Africa

Tanzania

Tanzania has whatever you are dreaming about - be it tropical islands, climbing the highest mountain in Africa, diving for marine treasures or watching the annual migration of plains game.

Tanzania is without doubt one of the most exciting countries in the world.

Tanzania boasts some of the most romantic and tropical beaches in Africa - Zanzibar and Pemba. Zanzibar Stone Town was once home to Sultans and explorers and is the land of exotic spices, azure waters and white sandy beaches...More Information on Tanzania.

Full country name: United Republic of Tanzania
Area: 364,898 sq mi (945,087 sq km)
Population: 36,766,356 (growth rate: 1.8%); birth rate: 38.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 98.5/1000; life expectancy: 45.2; density per sq mi: 101
Capital City: Dar es Salaam; The legislative offices have been transferred to Dodoma, which is planned as the new national capital; the National Assembly now meets there on regular basis
Language: Swahili, English (both official); Arabic; many local languages
Ethnicity/race: native African 99% (includes 95% Bantu, consisting of well over 100 tribes), Asian, European, and Arab 1%
Religion: mainland: Christian 30%, Islam 35%, indigenous 35%; Zanzibar: more than 99% Islam
Government: Republic
Head of State: Benjamin W. Mkapa
Head of Government: Frederick T. Sumaye

Also Read: A Short Background of Tanzania

History of Tanzania

Tanganyika/Tanzania
Northern Tanganyika’s famed Olduvai Gorge has provided rich evidence of the area’s prehistory, including fossil remains of some of humanity’s earliest ancestors. Discoveries suggest that East Africa may have been the site of human origin.

Little is known of the history of Tanganyika’s interior during the early centuries of the Christian era. The area is believed to have been inhabited originally by ethnic groups using a click-tongue language similar to that of Southern Africa’s Bushmen and Hottentots...More on Tanzania's History.

Overview of Tanzania's Economy

GDP: $23.71 billion
GDP per capita: $700
Annual Growth: 5.8%
Inflation:5.4%
Major Industries: agricultural processing (sugar, beer, cigarettes, sisal twine), diamond, gold and iron mining, soda ash, oil refining, shoes, cement, apparel, wood products, fertilizer, salt.
Major Trading Partners: India, Japan, Netherlands, UK, Germany, South Africa, China, Zambia, UAE, Kenya (2003).
Natural resources: hydropower, tin, phosphates, iron ore, coal, diamonds, gemstones, gold, natural gas, nickel.
Member of EU: No

Also Read: A short note on Economy of Tanzania

Political System of Tanzania

- Government of Tanzania
- Foreign relations of Tanzania
- Political Conditions of Tanzania

Climate, Vegetation and Fauna

There are three main climatic areas in Tanzania; the coastal area and immediate hinterland, where conditions are tropical with temperatures averaging 26.6°C (80°), rainfall varying from, 40 to 76 inches and high in humidity; the central plateau, which is hot and dry (rainfall 20 to 30 inches), although with considerable daily and seasonal temperature variations and the third region is the semi-temperate highland areas, where the climate is healthy and cool. There is seasonal variation in the Lake Victoria area. The eastern sections average only 30 to 40 inches of rain, while the western parts receive up to 90 inches. A small area north of Lake Malawi receive 100 inches of rain. There are two rainy seasons; from November to December and from April to mid-June.


Envoirnment: A land of plains, lakes and mountains with a narrow, low-lying coastal belt...more.

Languages:The official language is Swahili (Kiswahili), which is generally spoken, and various...more.

Education: Around 80% of Tanzanian adults are literate. At the primary level men are slightly better...more.

Culture: Tanzania’s 100 or more different tribal groups are mostly of Bantu origin...more.

Religion Of Tanzania: About 45% of the mainland population is Christian, 35% is Muslim and about 20% follow traditional religious beliefs. The population of Zanzibar is almost completely Muslim.

People of Tanzania: Population distribution in Tanzania is extremely uneven. Density varies from 1 person...more.


Facts for the Traveler

Visas: All visitors require a visa except citizens of some Commonwealth countries (Canada and the UK excepted), Scandinavian countries, the Republic of Ireland, Rwanda and Sudan. For these nationalities, a free visitor’s pass, valid for one to three months, can be picked up at the point of entry (you’ll be asked how long you plan to stay - three months is no problem). You will need proof of yellow fever vaccination if travelling to Zanzibar.
Health: Yellow fever, malaria, bilharzia, tsetse fly, cholera, hepatitis, meningitis, and typhoid. HIV/AIDS is a serious risk, though not as prevalent as in Uganda. Tampons are imported and available only in the bigger towns and cities. Locally made sanitary napkins are generally plentiful.
Time: GMT/UTC plus three hours
Electricity: 230V
Weights & measures: Metric

Also Read: Money & Costs | Public holidays in Tanzania | Events Of Tanzania

When to Go

Tanzania offers an astonishing diversity and concentration of wildlife, from the immense Serengeti and towering Mount Kilimanjaro to the remote national parks of Katavi and Mahale. The best months for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro are August to October and January to March. Tanzania boasts over 1 000 bird species, with Lake Manyara alone being home to more than 400. It is a year round birding destination, but at the height of the northern winter, some 160 species of migrating birds make their way south. Botanically, Tanzania is a treasure-trove, with habitats ranging from Afro-Alpine to semi-desert. The months immediately after the two rainy seasons provide the best floral displays. See under National Parks and Tourist Attractions for information on the migration. Tanzania offers excellent game viewing throughout the year as not all animals migrate and are year-round residents.

Also Read: Getting Around in Tanzania | Getting There & Away

What to See in Tanzania

Other Tourist Attractions in Tanzania

more...

What to do in Tanzania

The Tanzania tourist activity is, of course, the safari - but it’s entirely up to you whether you do it rough or smooth, or a bit of both. A trek to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro is the pinnacle of outdoor adventure, in more ways than one. There’s some great floating to be had in hot-air balloons over the Serengeti. And swimming with dolphins is all the rage on the island of Zanzibar. Snorkelling and scuba diving is equally popular around the world-class coral reefs off nearby Pemba and Mafia islands.

The earliest inhabitants of the area were Khoisan hunter-gatherers. They were largely replaced by Bantu tribes during a series of migrations. The southern part of the country was named Matabeleland after the Ndebele tribe who occupied the area in the early 1800’s under a loose confederation of Ndebele-speaking tribes headed by the Khumalo tribe under [...]
Countries in Africa Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Cote d’Ivoire Democratic Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Republic of the Congo Rwanda Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
Religion in Africa Africans profess a wide variety of religious beliefs, with Christianity and Islam being the most widespread. Approximately 40% of all Africans are Christians and another 40% Muslims. Roughly 20% of Africans primarily follow indigenous African religions. A small number of Africans also have beliefs from the Judaic tradition, such as the Beta Israel [...]
Culture of Africa Africa has a number of overlapping cultures. The most conventional distinction is that between sub-Saharan Africa and the northern countries from Egypt to Morocco, who largely associate themselves with Arabic culture. In this comparison, the nations to the south of the Sahara are considered to consist of many cultural areas, in particular [...]
Demographics of Africa Africans may be grouped according to whether they live north or south of the Sahara Desert; these groups are called North Africans and Sub-Saharan Africans, respectively. Afro-Asiatic speaking peoples predominate in North Africa, while Sub-Saharan Africa is dominated by a number of disparate populations grouped according to their diverse languages–Niger-Congo predominantly in West [...]
Economy of Africa Africa is the world’s poorest inhabited continent: the United Nations’ Human Development Report 2003 (of 175 countries) found that positions 151 (Gambia) to 175 (Sierra Leone) were taken up entirely by African nations. It has had (and in some ways is still having) a shaky and uncertain transition from colonialism, with increases in corruption [...]
Politics in Africa Colonial Africa Colonialism had a destabilizing effect on what had been a number of ethnic groups that is still being felt in African politics. Prior to European influence, national borders were not much of a concern, with Africans generally following the practice of other areas of the world, such as the Arabian peninsula, where [...]
History of Africa Africa is home to the oldest inhabited territory on earth, with the human race originating from this continent. During the mid 20th century, anthropologists discovered many fossils and evidence of human occupation perhaps as early as 7 million years ago. The famous Leakey family, with ties to both Britain and Africa, discovered fossil [...]
Geography of Africa Africa is the largest of the three great southward projections from the main mass of the Earth’s surface. It includes within its remarkably regular outline an area, of c. 30,360,288 km² (11,722,173 mi²), including the islands. Separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea, it is joined to Asia at its northeast extremity by the [...]
Etymology of Africa The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name Africa terra - “land of the Afri” (plural, or “Afer” singular) - for the northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, corresponding to modern-day Tunisia. The Afri were a tribe - possibly Berber [...]

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Africa Travel Guide