The official name is the United Republic of Tanzania.
Located in East Africa. The area is 945.1 thousand km2, the population is 37.2 million people. (2002). The official languages are English and Swahili. The capital is the city of Dares Salam (2489.8 thousand people, 2002). By 2005, the capital is planned to be moved to Dodoma. Public holiday – Unification Day April 26 (since 1964). The monetary unit is the Tanzanian shilling.
Member of the UN (since 1964), IMF (since 1996), AfDB, FAO, AU, SADC, UNCTAD, UNESCO, WTO, ECOWAS.
Geography of Tanzania
It is located between 29°35′ and 40°27′ East longitude and 7°02′ and 11°47′ South latitude. In the east it is washed by the Indian Ocean. The coast is abrasion with small bay dissection. Near the mainland there are groups of islands (Zanzibar, Pemba, Mafia, etc.). It borders Uganda to the north, Kenya to the northeast, Mozambique to the south, Malawi and Zambia to the southwest, and Burundi and Rwanda to the northwest.
Most of the territory is on the East African Plateau (over 1000 m). The highest point is Mount Kilimanjaro (5895 m). On the site of lowlands and gorges, there are lakes Tanganyika, Malawi, Rukva, Manyara and Eyasu.
There are deposits of nickel (31.4 million tons), diamonds, gold, tin, tungsten, mica optical quartz, precious stones, apatite, graphite, corundum, asbestos, talc, copper-polymetallic ores, salts, etc.
Soils are predominantly brown-red (ferralitic and alferritic), in the most arid regions – red-brown, saline in places.
The climate is equatorial monsoon. Altitudinal climatic zonality is expressed in the mountains. Average temperatures of the warmest month are +25-27°С, of the coldest +12-22°С. Precipitation 500-1500 mm per year.
The main rivers are Pangani (400 km), Rufiji (1400 km), Ruvuma (800 km). There are lakes along the border: Victoria (68 thousand km2), Tanganyika (34 thousand km2), Nyasa (30.8 thousand km2).
Woodlands and savannahs predominate. On the slopes of high mountains there are moist evergreen mountain forests, above – Afro-subalpine and Afro-Alpine vegetation. Along the ocean coast in places – mangrove forests.
The fauna is diverse: large herbivorous mammals (elephants, black rhinos, hippos, buffaloes, various antelopes, zebras, giraffes), predators (lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, jackals). Of the monkeys, baboons are the most characteristic. The bird fauna is very rich. There are crocodiles, snakes. Many areas are infested with tsetse. National parks – Serengeti, Kilimanjaro, Ruaha, Tarangire, etc.; reserves of Selous, Ngorongoro, Rungwa and others.
Population of Tanzania
Population growth 2.6% per year (2002). Birth rate 39.12%, mortality 13.02%, infant mortality 77.85 people. per 1000 newborns (2002). Average life expectancy 51.7 years (2002).
Sex and age structure of the population: 0-14 years old – 44.6% (ratio of men and women 1.03), 15-64 years old – 52.5% (0.98), 65 years and older – 2.9% (0. 81) (2002). Rural population 80%, urban 20% (2002). Among the population over 15 years of age, 67.8% are literate (men 79.4%, women 56.8%) (1995).
According to Countryaah, 99% of the population are peoples belonging to the Eastern Bantu (St. 130 tribes), 1% are Indians, Pakistanis, Europeans, Arabs. Languages – Swahili and English, Arabic, local dialects.
On the mainland ca. 35% of the population adheres to local traditional beliefs, 35% are Muslims, 30% are Christians, in Zanzibar almost 99% of the population is Muslim.
History of Tanzania
In the 7th-8th centuries. the territory of Tanzania began to be inhabited by Arabs; in the 16th century the Portuguese appeared, who were driven out by the Arabs. To the beginning 19th century the island of Zanzibar and the coast of mainland Tanzania were ruled by the Sultans of Muscat. In 1856 an independent Zanzibar sultanate was formed. The mainland of Tanzania was captured by Germany in 1884 (became the basis of the colony of German East Africa), and after World War I became a mandate, in 1946 – a trust territory under the control of Great Britain (under the name Tanganyika); A British protectorate was established over Zanzibar in 1890. The beginning of the political activity of indigenous Africans dates back to 1929, when the Tanganyika African Association was formed, which was transformed in 1954 into the Tanganyika African National Union (TANS), headed by Julius Nyerere. TANS won the elections held in 1959 and 1960, and Nyerere became prime minister (he formed the government in May 1961). In December 1961, the independence of Tanganyika was proclaimed. Zanzibar (together with the island of Pemba and several small islands) became an independent sultanate in 1963. The sultan was overthrown in an armed coup in January 1964. After this event, a republic was proclaimed and the Afro-Shiraz Party took power. In April 1964, Tanganyika and Zanzibar formed the United Republic of Tanzania. The ruling party of Tanzania was the Revolutionary Party, founded in 1977. Because of the border conflict in 1979, Tanzania carried out a large-scale military invasion of Uganda, forcing it to capitulate. A multi-party system was introduced in 1992. In 2001, political contradictions in relations between Tanganyika and Zanzibar escalated.
