Tarangire National Park: scenery with baobab trees
Photo: Leyo, CC BY-SA 2.5 ch · source
Dhow boat staying on the beach, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Photo: This photo was taken by Anton Zelenov, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Kibandiko Island, Tanzania
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Did you know?
Many important hominid fossils have been found in Tanzania. In the Stone and Bronze Age, prehistoric migrations into Tanzania included Southern Cushitic speakers similar to modern day Iraqw people, who moved south from present-day Ethiopia; Eastern Cushitic people who moved into Tanzania from north of Lake Turkana about 2,000 and 4,000 years ago; and the Southern Nilotes, including the Datoog, who originated from the present-day South Sudan–Ethiopia border region between 2,900 and 2,400 years ago.
Wikipedia: Tanzania – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Hippopotamus in the Manyara National Park, Tanzania
Photo: Wegmann and Bevanda, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Hadza archery, Lake Eyasi, Tanzania
Photo: Woodlouse, CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Etymology
The name "Tanzania" was created as a clipped compound of the names of the two states that unified to create the country: Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964. When Zanzibar and Tanganyika were uniting, national newspaper The Standard ran a contest for a new name, which was won by Mohammed Iqbal Dar. Iqbal claimed that he formulated the name by taking "Tan" and "zan" from the uniting states, "i" from his own name, and adding "a" as a reference to Ahmadiyya.
The name Tanganyika derives from the Swahili words tanga "sail" and nyika "uninhabited plain, wilderness", creating the phrase "sail in the wilderness". It is sometimes understood as a reference to Lake Tanganyika.
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Tetragonias njalilus , Dicynodontidae, Replica; Middle Triassic, Tanzania; Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe, Germany.
Photo: H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
This is an image of food from
Photo: Tcg1111, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
This is an image of "African people at work" from
Photo: Yann Macherez, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
History
The earliest indigenous writing in Tanzania dates to the medieval period. In 1106 or 1107 CE (year 500 AH), Shaykh Abū ʽImrān Mūsā al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad founded the Friday Mosque in Kizimkazi as recorded by a dedicatory inscription in the miḥrāb of the mosque. The mint in Kilwa struck coins which record information about local sultans in rhyming couplets, something which has no parallel in earlier Islamic coinage. The example below is from c. 1300 CE (c. 700 AH):
Al-Ḥasan ibn Ṭalūt
Yathiqu bi Rabbiʼl-Malakūt
Al-Ḥasan ibn Ṭalūt
Wikipedia: Tanzania – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ngoma dancers warming up
Photo: Frank, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Geography
At 947,403 square kilometres (365,794 sq mi), Tanzania is the 13th largest country in Africa and the 31st largest in the world, ranked between the larger Egypt and smaller Nigeria. It borders 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. Tanzania is located on the eastern coast of Africa and has an Indian Ocean coastline approximately 1,424 kilometres (885 mi) long. It also incorporates several offshore islands, including Unguja (Zanzibar), Pemba, and Mafia.
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Mount Kilimanjaro peeking through the clouds
Photo: רנדום, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Arrival Entrance from the airfield to Kilimanjaro International Airport
Photo: Hansbaer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Government and politics
Tanzania is a one-party dominant state with the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party in power. From its formation until 1992, it was the only legally permitted party in the country. This changed on 1 July 1992, when the constitution was amended. It has held power since independence in 1961, and is the longest-serving ruling party in Africa.
John Magufuli won the October 2015 presidential election and secured a two-thirds majority in parliament. The main opposition party in Tanzania since multiparty politics in 1992 is called Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) (Swahili for "Party for Democracy and Progress"). The leader of Chadema party is Freeman Mbowe.
Wikipedia: Tanzania – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
This is an image of the 65,000 seater Tanzania National Main Stadium
Photo: Raidarmax, CC-BY-SA-4.0 · source
Le marché aux esclaves de Zanzibar (dessin d'Émile Bayard, Musée de la Compagnie des Indes).
Photo: Émile Bayard, Public domain · source
Kigoma High Court Bangwe Ward, Kigoma-Ujiji District, Kigoma Region, Tanzania
Photo: Halidtz, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Economy
As of 2021, according to the IMF, Tanzania's gross domestic product (GDP) was an estimated $71 billion (nominal), or $218.5 billion on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis. GDP per capita (PPP) was $3,574.
From 2009 through to 2013, Tanzania's per capita GDP (based on constant local currency) grew an average of 3.5% per year, higher than any other member of the East African Community (EAC) and exceeded by only nine countries in Sub-Saharan Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Wikipedia: Tanzania – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
School girls in Arusha, Tanzania
Photo: Fanny Schertzer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
The building of "Voice of Zanzibar", the radio station on Pemba
Photo: This photo was taken by Anton Zelenov, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Demographics
According to a 2024 estimate, Tanzania has a population of around 67.5 million; according to the 2012 census, the total population of Tanzania was 44,928,923. The under-15 age group represented 44.1% of the population.
The population distribution in Tanzania is significantly uneven. Most people live on the northern border or the coast, with much of the remainder of the country being sparsely populated. Density varies from 12 per square kilometre (31/sq mi) in the Katavi Region to 3,133 per square kilometre (8,110/sq mi) in the Dar es Salaam Region.
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Landscape in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Ramadan dinner in Tanzania
Photo: Fanny Schertzer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Culture
Two Tanzanian art styles have achieved international recognition. The Tingatinga school of painting, founded by Edward Said Tingatinga, consists of brightly coloured enamel paintings on canvas, generally depicting people, animals, or daily life. Tingatinga died in 1972; other artists adopted and developed his style, with the genre now being the most important tourist-oriented style in East Africa.
Historically, there were limited opportunities for formal European art training in Tanzania, and many aspiring Tanzanian artists left the country to pursue their vocation.
Wikipedia: Tanzania – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0
Rock in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source