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TANZANIA FACT SHEET
Tanzania, formerly known as Tanganyika, is located on the East Coast of Africa, south of the Equator. It joins Kenya and Uganda in the north; Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi in the west and Zambia and Mozambique in the south.
Off the mainland lie the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia in the Indian Ocean. The mainland has a coastline of some 500 miles of palm fringed beaches but the major attractions of Tanzania are the national parks teeming with wildlife, Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Tanganyika, the deepest and longest freshwater lake in Africa.
HISTORY
Tanzania was inhabited by man 14 million years ago according to anthropological studies made by Dr. Louis Leakey and his wife Mary at Olduvai Gorge. Research has shown that stone- age man in Tanzania wore clothing, hunted, danced, played musical instruments and were superb artists.
Tanzanians today are the resultant mixture of many peoples and cultures. The first outside influence was the arrival of Arabs about 700 AD. Contact between the Arabs and the local populace gave rise to the poetic Swahili language. Persians arrived around the 10th century bringing with them the Muslim religion. Trade developed in ivory, rhinoceros horns, coconut oil, gold and the notorious slave trade. From AD 1000 to 1500 coastal development was at its zenith and Swahili culture flourished.
Vasco da Gama sighted Tanganyika in 1500 and for the next 200 years Portugal ruled both the mainland and the island of Zanzibar. The Arabs drove the Portuguese out of Zanzibar in 1698. From 1884 until the end of World War 1 both Tanganyika and Zanzibar fell under German colonization; they were then passed to the United Kingdom under a League of Nations mandate.
The country gradually moved toward self-government and finally became independent in 1961, becoming the first East African country to do so. In 1962, Dr. Julius Nyerere became its first president, and Tanganyika united with Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964. Mi Hassan Mwinyi, Nyerere's handpicked successor took over as President when Nyerere retired in 1985.
The economy is based on agriculture. The principal foreign exchange earner for Zanzibar, known as "the spice island", is cloves; for the mainland it is coffee, cotton and sisal. Tourism is now considered a major growth industry.
Tanzania is experiencing severe financial difficulties and the country is nearly bankrupt. This is due in part to the drought which began in 1979; to a war with Uganda in 1978; and by the limitations of the cumbersome socialist government. The economy is gradually improving with cooperation from the International Monetary Fund and loosening of the rigid socialism, but there are still occasional shortages in goods and services.
ECONOMY
The economy is based on agriculture. The principal foreign exchange earner for Zanzibar, known as "the spice island", is cloves; for the mainland it is coffee, cotton and sisal. Tourism is now considered a major growth industry.
Tanzania is experiencing severe financial difficulties and the country is nearly bankrupt. This is due in part to the drought which began in 1979; to a war with Uganda in 1978; and by the limitations of the cumbersome socialist government. The economy is gradually improving with cooperation from the International Monetary Fund and loosening of the rigid socialism, but there are still occasional shortages in goods and services.
CLIMATE
Rainy season (long rains) March to June. (Short rains) November. There is no real winter but the climate is governed by altitude. The average temperature is 70-85 degrees in winter June-August) and 80-100 degrees in summer (October - February). Nights are generally chilly on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater.
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