Flag description: divided diagonally by a yellow-edged black
band from the lower hoist-side corner; the upper triangle (hoist side)
is green and the lower triangle is blue
Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between
Kenya and Mozambique
Geographic coordinates: 6 00 S, 35 00 E
Climate: varies from tropical along coast to temperate in highlands
Independence: 26 April 1964; Tanganyika became independent 9
December 1961 (from UK-administered UN trusteeship); Zanzibar became independent
19 December 1963 (from UK); Tanganyika united with Zanzibar 26 April 1964
to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar; renamed United
Republic of Tanzania 29 October 1964
Nationality: Tanzanian(s)
Capital City:
Population: 35,306,126
Head of State: President Benjamin William MKAPA
Area: 945,087 sq km
Type of Government: republic
Currency: 1 Tanzanian shilling (TSh) = 100 cents
Major peoples: mainland - native African 99% (of which 95% are
Bantu consisting of more than 130 tribes), other 1% (consisting of Asian,
European, and Arab); Zanzibar - Arab, native African, mixed Arab and native
African
Religion: mainland - Christian 45%, Muslim 35%, indigenous beliefs
20%; Zanzibar - more than 99% Muslim
Official Language: Kiswahili or Swahili, English
Principal Languages: Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguju
(name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (official, primary language of
commerce, administration, and higher education), Arabic (widely spoken
in Zanzibar), many local languages
Major Exports: coffee, manufactured goods, cotton, cashew nuts,
minerals, tobacco, sisal (1996)
History: By the Late Stone Age, people lived (c.500 BC) at various
places along the Tanzanian coast. Accounts of the coastal area in
the 1st century AD describe a number of settlements where commerce took
place. For the next millennium Arab traders plied the coast, trading
with Zanzibar and settlements on the Tanzanian mainland.
The principal settlement of Tanzania occurred by migrating waves of
Bantu peoples. Probably originating about 2,000 years ago in eastern
Nigeria, the proto-Bantu seem to have moved along the Congo River system
into the southern portion of present-day Zaire. By the 10th century
the areas around Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika had been settled.
Bantu peoples continued to spread east and south in the 12th to the 15th
centuries.
In 1498, Vasco da GAMA became the first European to visit the coast
of Tanzania, and the Portuguese conducted trade along the coast until 1698
when they were expelled by Arabs from Oman. European missionaries and explorers
such as David LIVINGSTONE entered the area in the 1850s. The Anglo-German
Agreements (1886, 1900) divided spheres of influence along the present
Kenya-Tanzania border, giving Germany control of the southern portion (today's
Tanzania).
GERMAN EAST AFRICA was administered by the German East Africa Company.
In 1891 the German government assumed control and the region became a protectorate.
Opposition to foreign rule mounted and the quasi-religious Maji Maji rebellion
lasted from 1905 to 1907. In 1920, as a result of the German defeat
in World War I, the British took over German East Africa. In 1954,
Julius Nyerere was one of the founders of the Tanganyika African National
Union (TANU), which led the nationalist movement. The well-organized
movement won independence for Tanganyika in 1961, and Nyerere became head
of state. Zanzibar, which gained independence in 1963, joined Tanganyika
in 1964; in 1965 the nation was renamed Tanzania.
Nyerere, who became one of Africa's most respected leaders, unified
the country and expanded education and health care. He supported
black liberation movements in Mozambique, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and
South Africa and sent troops to Uganda in 1979 to help depose dictator
Idi AMIN DADA. The last Tanzanian forces withdrew from Uganda in
1981. Ideological differences led to the closing of the border between
Tanzania and Kenya from 1977 to 1983. Ali Hassan Mwinyi, who had
been president of Zanzibar since 1984, became president when Nyerere retired
from that post in 1985 and won election in his own right in 1990.
Nyerere remained party chairman until August 1990, when he stepped down
to make way for political and economic reform. In 1992, with Nyerere's
support, multiple political parties were legalized. Multiparty elections
were scheduled for 1995.
