabe people
The Hadza, or Hadzabe (''Wahadzabe'' in Swahili), are a Tanzanian indigenous ethnic group mostly based in southwest Karatu District of Arusha Region. They live around Lake Eyasi in the central Rift Valley and in the neighboring Serengeti Plateau ...
, although it has similar click consonant
Click consonants, or clicks, are speech sounds that occur as consonants in many languages of Southern Africa and in three languages of East Africa. Examples familiar to English-speakers are the '' tut-tut'' (British spelling) or '' tsk! tsk!'' ...
s, is arguably a language isolate
Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The num ...
. The language of the Iraqw people
The Iraqw People (; are the Cushitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting the northern Tanzanian regions. They are a significant group in originating in southwestern Arusha and Manyara regions of Tanzania, near the Rift Valley. The Iraqw people se ...
is Cushitic.
Education and Libraries
In 2015, the literacy rate in Tanzania was 77.9% for people aged 15 and over (83.2% males, 73.1% females),. Education is compulsory until children reach age 15. In 2020, 97% completed primary (98.4% females and 95.5% males), 28.3% completed secondary (30% females and 27% males), and 8% completed tertiary education (7% females and 8.5% males).
The Tanzania Library Services Board operates twenty-one regional, eighteen district, and one divisional library.
Healthcare
, life expectancy at birth was 61 years.[ The under-five mortality rate in 2012 was 54 per 1,000 live births.] The maternal mortality
Maternal death or maternal mortality is defined in slightly different ways by several different health organizations. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal death as the death of a pregnant mother due to complications related to pre ...
rate in 2013 was estimated at 410 per 100,000 live births.[ Prematurity and ]malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
were tied in 2010 as the leading cause of death in children under 5 years old. The other leading causes of death for these children were, in decreasing order, malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
, diarrhoea
Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...
, HIV, and measles
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
.
Malaria in Tanzania causes death and disease and has a "huge economic impact".["Focus on Mainland Tanzania", Roll Back Malaria Progress & Impact Series, The Roll Back Malaria Partnership, January 2012, accessed 19 October 2014](_blank)
There were approximately 11.5 million cases of clinical malaria in 2008. In 2007–08, malaria prevalence among children aged 6 months to 5 years was highest in the Kagera Region
Kagera Region (''Mkoa wa Kagera'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Netherlands. Kagera Region is borde ...
(41.1 per cent) on the western shore of Lake Victoria and lowest in the Arusha Region
Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census).
Located below Mount Meru (Tanzania), Mount Meru on the eastern e ...
(0.1 per cent).
According to the 2010 ''Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey 2010'', 15 per cent of Tanzanian women had undergone female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
(FGM)[Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey 2010](_blank)
National Bureau of Statistics, Tanzania Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, April 2011 and 72 per cent of Tanzanian men had been circumcised. FGM is most common in the Manyara
Manyara Region (''Mkoa wa Manyara'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the town of Babati. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population of 1,425,131, which was lower than the ...
, Dodoma
Dodoma ( in Gogo), officially Dodoma City, is the national capital of Tanzania and the capital of the Dodoma Region, with a population of 410,956.
In 1974, the Tanzanian government announced that the capital would be moved to Dodoma for social a ...
, Arusha
Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census).
Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern bran ...
, and Singida
Singida is a town in central Tanzania. The town is the location of the regional headquarters of Singida Region as well as the district headquarters of Singida Urban District. The region and district are named after the town.
Transport
Road lin ...
regions and nonexistent in Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
. The prevalence of male circumcision was above 90 per cent in the eastern (Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
, Pwani, and Morogoro
Morogoro is a city in the eastern part of Tanzania west of Dar es Salaam. Morogoro is the capital of the Morogoro Region.
It is also known informally as "Mji kasoro bahari" which translates to “city short of an ocean/port." The Belgian based ...
regions), northern (Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
, Tanga Tanga may refer to:
Places Burkina Faso
* , a town in eastern Burkina Faso
* Tanga, Sidéradougou, a village in western Burkina Faso
* Tanga-Pela, a village in northern-central Burkina Faso
Other places
* Tanga, Tanzania, a city and port on th ...
, Arusha, and Manyara regions), and central areas (Dodoma and Singida
Singida is a town in central Tanzania. The town is the location of the regional headquarters of Singida Region as well as the district headquarters of Singida Urban District. The region and district are named after the town.
Transport
Road lin ...
regions) and below 50 per cent only in the southern highlands zone (Mbeya
Mbeya is a city located in south west Tanzania, Africa. Mbeya's urban population is 620,000 according to the 2022 census. Mbeya is the capital of the surrounding rural Mbeya region (population, with Mbeya, totals approx. 2 million).
Mbeya is sit ...
, Iringa
Iringa is a city in Tanzania with a population of 151,345 (). It is situated at a latitude of 7.77°S and longitude of 35.69°E. The name is derived from the Hehe language, Hehe word ''lilinga'', meaning fort. Iringa is the administrative capita ...
, and Rukwa
Rukwa Region (''Mkoa wa Rukwa'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions with a postcode number 55000. The regional capital is the municipality of Sumbawanga. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population ...
regions).
2012 data showed that 53 per cent of the population used improved drinking water sources (defined as a source that "by nature of its construction and design, is likely to protect the source from outside contamination, in particular from faecal matter") and 12 per cent used improved sanitation facilities (defined as facilities that "likely hygienically separates human excreta from human contact" but not including facilities shared with other households or open to public use).
Women
Women and men have equality before the law.
The government signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1985.
Nearly 3 out of ten females reported having experienced sexual violence
Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, or act directed against a person's sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim.World Health Organization., World re ...
before the age of 18.
The prevalence of female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
has decreased.
School girls are reinstated back to school after delivery.
The Police Force administration strives to separate the Gender Desks from normal police operations to enhance confidentiality of the processing of women victims of abuse.
Most of the abuses and violence against women and children occurs at the family level.
The Constitution of Tanzania
The Constitution of Tanzania, formally Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania and also known as Permanent Constitution or Fourth Constitution of Tanzania, was ratified in 1977. Before the current establishment, Tanzania has had three con ...
requires that women constitute at least 30% of all elected members of National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
. The gender differences in education and training have implications later in life of these women and girls.
Unemployment is higher for females than for males. The right of a female employee to maternity leave
Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and ...
is guaranteed in labour law.
Culture
Music
As in other countries, the music in Tanzania is constantly undergoing changes, and varies by location, people, settings and occasion. The five music genres in Tanzania, as defined by BASATA
Baraza la Sanaa la Taifa (BASATA; Swahili for National Arts Council) is the national council founded in 1984 by government legislation to serve as a facilitator and promoter of Tanzanian arts, music and theatre arts. BAMUTA
Baraza la Muziki la T ...
are, ngoma, dansi, kwaya, and taarab
Taarab is a music genre popular in Tanzania and Kenya. It is influenced by the musical traditions of the African Great Lakes, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. Taarab rose to prominence in 1928 with the advent of the ...
, with bongo flava
Bongo Flava (or Bongoflava) is a nickname for Tanzanian music. The genre developed in the 1990s, mainly as a derivative of American hip hop and traditional Tanzanian styles such as taarab and dansi, with additional influences from reggae, R ...
being added in 2001. Singeli has since the mid-2000s been an unofficial music of ''uswahilini'', unplanned communities in Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
, and is the newest mainstream genre since 2020.
Ngoma ''(Bantu, meaning dance, drum and event)'' is a traditional dance music that has been the most widespread music in Tanzania. Dansi is urban jazz or band music. Taarab is sung Kiswahili
Swahili, also known by its local name , is the native language of the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent litoral islands). It is a Bantu language, though Swahili ...
poetry accompanied by a band, typically string, in which audience is often, but not always, encouraged to dance and clap. Kwaya is choir music originally limited to church during colonization, but now an secular part of education, social, and political events.
Bongo flava is Tanzanian pop music originating in the early 2000s from ''muziki wa kizazi kipya'', meaning "Music of the new generation", which originated in the late 1980s. Kizazi kipya's dominant influences were reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
, RnB
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
, and hip hop, where as the later bongo flava's dominant influences are taarab and dansi. Three recent influence on bongo flava are Afropop
African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop or Afro pop), like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with western popular music. Many genres of po ...
in the 2010s, as well as amapiano
Amapiano ( Zulu for "the pianos") is a style of house music that emerged in South Africa in the mid 2010s. It is a hybrid of deep house, jazz and lounge music characterized by synths and wide percussive basslines.
It is distinguished by high-pit ...
from South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
and singeli from Tanzania, both since 2020. Singeli is a ngoma music that originated in Manzese, an uswahilini in north-west Dar es Salaam. A MC performs over fast tempo taarab music, often at between 200 and 300 beats per minute (BPM) while females dance. Styles between MC gender typically differ significantly. Male MCs usually perform in fast-paced rap, while female MCs usually perform kwaya.
From independence until 1993, all recording and distribution of music was strictly managed by BASATA, primarily through Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam is a radio service in Tanzania.
Background
In 1973, when the government of Tanzania was under the control of Julius Nyerere’s leadership, the country was primarily focused on establishing ujamaa
Ujamaa ( in Swahil ...
(RTD). Only the 4 Tanzanian genres were permitted to be recorded or broadcast, which at the time was ngoma, taarab, kwaya and dansi. The Broadcasting Services Act of 1993 allowed private broadcast networks and recording studios. In the few years prior to the 1993 Act hip hop had been getting somewhat established in Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Mwanza. It was transitioning from English performances of hip hop originating in uzunguni, rich areas like Oysterbay and Masaki with international schools, to Kiswahili performances of kizazi kipya, originating in uswahilini Following the opening of the radio waves, bongo flava spreading throughout the country, and the rest of the Great Lakes.
National anthem
The Tanzanian national anthem is "Mungu Ibariki Africa
"" () is the national anthem of Tanzania. It is a Swahili language version of Enoch Sontonga's popular hymn "".
Etymology
The word in Swahili means God and its title therefore translates as "God bless Africa".
History
"Mungu ibariki Afrika" ...
" (God Bless Africa). It has kiswahili lyrics adapted for "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika
"Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (, ) is a Christian hymn originally composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a Xhosa people, Xhosa clergyman at a Methodism, Methodist mission school near Johannesburg.
The song became a pan-African liberation song and ver ...
" composed by South African composer Enoch Sontonga
Enoch Mankayi Sontonga ( – 18 April 1905) was a South African composer, who is best known for writing the Xhosa hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (), which, in abbreviated version, has been sung as the first half of the national anthem of South ...
in 1897. "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" became a pan-African song adapted into the current national anthems for Tanzania, Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
, and following the end of apartheid South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. It was previously used in the national anthems for Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
and Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
, but has since been replaced by original new anthems. Another patriotic song is Tanzania, Tanzania.
Literature
Tanzania's literary culture is primarily oral. Major oral literary forms include folktales, poems, riddles, proverbs, and songs. The greatest part of Tanzania's recorded oral literature is in Swahili, even though each of the country's languages has its own oral tradition. The country's oral literature has been declining because of the breakdown of the multigenerational social structure, making transmission of oral literature more difficult, and because increasing modernisation has been accompanied by the devaluation of oral literature.
Books in Tanzania are often expensive and hard to come by.[Tim Doling (1999) ''Tanzania Arts Directory''. Visiting Arts] Most Tanzanian literature is in Swahili or English. Major figures in Tanzanian written literature include Shaaban Robert
Shaaban bin Robert, also known as Shaaban Robert (1 January 1909 – 20 June 1962), was a Tanzanian poet, author, and essayist who supported the preservation of Tanzanian verse traditions. Robert is celebrated as one of the greatest Tanzanian S ...
(considered the father of Swahili literature), Muhammed Saley Farsy, Faraji Katalambulla, Adam Shafi Adam, Muhammed Said Abdalla, Peter K. Palangyo, Said Ahmed Mohammed Khamis, Mohamed Suleiman Mohamed, Euphrase Kezilahabi
Euphrase Kezilahabi (13 April 1944 – 9 January 2020) was a Tanzanian novelist, poet, and scholar. Born in Ukerewe, Tanganyika (now in Tanzania), he last worked at the University of Botswana, as an associate professor at the Department of Afric ...
, Gabriel Ruhumbika
Gabriel Ruhumbika (born 1938) is a Tanzanian novelist, short story writer, translator and academic. His first novel, ''Village in Uhuru'', was published in 1969. He has written several subsequent novels in Swahili. He has also taught literature at ...
, Ebrahim Hussein
Ebrahim Hussein (born 1943) is a Tanzanian playwright and poet. His first play, '' Kinjeketile'' (1969), written in Swahili, and based on the life of Kinjikitile Ngwale, a leader of the Maji Maji Rebellion, is considered "a landmark of Tanzanian ...
, May Materru Balisidya, Fadhy Mtanga
Fadhili Frank Mtanga (born 14 November 1981) popularly known by his pen name Fadhy Mtanga is a Tanzanian
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within ...
, Abdulrazak Gurnah
Abdulrazak Gurnah (born 20 December 1948) is a Tanzanian-born British novelist and academic. He was born in the Sultanate of Zanzibar and moved to the United Kingdom in the 1960s as a refugee during the Zanzibar Revolution. His novels include ...
, and Penina O. Mlama.
Painting and sculpture
Two Tanzanian art styles have achieved international recognition. The Tingatinga school of painting, founded by Edward Said Tingatinga
Edward Saidi Tingatinga (1932–1972) was a Tanzanian painter, best known as the founder of the eponymous painting style and school.
Biography
Birth and family
Tingatinga was born in 1932 in a village called Namochelia, in the Tunduru Distri ...
, consists of brightly coloured enamel paintings on canvas, generally depicting people, animals, or daily life. After Tingatinga's death in 1972, other artists adopted and developed his style, with the genre now being the most important tourist-oriented style in East Africa.
Historically, there were limited opportunities for formal European art training in Tanzania and many aspiring Tanzanian artists left the country to pursue their vocation.
Sports
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
is very popular throughout the country. The most popular professional football clubs in Dar es Salaam are the Young Africans F.C. and Simba S.C.
Simba Sports Club is a football club based in Kariakoo, Dar es Salaam Tanzania,
Founded in 1936, the club, which broke away from another Tanzania Giants, Dar Young Africans was named Queens, in honor of her Majesty, the Queen of England. The C ...
The Tanzania Football Federation is the governing body for football in the country.
Other popular sports include basketball, netball, boxing, volleyball, athletics (sport), athletics, and rugby union, rugby. The National Sports Council also known as Baraza la Michezo la Taifa is the governing body for sports in the country under the Ministry of Information, Youth, Sports and Culture.
Cinema
Tanzania has a popular film industry known as "Bongo Movie". The music industry is known as "Bongo Flava" which is in itself also a niche genre of music in Tanzania.
See also
* Outline of Tanzania
* COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania
Notes
References
Sources
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External links
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Basic Statistics of Tanzania
published as Open data by the National Bureau of Statistics
{{Authority control
Tanzania,
1964 establishments in Tanzania
Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations
Countries in Africa
East African countries
English-speaking countries and territories
Least developed countries
Former German colonies
Member states of the African Union
Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations
Member states of the United Nations
States and territories established in 1964
Swahili-speaking countries and territories