About Tanzania

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Tanzania officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa in the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by 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. The country’s eastern border is formed by the Indian Ocean. It is located on coordinate’s 6.307°S 34.854°E

As a unique destination in African continent, Tanzania is formed by a total of 120 ethnic groups in a land of many wonders harbouring a diversity of fauna and flora some of them attracted and named as the UNESCO heritage sites.

Including are:-

  • Kilimanjaro, the highest permanently snow-capped free standing mountain in Africa, regarded as the “Top Roof of Africa”
  • the exotic Islands of Zanzibar
  • the finest game sanctuaries of Serengeti, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, Ruaha, Selous and the Marine Park of Mafia Island are only mentioning a few
  • Historical and Cultural Sites of Bagamoyo & Zanzibar [slave trade centres]
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History

Tanzania was formed as a result of union of several small places, the parts include Tanganyika and the islands of Pemba and Zanzibar. As a result of the gradual capturing of the country by colonial power, Tanzania shared trade relations with several countries.

The Arab traders were the first invaders turn it into land of ivory and slave trade. Later, the Germans invaded the country and tried to maintain their monopoly, but soon after the British people conquered the Tanzanian territory as a part of their colonial rule in Africa.

Long struggle for freedom lead by the Farther of Nation Julius Kambarage Nyerere, Tanzania get its independence in the year 1961. Later Zanzibar, Pemba and Tanganyika were united together in April 26th, 1964 to form the country of Tanzania.

Tanzania with a total land of 947,303 square kilometers [365,756 square miles] is a country with a population of 47.4 million people according to 2014 Census. Is a country which had and will continue to have true and excellent diplomatic relationships with all countries in the world, which forms the basis for being a preferred destination and home to many people from around the world.

Tanzania leadership has gone through forth phases

  • Julius K. Nyerere [1964 – 1985]
  • Ali Hassan Mwinyi [1985 – 1995]
  • Benjamin William Mkapa [1995 – 2005]
  • Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete [2005 – 2015]
  • Dr. John Pombe Magufuli [2015 – Present]
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The Late Julius Kambarage Nyerere Father of Nation

His Excellency, Honorable Dr. John Pombe Magufuli, The President of United Republic of Tanzania

Facts About Tanzania

Capital City

The national capital of the country is Dodoma, located at the centre of Tanzania. It has an estimated population of 324,347 and it is where the Headquarters of the National Parliament is housed.

Largest City

Dar es Salaam is the largest and the richest city of Tanzania. The population of the city is 2,497,940, and it covers a total area of 614.1 square miles. The city is situated on a harbor on the East Indian Ocean coast of Africa.

Currency

Tanzanian shilling is the currency of Tanzania with its ISO 4217 code, TZS.
Tanzanian Shillings are subdivided into 100 centi. In principal all currency are accepted the common ones being USD, GBP, Euro, Kenya Shillings, and Uganda Shillings.
Currency Conventor

Official Languages

Kiswahili is the official language of Tanzania with English considered a de facto official language. Other spoken languages include Gujarati, Germany, Chinese, Portuguese and French.

Religions

The constitution of Tanzania provides freedom of religion for its citizens. Tanzanian religions includes Christianity, Muslims, Hindu and indigenous religious groups.

Political Leader

Tanzania is a unitary presidential democratic republic. The president is the head of both state and government. Executive power is exercised by the government while the legislative power is vested both in the government and parliament.
Dr. John Pombe Magufuli is the fifth and the current president of Tanzania. He assumed office on December, 2015.

Economy

Tanzania’s economy is based on agriculture which provides 75% of the exports and employment. It accounts for more than half of the GDP which is 57.5 billion dollars. Industry is mostly limited to processing agricultural products and light consumer goods. The largest trade flows are with India, Japan, People’s Republic of China, United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, South Africa and Germany. The country exports gold, coffee, cashew nuts and cotton, while it imports consumer goods, machinery, industrial raw materials and crude oil.

Government Public Days

Important government public days [apart from religious]:-

12 January Zanzibar Revolution Day Marking the end of the Sultanate of Zanzibar
7 April Karume Day Commemorating the assassination of Zanzibar President
Abeid arume
26 April Union Day Union of Tanganyika, Zanzibar and Pemba
1 May Labour Day
7 July Saba Saba Day Founding of Tanganyika African National Union
8 August Nane Nane Day Farmers’ Day
14 October Nyerere Day Commemorating Death Anniversary of Julius Nyerere, the Farther ofthe Nation
9 December Independence Day Celebrating the End of British Rule in 1961

Geography of Tanzania

The Tanzania geography includes the tropical beach region as well as the more temperate highlands in the central part of the country. The geography of Tanzania possesses unique topographical characteristics.

The multitude of lakes, nature reserves and mountains add to the wonder of the country. The central region of Tanzania is a large plateau.

Arable land suitable for irrigation and crop cultivation purpose are situated to the north of the country.

The total land area of the country is 945,087 square kilometers. The land area is 886.037 square kilometers. Tanzania has a 1,424 square kilometer long coastline.

Weather of Tanzania

Tanzania location is very close to the equator. Tanzania has a tropical climate but has regional variations due to topography. In the highlands, temperatures range between 10 and 20 °C during cold and hot seasons respectively. Other parts of the country has temperatures rarely falling lower than 20 °C The hottest period extends between November and February while the coldest period occurs between May and August.

However the climate remains favorable between June and September although the patterns of weather keep on changing when moving from one place to another as the country has a varied geographical landscape features.


Apr 21, 2019 - Sun
Arusha Tanzania
Wind 3 m/s, NNE
Pressure 762.07 mmHg
26°C
broken clouds
Humidity 65%
Clouds 75%
Day Cond. Temp. Wind Humidity PressurePres.
sun apr 21
30°C /19°C 4 m/s, SE 52% 759.15 mmHg
mon apr 22
27°C /19°C 5 m/s, SE 48% 759.24 mmHg
tue apr 23
26°C /19°C 4 m/s, SE 53% 760.25 mmHg
wed apr 24
27°C /19°C 3 m/s, SE 46% 760.01 mmHg
thu apr 25
25°C /20°C 2 m/s, NNW 58% 761.47 mmHg

Transport and Communication of Tanzania

Tanzania transport sector is dominated by roads by 75% of the country’s freight traffic. The road systems are excellent most of them by 90% are tarmac which allows easy accessibility to many areas around

Four international airports operate in Tanzania along with over 100 small airports or landing strips in the whole country. Airlines in Tanzania include Precision Air, Fasjet, Coastal Aviation, Air Tanzania and ZanAir.

In addition are several modern hydrofoil boats that provide transportation across the Indian Ocean between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar. Two railway companies namely TAZARA and Tanzania Railways Ltd operates in Tanzania, TAZARA provides service between Dar es Salaam and Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia, and Tanzania Railways Ltd which connects Dar es Salaam with central and northern Tanzania.

Tanzania has a total of 6 mobile telephone Companies offers services in Tanzania. The country has a fiber-optic cable network that recently replaced unreliable satellite service, supported many Tanzanians to use the internet and the number is rapidly growing.

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Culture of Tanzania

Tanzania culture is quite rich and the diversity of Tanzania culture appeals to a large number of people coming from across the globe. Tanzania culture is depicted in the various forms of language, painting, sculpture, national anthem, popular dance music and art carrying the cultural values from 120 ethnic groups the country has.

Makonde sculpture, paintings etc are quite famous in Tanzania. Among the painting styles, Tingatinga painting deserves mention.

Bongoflava is represented a new genre of music in the country. Various music bands are popular in Tanzania, Africa and Global as a whole. Events such as the ones listed below makes your day in Tanzania very colourful:-

  • Sauti za Busara Music Concert
  • Mtwara Festivals
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Clothing of Tanzania

Remember, Tanzania is an East African country rich of culture. The design of Tanzania clothing evokes the rich tapestry of the ancient ethos and culture of the Tanzanian region. The traditional piece of cloth, ‘khanga’ is unique to Tanzania. Modern clothes from Europe, America and other places are available and many people have been changed and attracted to them.

Cuisine of Tanzania

Tanzania food has lot of variety ranging from fruits to vegetables to meat and milk products. The main diet of the Tanzanian people is rice, cornmeal, beans, sorghum and millet. Ugali is the national meat dish of Tanzania. People living in the coastal areas mainly prefer rice and fish cooked in coconut.

Natural grown fruits and vegetables consumed are the pawpaw (papaya), ndizi (bananas), matunda (fruits), beans, spinach and maize.

Apart from this, Tanzanian food also comprises of vitumbua (sweet fried bread), chapatti (flat fried bread), and juices of oranges, sugarcane and pineapple.

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Every ethnic group in Tanzania has its own local beer. On the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, a special type of banana beer known as “Mbege” is available.

Education in Tanzania

Tanzania education offers plenty of opportunities for overall development of the country. Education helps in the improvement of economic infrastructure, in making the citizens of the country much more responsible and hence, they can understand their rights and duties properly so that they can become efficient citizens.

The basic purpose of education in Tanzania is to alleviate poverty and to make the people independent to sustain themselves. Tanzania being a developing country puts more emphasis on education to raise its status in the international front. The government of Tanzania very well understood that if all the people can be educated, only then overall improvement is possible.

Sports

Tanzanians loves Football, and indeed it is a very popular throughout the country. The Young Africans F.C. and Simba S.C are the most popular professional football clubs in Dar es Salaam. Football in Tanzania is governed by the Tanzania Football Federation. Other popular sports include netball, boxing, volleyball, athletics, and rugby.
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Tanzania competes in the:-

  • Olympic Games
  • the Commonwealth Games
  • the All-Africa Games
  • the Africa Cup of Nations
  • the CAF Champions League
  • the African Women’s Championship in football
  • the CAF Confederation Cup and,
  • the African Championships in Athletics

Tanzania has many international recognized events such as:-

  • Kilimanjaro Marathon
  • Mt. Meru Marathon
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