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Tanzania

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Countries;
Countries

   SOS Children works in Tanzania. For more information see SOS Children
   in Tanzania, Africa
                      Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania
   United Republic of Tanzania

   Flag of Tanzania Coat of arms of Tanzania
   Flag             Coat of arms
   Motto: "Uhuru na Umoja"  ( Swahili)
   "Freedom and Unity"
   Anthem: Mungu ibariki Afrika
   "God Bless Africa"
   Location of Tanzania
            Capital          Dodoma ( Dar es Salaam)
                             6°00′S 35°00′E
         Largest city        Dar es Salaam
      Official languages     Swahili ( de facto), English
   Government                Republic
    - President              Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete
    - Prime Minister         Edward Lowassa
         Independence        from the United Kingdom
    - Tanganyika             December 9, 1961
    - Zanzibar               December 19, 1963
    - Merger                 April 26, 1964
                                   Area
    - Total                  945,087 km² ( 31st)
                             364,898 sq mi
    - Water (%)              6.2
                                Population
    - November 2006 estimate 37,849,133^1 ( 32nd)
    - 2002 census            34,443,603
    - Density                41/km² ( 159th)
                             106/sq mi
          GDP ( PPP)         2005 estimate
    - Total                  $27.12 billion ( 99th)
    - Per capita             $723 ( 178th)
          HDI  (2004)        0.430 (low) ( 162nd)
           Currency          Tanzanian shilling ( TZS)
           Time zone         EAT ( UTC+3)
    - Summer ( DST)          not observed ( UTC+3)
         Internet TLD        .tz
         Calling code        +255^2
   ^1 Estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects
   of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life
   expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population
   and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age
   and sex than would otherwise be expected.
   ^2 007 from Kenya and Uganda.

   Tanzania IPA: [ˌtænzəˈniə], officially the United Republic of Tanzania
   (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania in Swahili), is a country on the east
   coast of Africa. It is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north,
   Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west,
   and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south. To the east it borders
   the Indian Ocean. The country is named after Tanganyika, its mainland
   part, and the Zanzibar islands off its east coast. The country has been
   a member of the Commonwealth since gaining independence in 1961. In
   1964, Tanganyika united with Zanzibar, forming the United Republic of
   Tanganyika and Zanzibar, later renamed to the United Republic of
   Tanzania. In 1996, Tanzania's capital was officially moved from Dar es
   Salaam to Dodoma, although many government offices still remain in the
   old capital.

History

   A German colony from the 1880s until 1919, the area subsequently became
   a British Mandate from 1919 to 1961. It served as a military outpost
   during WWII and provided financial help as well as munitions. Julius
   Nyerere became Minister of British-administered Tanganyika in 1960 and
   continued as Prime Minister when Tanganyika became independent in 1961.
   Tanganyika and neighbouring Zanzibar, which had become independent in
   1963, merged to form the nation of Tanzania on 26 April 1964. Nyerere,
   a Marxist with close ties to Communist China, introduced African
   socialism, or Ujamaa, which emphasized justice and equality; it proved
   economically disastrous, leading to food shortages as collective farms
   failed under Nyerere's rule.

Tanganyika (1815–1886)

   Tanganyika as a geographical and political entity did not take shape
   before the period of High Imperialism; its name only came into use
   after German East Africa was transferred to the United Kingdom as a
   mandate by the League of Nations in 1920. What is referred to here
   therefore is the history of the region that was to become Tanganyika.

   In 1698 and again in 1725 the Omanis had ousted the Portuguese from the
   trading ports on East Africa's coast, most notably from Kilwa and
   Zanzibar. During the 18th century, Zanzibar had emerged as the dominant
   port of the region. Trade in general had prospered, a chain of coastal
   trading towns, among them Tanga and Bagamoyo, had emerged. Bagamoyo, a
   name derived from the term "Bwaga Moyo" which means 'throw your heart
   away'; was a port from where slaves were shipped.

   In 1841, Sultan Sayyid Said moved his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar;
   with him came many Arabs who invigorated the economy. In 1856, the
   Sultanate of Zanzibar was separated from the Sultanate of Oman; to
   Zanzibar belonged the island of Pemba as well as the coastal lands,
   including Kilwa. Arab traders established caravan routes into the
   interior, facilitating trades; the camel provided transportation.
   Slaves were among the most profitable trading goods.

   The port of Zanzibar was visited by Dutch, English and French ships.
   The British East India Company had a representative on Zanzibar, who
   acted as an advisor to the sultan. In 1873 a British fleet forced
   Sultan Barghash to declare slave trade ended. Although reduced, an
   illegal slave trade continued.

   In 1848 the German missionary Johannes Rebmann discovered Mount
   Kilimanjaro; in 1858 Richard Burton and John Speke discovered and
   mapped Lake Tanganyika.

   In 1877 the first of a series of Belgian expeditions arrived on
   Zanzibar. In the course of these expeditions, in 1879 a station was
   founded in Kigoma on the eastern bank of Lake Tanganyika, soon to be
   followed by the station of Mpala on the opposite western bank. Both
   stations were founded in the name of the Comite D'Etudes Du Haut Congo,
   a predecessor organization of the Congo Free State. The fact that this
   station had been established and supplied from Zanzibar and Bagamoyo
   lead to the inclusion of East Africa into the territory of the
   Conventional Basin of the Congo at the Berlin Conference of 1885.

   At the conference table in Berlin, contrary to widespread perception,
   Africa was not partitioned; rather rules were established amongst the
   colonial powers and prospective colonial powers as how to proceed in
   the establishment of colonies and protectorates. While the Belgian
   interest soon concentrated on the Congo River, the British and Germans
   focused on Eastern Africa and in 1886 partitioned continental East
   Africa amongst themselves; the Sultanate of Zanzibar, now reduced to
   the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, remained independent, for the
   moment.

   The Congo Free State was eventually to give up its claim on Kigoma (its
   oldest station in Central Africa) and on any territory to the east of
   Lake Tanganyika, to Germany.

The Maji Maji War

   All resistance to the Germans in the interior ceased and they could now
   set out to organize Deutsch Ost Afrika. They continued exercising their
   authority with such disregard and contempt for existing local
   structures and traditions and with such brutality that discontent was
   brewing anew and in 1902 a movement against forced labour for a cotton
   scheme rejected by the local population started along the Rufiji River.

   It reached a breaking point in July 1905 when the Matumbi of Nandete
   led by Kinjikitile Ngwale (traditional leader) chased their akida and
   suddenly the revolt grew wider from Dar es Salaam to the Uluguru
   Mountains, the Kilombero Valley, the Mahenge and Makonde Plateaux, the
   Ruvuma in the southernmost part and Kilwa, Songea, Masasi, and from
   Kilosa to Iringa down to the eastern shores of Lake Nyasa.

   Known as the Maji Maji war with the main brunt borne by the Ngonis,
   this was a merciless rebellion and by far the bloodiest in Tanganyika.

   Germans had occupied the area since 1897 and totally altered many
   aspects of everyday life. They were actively supported by the
   missionaries who tried to destroy all signs of indigenous beliefs,
   notably by razing the 'mahoka' huts where the local population
   worshipped their ancestors' spirits and by ridiculing their rites,
   dances and other ceremonies. This would not be forgotten or forgiven;
   the first battle which broke out at Uwereka in September 1905 under the
   Governorship of Count Gustav Adolf von Götzen turned instantly into an
   all-out war with indiscriminate murders and massacres perpetrated by
   all sides against farmers, settlers, missionaries, planters, villages,
   indigenous people and peasants.

War with Germany in East Africa

   At the outbreak of war the German authorities may have regarded the
   position of their premier Colony with considerable equanimity although
   it must inevitably be cut off from outside communication; for it had
   been organized against any attack that could be made without those
   extensive preparations for which, according to the German war
   programme, the essential factor of time would be lacking. Indeed for
   the first year of hostilities the Germans were strong enough to carry
   the war into their neighbours' territories and repeatedly attacked the
   railway and other points in British East Africa.

   The forces at the disposal of the German Command may never be
   accurately known. Lieutenant-General Smuts at one time estimated them
   at 2,000 Germans and 16,000 Askaris, with 60 guns and 80 machine guns,
   but this should prove to be below the mark. The white adult male
   population in 1913 numbered over 3,500 (exclusive of garrison), a large
   proportion of these would be available for military duties. The native
   population of over 7,000,000, comprising practically all the warlike
   races of Central Africa, formed a reservoir of man-power from which a
   force might be drawn limited only by the supply of officers and
   equipment. There is no reason to doubt that the Germans made the best
   of this material during the long interval of nearly eighteen months
   which separated the outbreak of war from the invasion in force of their
   territory.

   In his final despatch of May, 1919, General van Deventer places the
   German forces, at the commencement of 1916, at 2,700 whites and 12,000
   blacks. Lord Cranford, in his foreword to Captain Angus Buchanan's book
   on the war, writes - "At his strongest von Lettow probably mustered
   25,000 to 30,000 rifles, all fighting troops", with 70 machine guns and
   40 guns. After eighteen months of continuous fighting General van
   Deventer estimated the enemy's forces at 8,000 to 9,000 men.

   Another point bearing on the war and duly emphasized by General Smuts
   in his lecture before the Royal Geographic Society(Jan., 1918), was the
   extraordinary strength of the German frontier. The coast line offered
   few suitable points for landing and was backed by an unhealthy swamp
   belt. On the west the line of lakes and mountains proved so
   impenetrable that the Belgian forces from the Congo had, in the first
   instance, to be moved through Uganda. On the south the Ruvuma River was
   only fordable on its upper reaches. And the northern frontier was the
   most difficult of all. Only one practicable pass about five miles wide
   offered between the Pare Mountains and Kilimanjaro, and here the German
   forces, amid swamps and forests, had been digging themselves in for
   eighteen months.

   The Hon. H. Burton, speaking in London, Aug., 1918, said : "Nothing
   struck our commanders in the East African field so much as the
   thorough, methodical and determined training of the German native
   levies previous to the war".

   The force which evacuated the Colony in Dec., 1917, was estimated at
   the time at 320 white and 2,500 black troops; 1,618 Germans were killed
   or captured in the last six months of 1917, 155 whites and 1,168
   Askaris surrendered at the close of hostilities.

The war years

   A skilful and remarkably successful guerrilla campaign waged by the
   German Commander Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck kept the war in
   Tanganyika going for the entire length of the First World War. A
   scorched earth policy and the requisition of buildings meant a complete
   collapse of the Government's education system, though some mission
   schools managed to retain a semblance of instruction. Thus by 1920, the
   Education Department consisted of 1 officer and 2 clerks with a budget
   equal to 1% of the country's revenue, in fact less than the amount
   appropriated for the maintenance of Government House.

History of East Africa

   The mandate to administer the former German Colony was conferred to the
   United Kingdom under the terms of the Supreme Council of the League of
   Nations. The United Kingdom transferred the Provinces of Ruanda and
   Urundi, in the N.W., to Belgium, with the concurrence of the Supreme
   Council. These Provinces contained three-sevenths of the population and
   more than half the cattle of the Colony.

   Naval Defence. The boundaries of the East Indies Station, on the
   African coast, were enlarged in 1919, and include Zanzibar and what was
   the littoral of "German" East Africa.

   Dar-es-Salaam remained the seat of Government of the conquered Colony.
   The first Administrator was Sir Horace Archer Byatt, C.M.G. The native
   troops went back quietly to their villages and the few Germans that
   remained were reported as settling down under the new Administration.

Tanganyika Order in Council

   In 1920, by the Tanganyika Order in Council, 1920, the Office of
   Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Territory was constituted. The
   administration of the Territory continued to be carried out under the
   terms of the mandate until its transfer to the Trusteeship System under
   the Charter of the United Nations by the Trusteeship Agreement of
   December 13, 1946.

Tanganyika, a British Mandate (1918–1939)

   The period of British rule began with the occupation of the island of
   Mafia by the Royal Navy in 1914. In 1916, the colony was occupied;
   German troops, commanded by able Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck continued
   to resist until the end of the war. In 1920, the League of Nations,
   granted the mandate to administrate the former German colony of German
   East Africa, except Ruanda and Burundi, to the United Kingdom.

   The colony was renamed Tanganyika Territory (1920). In 1921 the
   Belgians transferred the Kigoma district, which they had administered
   since the occupation, to British administration. The United Kingdom and
   Belgium signed an agreement regarding the border between Tanganyika and
   Ruanda-Urundi in 1924.

   British policy was to rule indirectly, i.e. through African leaders. In
   1926, a Legislative Council was established, which was to advise the
   governor. In 1928 the railway line Tabora-Mwanga was opened to traffic,
   the line from Moshi to Arusha in 1929.

   In 1919 the population was estimated at 3,500,000. In 1931 a census
   established the population of Tanganyika at 5,022,640 natives, in
   addition to 32,398 Asians and 8,228 Europeans.

   Under British rule, efforts were undertaken to fight the Tsetse fly
   (Charles Swynnerton, since 1919), to fight Malaria and Bilharziasis;
   more hospitals were built.

   In 1926, the Colonial administration provided subsidies to schools run
   by missionaries, and at the same moment established her authority to
   exercise supervision and to establish guidelines. Yet in 1935, the
   education budget for entire Tanganyika amounted to merely (US) $
   240,000, although it is unclear how much this represented at the time
   in terms of purchasing power parity.

   In 1933, Sir Horace Hector Hearne was appointed as Puisne Judge,
   Tanganyika Territory, and acted as Chief Justice in 1935 and 1936. He
   held the post of Puisne Judge until 1936/1937 when he went on to be a
   Puisne Judge in Ceylon.

British administration

   The British administration took measures to revive African institutions
   by encouraging limited local rule and authorized the formation in 1922
   of political clubs such as the Tanganyika Territory African Civil
   Service Association. In 1926 some African members were unofficially
   admitted into the Legislative Council and in 1929 the Association
   became the Tanganyika African Association which would constitute the
   core of the nascent nationalist movement. In 1945 the first Africans
   were effectively appointed to the Governor's Legislative Council.

   Tanganyika first achieved autonomy and (some months later) full
   independence from the United Kingdom in 1961, with the Republic of
   Tanganyika constituted in the following year. In 1963, Zanzibar
   achieved independence from the United Kingdom in the form of a
   constitutional monarchy under the sultan, but a popular revolt in 1964
   against the sultan soon led to the unification of Zanzibar with
   Tanganyika to form the United Republic of Tanzania. The name Tanzania
   is a combination of Tanganyika and Zanzibar and previously had no
   significance.

Recent history

   In 1979, Tanzania declared war on Uganda after Uganda invaded and tried
   to annex the northern Tanzanian province of Kagera. Tanzania not only
   expelled Ugandan forces, but, enlisting the country's population of
   Ugandan exiles, also invaded Uganda itself. On April 11, 1979, Idi Amin
   was forced to quit the capital, Kampala. The Tanzanian army took the
   city with the help of the Ugandan and Rwandan guerrillas. Amin fled
   into exile.

   Nyerere handed over power to Ali Hassan Mwinyi in 1985, but retained
   control of the ruling party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), as Chairman
   until 1990, when he handed that responsibility to Mwinyi. In October
   1995, one-party rule came to an end when Tanzania held its first ever
   multi-party election. However, CCM comfortably won the elections and
   its candidate Benjamin Mkapa was subsequently sworn in as the new
   president of the United Republic of Tanzania on 23 November 1995. In
   December 2005, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete was elected the 4th president for
   a five-year term.

   One of the deadly 1998 U.S. embassy bombings occurred in Dar es Salaam;
   the other was in Nairobi, Kenya. In 2004, the undersea earthquake on
   the other side of the Indian ocean caused tidal surges along Tanzania's
   coastline in which 11 people were killed. An oil tanker also
   temporarily ran aground in the Dar es Salaam harbour, damaging an oil
   pipeline.
   Battle of Tanga, fought between the British and Germans during World
   War I.
   Enlarge
   Battle of Tanga, fought between the British and Germans during World
   War I.

Politics

   Tanzania's president and National Assembly members are elected
   concurrently by direct popular vote for five-year terms. The president
   appoints a prime minister who serves as the government's leader in the
   National Assembly. The president selects his cabinet from among
   National Assembly members. The Constitution also empowers him to
   nominate ten non-elected members of Parliament, who also are eligible
   to become cabinet members. Elections for president and all National
   Assembly seats were held in December 2005.

   The unicameral National Assembly elected in 2000 has 295 members. These
   295 members include the Attorney General, five members elected from the
   Zanzibar House of Representatives to participate in the Parliament, the
   special women's seats which are made up of 20% of the seats a
   particular party has in the House, 181 constituents seats of members of
   Parliament from the mainland, and 50 seats from Zanzibar. Also in the
   list are forty-eight appointed for women and the seats for the 10
   nominated members of Parliament. At present, the ruling CCM holds about
   93% of the seats in the Assembly. Laws passed by the National Assembly
   are valid for Zanzibar only in specifically designated union matters.

   Zanzibar's House of Representatives has jurisdiction over all non-union
   matters. There are currently seventy-six members in the House of
   Representatives in Zanzibar, including fifty elected by the people, ten
   appointed by the president of Zanzibar, five ex officio members, and an
   attorney general appointed by the president. In May 2002, the
   government increased the number of special seats allocated to women
   from ten to fifteen, which will increase the number of House of
   Representatives members to eighty-one. Ostensibly, Zanzibar's House of
   Representatives can make laws for Zanzibar without the approval of the
   union government as long as it does not involve union-designated
   matters. The terms of office for Zanzibar's president and House of
   Representatives also are five years. The semiautonomous relationship
   between Zanzibar and the union is a relatively unique system of
   government.

   Tanzania has a five-level judiciary combining the jurisdictions of
   tribal, Islamic, and British common law. Appeal is from the primary
   courts through the district courts, resident magistrate courts, to the
   high courts, and Court of Appeals. Judges are appointed by the Chief
   Justice, except those for the Court of Appeals and the High Court who
   are appointed by the president. The Zanzibari court system parallels
   the legal system of the union, and all cases tried in Zanzibari courts,
   except for those involving constitutional issues and Islamic law, can
   be appealed to the Court of Appeals of the union. A commercial court
   was established in September 1999 as a division of the High Court.

Administrative divisions

   For administrative purposes, Tanzania is divided into twenty-six
   regions (mkoa), twenty-one on the mainland and five on Zanzibar (three
   on Unguja, two on Pemba). ninety-eight districts (wilayat) each with at
   least one council have been created to further increase local
   authority; the councils are also known as local government authorities.
   Currently there are 114 councils operating in ninety-nine districts;
   twenty-two are urban and ninety-two are rural. The twenty-two urban
   units are further classified as city councils (Dar es Salaam and
   Mwanza), municipal councils (Arusha, Dodoma, Iringa, Kilimanjaro,
   Mbeya, Morogoro, Shinyanga, Tabora, and Tanga) or town councils (the
   remaining eleven communities).

   Tanzania's regions are:
   Arusha • Dar es Salaam • Dodoma • Iringa • Kagera • Kigoma •
   Kilimanjaro • Lindi • Manyara • Mara • Mbeya • Morogoro • Mtwara •
   Mwanza • Pemba North • Pemba South • Pwani • Rukwa • Ruvuma •
   Shinyanga • Singida • Tabora • Tanga • Zanzibar Central/South •
   Zanzibar North • Zanzibar Urban/West

   For regions ranked by total area, land area and water area, see List of
   Tanzanian regions by area.
   Tarangire National Park in Tanzania
   Enlarge
   Tarangire National Park in Tanzania

Geography

   Map of Tanzania
   Enlarge
   Map of Tanzania

   At 364,875 mi² (945,087 km² ), Tanzania is the world's 31st-largest
   country (after Egypt). It is comparable in size to Nigeria, and is
   about half the size of the US state of Alaska.

   Tanzania is mountainous in the north-east, where Mount Kilimanjaro,
   Africa's highest peak, is situated. To the north and west are the Great
   Lakes of Lake Victoria (Africa's largest lake) and Lake Tanganyika.
   Central Tanzania comprises a large plateau, with plains and arable
   land. The eastern shore is hot and humid, with the island of Zanzibar
   lying just offshore.

   Tanzania contains many large and ecologically significant wildlife
   parks, including the famous Serengeti National Park in the north.

Environment

   Summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
   Enlarge
   Summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

   Tanzania has considerable land area of wildlife habitat, including much
   of the Serengeti plain, where Blue Wildebeest and other bovids
   participate in a large scale annual migration. Up to 250,000 Blue
   Wildebeest perish each year in the long and arduous movement to find
   forage in the dry season.

   Poachers in Tanzania both hunt endangered animals and transport ivory
   from Kenya. Among other groups, LAMES – the Jamaican Association for
   More Environmental Safety – has been working to stop poachers in
   Tanzania, tagging animals so they may be tracked.

   Tanzania has developed a Biodiversity Action Plan to address species
   conservation.

Economy

   Irente viewpoint, Lushoto, Tanga Region.
   Enlarge
   Irente viewpoint, Lushoto, Tanga Region.
   Ngurdoto Crater at Arusha National Park in Tanzania, East Africa.
   Enlarge
   Ngurdoto Crater at Arusha National Park in Tanzania, East Africa.

   The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which accounts for
   half of GDP, provides 85% of exports, and employs 90% of the work
   force. Topography and climatic conditions, however, limit cultivated
   crops to only 4% of the land area. Industry is mainly limited to
   processing agricultural products and light consumer goods. The World
   Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and bilateral donors have
   provided funds to rehabilitate Tanzania's deteriorated economic
   infrastructure. Tanzania has vast amounts of natural resources
   including gold deposits - gold mines such as that at Tulawaka have
   reserves of over 500,000 ounces of gold, at a grade of 12.2 grams per
   tonne. . It also has beautiful national parks that remain undeveloped.
   Growth from 1991 to 1999 featured a pickup in industrial production and
   a substantial increase in output of minerals, led by gold. Natural gas
   exploration in the Rufiji Delta looks promising and production has
   already started . Recent banking reforms have helped increase private
   sector growth and investment. Short-term economic progress also depends
   on curbing corruption and cutting on unnecessary public spending .

   Prolonged drought during the early years of the 21st Century has
   severely reduced electricity generation capacity (some 60% of
   Tanzania's electricity supplies are generated by hydro electric schemes
   . Plans to increase gas and coal fuelled generation capacity are likely
   to take some years to implement, and growth is forecast to be increased
   to seven per cent per year, and perhaps eight or more.

Demographics

   Population distribution in Tanzania is extremely uneven. Density varies
   from 1 person per square kilometer (3/mi²) in arid regions to 51 per
   square kilometer (133/mi²) in the mainland's well-watered highlands to
   134 per square kilometer (347/mi²) on Zanzibar. More than 80% of the
   population is rural. Dar es Salaam is the largest city; Dodoma, located
   in the centre of Tanzania is the new capital.

   The African population consists of more than 120 ethnic groups, of
   which the Sukuma, Haya, Nyakyusa, Nyamwezi, and Chaga have more than 1
   million members. Other groups include the Pare, Sambaa or Shambala and
   Ngoni. The majority of Tanzanians, including such large ethnic groups
   as the Sukuma and the Nyamwezi, have Bantu origins. Groups of Nilotic
   or related origin include the nomadic Masai and the Luo, both of which
   are found in greater numbers in neighboring Kenya. Two small groups
   speak languages of the Khoisan family peculiar to the people of the
   Kalahari in southern Africa. Cushitic-speaking peoples, originally from
   the Ethiopian highlands, reside in a few areas of Tanzania. Other Bantu
   groups were refugees from Mozambique.

   Although much of Zanzibar's African population came from the mainland,
   one group known as Shirazis claims its origins to be the supposed
   island's early Persian settlers. Non-Africans residing on the mainland
   and Zanzibar account for 1% of the total population. The Asian
   community, including Hindus, Sikhs, Shi'a and Sunni Muslims, and Goans,
   has declined by 50% in the past decade to 50,000 on the mainland and
   4,000 on Zanzibar. An estimated 70,000 Arabs and 10,000 Europeans
   reside in Tanzania.

   Each ethnic group has its own language. No language is de jure
   official, but Swahili is the national language, used for intertribal
   communication and for official matters; thus Swahili is de facto
   official. After independence, English, the language of colonial
   administration during the era of British rule, was still used for some
   official issues, and was thus considered de facto official alongside
   Swahili. As official usage of English has greatly diminished over the
   last decades, and is now practically absent, it is now more common to
   regard Swahili as the only de facto official language. Other spoken
   languages are Indian languages, especially Gujarati, and Portuguese
   (both spoken by Mozambican blacks and Goans).

   Tanzania is a religiously divided society. Islam is the largest
   religion in Tanzania. On the mainland, muslims account for 35% of the
   population,an estimated 30% of the population is Christian, and 35%
   adheres to traditional faiths. On Zanzibar, by contrast, the population
   is 99% Muslim.

Culture

   The head of a wildebeest in Tanzania.
   Enlarge
   The head of a wildebeest in Tanzania.
   A bar in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
   Enlarge
   A bar in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

   Taarab Music is a fusion of Swahili tunes sung in rhythmic poetic style
   spiced with Arabic or, at times, Indian melodies. It is an extremely
   lively art form springing from a classical culture, still immensely
   popular with women, drawing all the time from old and new sources.
   Taarab forms a major part of the social life of the Swahili people
   along the coastal areas; especially Zanzibar, Tanga and even further in
   Mombasa and Malindi along the Kenya coast. Wherever the Swahili
   speaking people travelled, Tarabu culture moved with them. It has
   penetrated to as far as Uganda. Rwanda and Burundi in the interior of
   East Africa, where taarab groups compete in popularity with other
   western-music inspired groups.

   These days a taarab revolution is taking place and much heated debate
   continues about the music which has been changed drastically by the
   East African Melody phenomenon. Melody, as they are affectionately
   known by their mostly women fans, play modern taarab, which, for the
   first time, is 'taarab to dance to' and features direct lyrics, by-
   passing the unwritten laws of lyrical subtlety of the older groups such
   as Egyptian Musical Club and Al-Wattan Musical Club where meaning to
   their songs where only alluded to and never directly inferred. Today
   taarab songs are explicit sometimes even graphic in sexual connotation.
   Much of the music, today, of groups like Melody and Muungano is
   composed and played on keyboards, increasing portability, hence the
   group is much smaller in number than 'real taarab' orchestras and
   therefore more readily available to tour and play shows throughout the
   region and beyond.

   Mbaraka Mwinshehe was the most popular and original musician of
   Tanzania, also there is a greater influx of musicians from the
   Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), who were entering the
   country as refugees and made residence in the country. But in recent
   years, mainly from the mid-nineties, new generation of musicians has
   emerged and are coming up with popular tunes which are Tanzanian in
   composition. Bands like Twanga Pepeta have managed to curve a new tune
   distinct from imported Zairean tunes and are competing with Zairean
   bands in popularity and audience acceptance.

   The Tanzanian artistes have devised a new style going by the name of "
   Bongo Flava", which is blend of all sorts of melodies, beats, rhythms
   and sounds. The trend among the Tanzanian music consumers has started
   changing towards favouring products from their local artists who sing
   in Swahili, the national language.

   The mushrooming of FM music stations and reasonable production studios
   has been a major boost to the music industry in the country.
   Contemporary artists like Juma Nature, Lady Jaydee, Mr. Nice, Mr. II,
   Cool James, Dully Sykes and many others command a huge audience of
   followers in the country and neighbouring countries.

   More information about Tanzanian music and events can be found on the
   various portals that have sprung up recently. Tanzania has an
   enormously high growth-rate for internet technologies, estimated at up
   to 500% per year. Because costs for computers are still quite high many
   users share connections at internet cafes or at work. naomba.com
   business directory, Movie and Sports information, Arusha locality
   information all are part of an increasing number of websites dedicated
   to the region.

Education

Geographic locale

   Regions of Tanzania

    Flag of Tanzania Arusha | Dar es Salaam | Dodoma | Iringa | Kagera |
     Kigoma | Kilimanjaro | Lindi | Manyara | Mara | Mbeya | Morogoro |
   Mtwara | Mwanza | Pemba North | Pemba South | Pwani | Rukwa | Ruvuma |
       Shinyanga | Singida | Tabora | Tanga | Zanzibar Central/South |
                    Zanzibar North | Zanzibar Urban/West

   Countries of East Africa

   Djibouti · Eritrea · Ethiopia · Kenya · Somalia · Tanzania · Uganda
   Countries of Africa

   Sovereign states
   Algeria • Angola • Benin • Botswana • Burkina Faso • Burundi •
   Cameroon • Cape Verde • Central African Republic • Chad •
   Democratic Republic of the Congo • Republic of the Congo • Comoros •
   Côte d'Ivoire • Djibouti • Egypt^1 • Equatorial Guinea • Eritrea •
   Ethiopia • France^2 • Gabon • The Gambia • Ghana • Guinea-Bissau •
   Guinea • Kenya • Lesotho • Liberia • Libya • Madagascar • Malawi •
   Mali • Mauritania • Mauritius • Morocco • Mozambique • Namibia •
   Niger • Nigeria • Portugal^2 • Rwanda • Senegal • Seychelles • Sierra
   Leone • Somalia • South Africa • Spain^2 • Sudan • Swaziland • São Tomé
   and Príncipe • Tanzania • Togo • Tunisia • Uganda • Yemen^3 • Zambia •
   Zimbabwe

   Dependencies  |  Unrecognized
   French Southern and Antarctic Lands (France) • Mayotte (France) •
   St. Helena^4 (UK)  |  Somaliland • SADR

   ^1  Partly in Asia.  ^2  Mostly in Europe.  ^3  Mostly in Asia.
   ^4 Includes the dependencies of Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha.
   Countries and territories on the Indian Ocean

   Eurasia: Bahrain • Bangladesh • Christmas Island • Cocos (Keeling)
   Islands • India • Indonesia • Iran • Iraq • Israel • Kuwait • Malaysia
   • Maldives • Myanmar • Oman • Pakistan • Qatar • Saudi Arabia • Sri
   Lanka • Thailand • United Arab Emirates • Yemen

   Africa: Comoros • Djibouti • Eritrea • Kenya • Madagascar • Mauritius •
   Mayotte • Mozambique • Seychelles • Somalia • Somaliland • South Africa
   • Sudan • Tanzania

   Oceania: Australia • Christmas Island • Cocos (Keeling) Islands

   Islands: Bahrain • Christmas Island • Cocos (Keeling) Islands •
   Madagascar • Maldives • Mauritius • Mayotte • Seychelles • Sri Lanka
   UN Security Council Members
   Flag of the UN

   Permanent Members: China • France • Russia • United Kingdom • United
   States

   Term ending 31 December 2006: Argentina • Denmark • Greece • Japan •
   TanzaniaTerm ending 31 December 2007: Congo-Brazzaville • Ghana • Peru
   • Qatar • Slovakia
   Flag of the SADC    Member states of the Southern African Development
   Community

   Angola • Botswana • Democratic Republic of the Congo • Lesotho •
   Madagascar • Malawi • Mauritius • Mozambique • Namibia • Seychelles •
   South Africa • Swaziland • Tanzania • Zambia • Zimbabwe
   Member states of the African Union

   Algeria • Angola • Benin • Botswana • Burkina Faso • Burundi •
   Cameroon • Cape Verde • Central African Republic • Chad • Comoros •
   Democratic Republic of the Congo • Republic of the Congo •
   Côte d'Ivoire • Djibouti • Egypt • Eritrea • Ethiopia •
   Equatorial Guinea • Gabon • The Gambia • Ghana • Guinea •
   Guinea-Bissau • Kenya • Lesotho • Liberia • Libya • Madagascar •
   Malawi • Mali • Mauritania • Mauritius • Mozambique • Namibia • Niger •
   Nigeria • Rwanda • São Tomé and Príncipe • Senegal • Seychelles •
   Sierra Leone • Somalia • South Africa • Sudan • Swaziland • Tanzania •
   Togo • Tunisia • Uganda • Western Sahara  (SADR) • Zambia • Zimbabwe
   Niger-Congo-speaking nations
   Kordofanian

   Flag of Sudan  Sudan
   Mande

   Flag of The Gambia  The Gambia • Flag of Guinea  Guinea • Flag of
   Guinea-Bissau  Guinea-Bissau • Flag of Mali  Mali • Flag of Mauritania
    Mauritania • Flag of Senegal  Senegal • Flag of Sierra Leone  Sierra
   Leone
   Atlantic-Congo

   Atlantic

   Flag of Benin  Benin • Flag of Burkina Faso  Burkina Faso • Flag of
   Cameroon  Cameroon • Flag of Central African Republic  Central African
   Republic • Flag of Chad  Chad • Flag of Côte d'Ivoire  Côte d'Ivoire •
   Flag of The Gambia  The Gambia • Flag of Guinea  Guinea • Flag of
   Guinea-Bissau  Guinea-Bissau • Flag of Liberia  Liberia • Flag of Mali
    Mali • Flag of Mauritania  Mauritania • Flag of Niger  Niger • Flag of
   Senegal  Senegal • Flag of Sierra Leone  Sierra Leone • Flag of Sudan
   Sudan • Flag of Togo  Togo

   Ijoid: Flag of Nigeria  Nigeria - Dogon: Flag of Mali  Mali
   Volta-Congo

   Senufo: Flag of Benin  Benin • Flag of Côte d'Ivoire  Côte d'Ivoire •
   Flag of Mali  Mali

   Gur: Flag of Benin  Benin • Flag of Burkina Faso  Burkina Faso • Flag
   of Côte d'Ivoire  Côte d'Ivoire • Flag of Ghana  Ghana • Flag of Mali
   Mali • Flag of Nigeria  Nigeria • Flag of Togo  Togo

   Adamawa-Ubangi: Flag of Cameroon  Cameroon • Flag of Central African
   Republic  Central African Republic • Flag of Chad  Chad • Flag of
   Nigeria  Nigeria

   Kru: Flag of Burkina Faso  Burkina Faso • Flag of Côte d'Ivoire  Côte
   d'Ivoire • Flag of Liberia  Liberia

   Kwa: Flag of Benin  Benin • Flag of Côte d'Ivoire  Côte d'Ivoire • Flag
   of Ghana  Ghana • Flag of Nigeria  Nigeria • Flag of Togo  Togo
   Benue-Congo

   Bantu

   Flag of Angola  Angola • Flag of Botswana  Botswana • Flag of Burundi
   Burundi • Flag of Cameroon  Cameroon • Flag of Democratic Republic of
   the Congo  Democratic Republic of the Congo • Flag of Republic of the
   Congo  Republic of the Congo • Flag of Equatorial Guinea  Equatorial
   Guinea • Flag of Gabon  Gabon • Flag of Kenya  Kenya • Flag of Nigeria
    Nigeria • Flag of Malawi  Malawi • Flag of Mozambique  Mozambique •
   Flag of Namibia  Namibia • Flag of Rwanda  Rwanda • Flag of Somalia
   Somalia • Flag of South Africa  South Africa • Flag of Swaziland
   Swaziland • Flag of Tanzania  Tanzania • Flag of Uganda  Uganda • Flag
   of Zambia  Zambia • Flag of Zimbabwe  Zimbabwe

   Yoruba and Igbo: Flag of Nigeria  Nigeria
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzania"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
