Tanzania is an East African country situated just south of the Equator. Tanzania comprises of more than 120 different indigenous African peoples, most of whom are today clustered into larger groupings. Because of the effects of rural-to-urban migration, modernization, and politicization, some of the smallest ethnic groups are gradually disappearing.
As early as 5000 BCE, San-type hunting bands inhabited the country. The Sandawe hunters of northern mainland Tanzania are believed to be their descendants. Around 1000 BCE, agriculture and pastoral practices were being introduced through the migration of Cushitic people from Ethiopia.
Around 500 CE, iron-using Bantu agriculturalists arrived from the west & south and started displacing or absorbing the San hunters and gatherers; at roughly the same time, Nilotic pastoralists entered the area from the southern Sudan. Majority of Tanzanians today are of Bantu origin; the Sukuma who live in the north of the country, south of Lake Victoria constitute the largest group.
Other Bantu peoples include the Nyamwezi, concentrated in the west-central region; the Hehe and the Haya, located in the country's southern highlands and its northwest corner, respectively; the Chaga of the Kilimanjaro region, who inhabit the mountain's southern slopes; and the Makonde, who reside in the Mtwara and Ruvuma regions of the southeast.
Nilotic people represented by the Maasai, the Arusha, the Samburu, and the Baraguyu live in the north-central area of mainland Tanzania. The Zaramo, a highly diluted and urbanized group, constitute another ethnic group of considerable size and influence. The majority of the Zaramo live in the environs of Dar es Salaam and the adjacent coastline. The Zanaki the ethnic group smallest in number dwell near Musoma in the Lake Victoria region. Julius Nyerere, the country's founding father and first president (1962 - 85), came from this group.
There are several groups of Africans present on the islands. Indigenous Bantu groups, consisting of the Pemba in Pemba and the Hadimu and Tumbatu in Zanzibar, have absorbed the settlers who moved from Persia in the 10th century. These groups and some of the descendants of slaves call themselves Shirazi. There are also small enclaves of Comorians and Somalis.
Arab settlements were also established early, and intermarriage with the local people took place. Arab arrivals in the 18th and 19th centuries were from Oman and constituted an elite. The Omani immigrants in the early 20th century tended to be less affluent. Asians form a very small minority.
Tanzania was formed as a sovereign state in 1964 through the union of the theretofore separate states of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Mainland Tanganyika covers more than 99 percent of the combined territories total area. Mafia Island is administered from the mainland, while Zanzibar and Pemba islands have a separate government administration. Dodoma, since 1974 the designated official capital of Tanzania, is centrally located on the mainland. Dar es Salaam, however, remains the seat of most government administration, as well as being the largest city and port in the country.
Languages
Tanzania has two official languages, Swahili (kiSwahili) and English. Swahili, the national language, is a composite of several Bantu dialects and Arabic that originated along the East African coast and on the island of Zanzibar. Swahili is the lingua franca of the country, and virtually all Tanzanians speak it.
Since independence the government and other national institutions have promoted the use of Swahili through literature, local drama, and poetry. Swahili is also used as the medium of instruction in the first seven years of primary education. English is the medium of instruction at higher levels of education and is widely used in government offices.
In addition to Swahili, most African Tanzanians also speak the traditional language of their ethnic group. The main languages spoken by the Asian minorities in Tanzania are Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu.
Swahili is the principal language in Zanzibar and Pemba. The classical dialect is Kiunguja. Arabic is also important, because of long-established Islamic tradition, past Arab influence, and the presence of a large Arabic-speaking minority. Among the Asian communities, the chief languages are Gujarati, Kutchi, and Hindustani. English, taught in schools, is widely used.
Religion
Roughly one-third of the population is Muslim, the majority of whom are Sunni; the Shite population of Tanzania includes an Ismaili community under the spiritual leadership of the Aga Khan. An additional one-third of Tanzanians profess Christianity, which in Tanzania includes Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, and Baptist sects. The remainder of the population is considered to hold traditional beliefs. The division is usually not as clear as official statistics suggest, since many rural Tanzanians adhere to elements of their indigenous religious practice. Almost the whole of the Arab and the African peoples of Zanzibar profess the Islamic faith. Traditional African beliefs also exist in conjunction with Islam. Among Muslims, the Sunni sect is adhered to by many of the indigenous people.
Population, Size & Location, Topography
The present population of Tanzania is 59,338,304 as of August 2018 based on the latest United Nations estimates. The population density in Tanzania is 67 per Km2 (173 people per mi2). The Tanzania mainland is surrounded by Uganda, Lake Victoria, and Kenya to the north, by the Indian Ocean to the east, by Mozambique, Lake Nyasa, Malawi, and Zambia to the south and southwest, and by Lake Tanganyika, Burundi, and Rwanda to the west.
Except for the narrow coastal belt of the mainland and the offshore islands, most of mainland Tanzania lies above 600 feet (200 metres) in elevation. Vast stretches of plains and plateaus contrast with spectacular relief features, notably Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet [5,895 metres]), and the world's second deepest lake, Lake Tanganyika (4,710 feet [1,436 metres] deep).
The East African Rift System runs in two north-south-trending branches through mainland Tanzania, leaving many narrow, deep depressions that are often filled by lakes. One branch, the Western Rift Valley , runs along the western frontier and is marked by Lakes Tanganyika and Rukwa, while the other branch, the Eastern (or Great) Rift Valley, extends through central Tanzania from the Kenyan border in the region of Lakes Eyasi, Manyara, and Natron south to Lake Nyasa at the border with Mozambique. The central plateau, covering more than a third of the country, lies between the two branches.
Highlands associated with the Western Rift Valley are formed by the Ufipa Plateau, the Mbeya Range, and Rungwe Mountain in the southwestern corner of the country. From there the southern highlands run northeastward along the Great Rift to the Ukuguru and Nguru mountains northwest of Morogoro. Extending from the northern coast, the Usambara and Pare mountain chains run in a southeast-to-northwest direction, culminating in Kilimanjaro's lofty snow-clad peak and continuing beyond to Mount Meru (14,978 feet [4,565 metres]). Immediately to the west of Mount Meru, another chain of mountains begins, which includes the still-active volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai and the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest caldera, or volcanic depression. This chain extends through a corridor between Lake Eyasi and Lake Manyara toward Dodoma.
Situated in East Africa just south of the equator, mainland Tanzania lies between the area of the great lakes; Victoria, Tanganyika, and Malawi (Niassa)—and the Indian Ocean . It contains a total area of 945,087 sq km (364,900 sq mi), including 59,050 sq km (22,799 sq mi) of inland water. Comparatively, the area occupied by Tanzania is slightly larger than twice the size of the state of California. The section of the United Republic known as Zanzibar comprises the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba and all islets within 19 km (12 mi) of their coasts, as well as uninhabited Latham Island, 58 km (36 mi) south of Zanzibar Island. Zanzibar Island lies 35 km (22 mi) off the coast, and Pemba Island is about 40 km (25 mi) to the ne. The former has an area of 1,657 sq km (640 sq mi), and the latter 984 sq km (380 sq mi).
Flora and Fauna
Common savanna species cover most of the drier inland areas amounting to about one-third of the country—between altitudes of 300 and 1,200 m (1,000 and 4,000 ft). Two main types of closed-forest trees, low-level hardwoods and mountain softwoods are found in high-rainfall areas on the main mountain masses and in parts of the Lake Victoria Basin. Wooded grasslands are widely scattered throughout the country. The drier central areas include bushlands and thickets. Grasslands and heath are common in the highlands, while the coast has mangrove forest. There are over 10,000 species of plants throughout the country.
The 4 million wild mammals include representatives of 316 species and subspecies, notably antelope, zebra, elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, giraffe, and lion. Various types of monkeys are plentiful
.There are over 230 species of birds found in the country, ranging in size from ostrich to warbler. Insect life, consisting of more than 60,000 species, includes injurious species and disease carriers. There are at least 25 species of reptiles and amphibians and 25 poisonous varieties among the 100 species of snakes. Fish are plentiful.
The flora and fauna of Zanzibar and Pemba are varied. Mammals common to both are galagos, fruit-eating and insectivorous bats, genets, mongooses, small shrews, rats, and mice. Zanzibar has the leopard, Syke's monkey, civet, and giant rat. Unique species of tree coney are found on Pemba and Tumbatu Islands. There are also five unique mammals—Kirk's colobus (monkey), two elephant shrews, duiker antelope, and squirrel.