Tanzania
6°18′25″S 34°51′14″E / 6.307°S 34.854°E
United Republic of Tanzania Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania (Swahili) | |
---|---|
Motto: "Uhuru na Umoja" (Swahili) "Freedom and Unity" | |
Anthem: Mungu ibariki Afrika (Swahili) God Bless Africa | |
Capital | Dodoma |
Largest city | Dar es Salaam |
Official languages | |
Demonym(s) | Tanzanian |
Government | Unitary presidential constitutional republic |
Jakaya Kikwete | |
Mizengo Pinda | |
Legislature | National Assembly |
Independence from the United Kingdom | |
9 December 1961 | |
10 December 1963 | |
• Merger | 26 April 1964 |
• Current constitution | 25 April 1977 |
Area | |
• Total | 945,203 km2 (364,945 sq mi) (31) |
• Water (%) | 6.2 |
Population | |
• 2012 census | 44,928,923[2][note 2] |
• Density | 47.5/km2 (123.0/sq mi) |
GDP (PPP) | 2013 estimate |
• Total | $79.388 billion[3] (78) |
• Per capita | $1,715[3][note 3] (162) |
GDP (nominal) | 2013 estimate |
• Total | $32.536 billion[3] |
• Per capita | $703[3]b |
Gini (2007) | 37.6[4] medium inequality |
HDI (2012) | 0.476[5] low (152) |
Currency | Tanzanian shilling (TZS) |
Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (not observed) |
Drives on | left |
Calling code | +255[note 4] |
ISO 3166 code | TZ |
Internet TLD | .tz |
Tanzania /ˌtænzəˈniːə/, officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Template:Lang-sw),[6] 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. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania.
The country is divided into 30 administrative regions: five on the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar and 25 on the mainland in the former Tanganyika.[7] The head of state is President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, elected in 2005. Since 1996, the official capital of Tanzania has been Dodoma, where the National Assembly and some government offices are located. Between independence and 1996, the main coastal city of Dar es Salaam served as the country's political capital. It remains Tanzania's principal commercial city and is the main location of most government institutions.[7][8] It is also the principal port of the country.[9]
Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged on 26 April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar.[7] On 29 October of the same year, the country was renamed United Republic of Tanzania ('Tan' comes from Tanganyika and 'Zan' from Zanzibar).[7] The Articles of Union are the main foundation of Tanzania.
History
The indigenous populations of east Africa are thought to be the Hadza and Sandawe hunter-gatherers of Tanzania, who speak languages with clicks.[10]: page 17
The first wave of migration was by Southern Cushitic speakers, who are ancestral to the Iraqw, Gorowa, and Burunge and who moved south from Ethiopia into Tanzania.[10]: page 17 Based on linguistic evidence, there may also have been two movements into Tanzania of Eastern Cushitic people at about 4,000 and 2,000 years ago, originating from north of Lake Turkana.[10]: pages 17–18
Archaeological evidence supports the conclusion that Southern Nilotes, including the Datoog, moved south from the present-day Sudan/Ethiopia border region into central northern Tanzania between 2,900 and 2,400 years ago.[10]: page 18
These movements took place at approximately the same time as the settlement of the iron-making Mashariki Bantu in the Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika areas. They brought with them the west African planting tradition, the primary staple of which were yams. They subsequently migrated out of these regions across the rest of Tanzania between 2,300 and 1,700 years ago.[10]: page 18 [11]
Eastern Nilotes peoples, including the Maasai, represent a more recent migration from present day South Sudan within the past 1,500 to 500 years.[10]: page 18 [12]
The people of Tanzania have been associated with the production of iron and steel. The Pare were the main producers of highly demanded iron for peoples who occupied the mountain regions of northeastern Tanzania. The Haya people on the western shores of Lake Victoria invented a type of high-heat blast furnace, which allowed them to forge carbon steel at temperatures exceeding 1,820 °C (3,310 °F) more than 1,500 years ago.[13]
Travellers and merchants from the Persian Gulf and western India have visited the Southeast African coast since early in the first millennium AD. Islam was practised on the Swahili Coast as early as the eighth or ninth century AD.[14][15] In 1498, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama visited Tanzanian coast. Later, in 1506, the Portuguese succeeded in controlling most of the Southeast African littoral. In 1699, the Portuguese were ousted from Zanzibar by Omani Arabs.
Claiming the coastal strip, Omani Sultan Seyyid Said moved his capital to Zanzibar City in 1840. During this time, Zanzibar became the centre for the Arab slave trade.[16] Between 65 and 90% of the population of Arab-Swahili Zanzibar was enslaved.[17] One of the most famous slave traders on the Southeast African coast was Tippu Tip. His mother, Bint Habib bin Bushir, was a Muscat Arab of the ruling class. His father and paternal grandfather were coastal Swahili who had taken part in the earliest trading expeditions to the interior.[18] The Nyamwezi slave traders operated under the leadership of Msiri and Mirambo.[19] According to Timothy Insoll, "Figures record the exporting of 718,000 slaves from the Swahili coast during the 19th century, and the retention of 769,000 on the coast."[20]
In the late 19th century, Imperial Germany conquered the regions that are now Tanzania (minus Zanzibar) and incorporated them into German East Africa. The post–World War I accords and the League of Nations charter designated the area a British Mandate, except for the Kionga Triangle, a small area in the southeast that was incorporated into Portuguese East Africa (later Mozambique).
British rule came to an end in 1961 after a relatively peaceful (compared with neighbouring Kenya, for instance) transition to independence. In 1954, Julius Nyerere transformed an organisation into the politically oriented Tanganyika African National Union (TANU). Tanganyika African National Union's main objective was to achieve national sovereignty for Tanganyika. A campaign to register new members was launched, and within a year Tanganyika African National Union had become the leading political organisation in the country.
Nyerere became Minister of British-administered Tanganyika in 1960 and continued as Prime Minister when Tanganyika became independent in 1961. In 1967, Nyerere's first presidency took a turn to the left after the Arusha Declaration, which codified a commitment to socialism in Pan-African fashion. After the declaration, banks and many large industries were nationalised.
After the Zanzibar Revolution overthrew the Arab dynasty in neighbouring Zanzibar,[21] which had become independent in 1963, the archipelago merged with mainland Tanganyika on 26 April 1964.[22] The union of the two, hitherto separate, regions was controversial among many Zanzibaris (even those sympathetic to the revolution) but was accepted by both the Nyerere government and the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar owing to shared political values and goals.
From the late 1970s, Tanzania's economy took a turn for the worse. Tanzania was also aligned with China, which from 1970 to 1975 financed and helped build the 1,860-kilometre-long (1,160 mi) TAZARA Railway from Dar es Salaam to Zambia.[23] From the mid-1980s, the regime financed itself by borrowing from the International Monetary Fund and underwent some reforms. Since then, Tanzania's gross domestic product per capita has grown, and poverty has been reduced.[24]
Government
Union and mainland government
The parliament of Tanzania consists of two parts: the president and the National Assembly.[25]: § 62(1)
The president and the members of the National Assembly are elected concurrently by direct popular vote for five-year terms.[25]: § 42(2) The vice-president is elected for a five-year term at the same time as the president and on the same ticket.[25]: §§ 47(2), 50(1)
Neither the president nor the vice-president may be a member of the National Assembly.[25]: § 66(2) The president appoints a prime minister to serve as the government's leader in the assembly.[25]: §§ 51(1), 52(2) The president selects his or her cabinet from assembly members.[25]: § 55
All legislative power relating to mainland Tanzania and union matters is vested in the National Assembly,[25]: § 64(1) which is unicameral and has a maximum of 357 members.[26] These include members elected to represent constituencies, the attorney general, five members elected by the Zanzibar house of representatives from among its own members, the special women's seats that constitute at least 30% of the seats that any party has in the assembly, the speaker of the assembly (if not otherwise a member of the assembly), and the persons (not more than ten) appointed by the president.[25]: § 66(1) The Tanzania Electoral Commission demarcates the mainland into constituencies in the number determined by the commission with the consent of the president.[25]: § 75
Zanzibar government
The legislative authority in Zanzibar over all non-union matters is vested in the house of representatives (per the Tanzania constitution)[25]: § 106(3) or the Legislative Council (per the Zanzibar constitution).[27]: §§ 63(1), 78(1)
The house of representatives (or Legislative Council) has two parts: the president of Zanzibar and the members serving in the house.[25]: § 107(1)-(2) [27]: § 63(1) The president is Zanzibar's head of government and the chairman of the Revolutionary Council, in which the executive authority of Zanzibar is invested.[27]: §§ 5A(2), 26(1) Zanzibar has two vice-presidents, with the first being from the main opposition party in the house.[28] The second is from the party in power and is the leader of government business in the house.[citation needed]
The president and the members of the house of representatives have five-year terms.[27]: § 28(2)
The president selects ministers from members of the house of representatives,[27]: § 42(2) with the ministers allocated according to the number of house seats won by political parties.[28] The Revolutionary Council consists of the president, both vice-presidents, all ministers, the attorney general of Zanzibar, and other house members deemed fit by the president.[28]
The house of representatives is composed of elected members, ten members appointed by the president, all the regional commissioners of Zanzibar, the attorney general, and appointed female members whose number must be equal to 30% of the elected members.[27]: §§ 55(3), 64, 67(1) The house determines the number of its elected members[27]: § 120(2) with the Zanzibar Electoral Commission determining the boundaries of each election constituency.[27]: § 120(1) In 2013, the house has a total of 81 members: fifty elected members, five regional commissioners, the attorney general, ten members appointed by the president, and fifteen appointed female members.[26]
Judiciary
Tanzania has a four-level judiciary. Appeal is from the Primary Courts (first level) to the District Courts (mainland), the Resident Magistrates' Courts (mainland), or the Magistrates' Courts (Zanzibar) (second level).[29] From there, appeal is to the High Court of Mainland Tanzania or Zanzibar (third level) and finally to the Court of Appeal of Tanzania (fourth level).[29] All cases tried in Zanzibari courts, except for those involving Zanzibari constitutional issues and Islamic law, can be appealed to the Court of Appeal.[27]: § 99(1) [29] A commercial court was established in September 1999 as a division of the High Court.
Judges are appointed by the Chief Justice of Tanzania, except for those of the Court of Appeal and the High Court, who are appointed by the president of Tanzania.
Administrative subdivisions
In 1972, local government on the mainland was abolished and replaced with direct rule from the central government. Local government, however, was reintroduced in the beginning of the 1980s, when the rural councils and rural authorities were re-established. Local government elections took place in 1983, and functioning councils started in 1984. Two years after the first multi-party elections in 1995, there was a major public sector reform. These reforms included a Local Government Reform Programme (LGRP), setting "a comprehensive and ambitious agenda ... [covering] four areas: political decentralization, financial decentralization, administrative decentralization and changed central-local relations, with the mainland government having over-riding powers within the framework of the Constitution." The principal local government acts were amended by the National Assembly in 1999 as a part of the Local Government Reform Programme.[30]
Tanzania is divided into thirty regions (mkoa), twenty-five on the mainland and five in Zanzibar (three on Unguja, two on Pemba).[31][32] 169 districts (wilaya), also known as local government authorities, have been created. Of the 169 districts, 34 are urban units, which are further classified as three city councils (Arusha, Mbeya, and Mwanza), nineteen municipal councils, and twelve town councils.[2]
The urban units have an autonomous city, municipal, or town council and are subdivided into wards and mtaa. The non-urban units have an autonomous district council but are subdivided into village councils or township authorities (first level) and then into vitongoji.[30]
The city of Dar es Salaam is unique because it has a city council whose areal jurisdiction overlaps three municipal councils. The mayor of the city council is elected by that council. The twenty-member city council is composed of eleven persons elected by the municipal councils, seven members of the National Assembly, and "Nominated members of parliament under 'Special Seats' for women". Each municipal council also has a mayor. "The City Council performs a coordinating role and attends to issues cutting across the three municipalities", including security and emergency services.[33][34]
Politics
Tanzania is a one party dominant state with the Chama Cha Mapinduzi 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 amendments to the Constitution and a number of laws permitting and regulating the formation and operations of more than one political party were enacted by the National Assembly. Elections for president and all National Assembly seats were last held in October 2010. The Chama Cha Mapinduzi holds approximately 75% of the seats in the assembly.
Economy
The Bank of Tanzania is the central bank of Tanzania and is primarily responsible for maintaining price stability, with a subsidiary responsibility for issuing Tanzanian shilling notes and coins.[35] The notes in circulation come in 10,000; 5,000; 2,000; 1,000; and 500 shilling denominations.[36] At the end of 2011, the total assets of the Tanzanian banking industry was US$11.3 billion, a 17% increase over 2010.[37] FBME Bank Ltd. was the largest bank in Tanzania, with US$2.3 billion in assets.[37] CRDB Bank Plc. was the second largest, with US$1.7 billion in assets.[37] The remainder of the ten largest banks were, in decreasing order of size, the National Microfinance Bank Ltd. Plc., the National Bank of Commerce Ltd., Standard Chartered Bank Ltd., Exim Bank Ltd., Stanbic Bank Ltd., Citibank Ltd., Barclays Bank Ltd., and Diamond Trust Bank Ltd..[37]
The economy is heavily based on agriculture, which accounts for more than 25% of gross domestic product, provides 85% of exports, and employs 80% of the workforce;[7] 12.25% of the land is arable, but only 1.79% of the land is planted with permanent crops.[7] Maize dominates much of the country, with cassava, rice, millet, sorghum and coffee also grown. In future, improved varieties of commercial sorghum may replace maize in areas where rainfall declines due to climate change. Following lobbying by the Hope Project (led by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)), the government recently included improved varieties of sorghum in its seed subsidy programme and agreed to provide a fertiliser subsidy programme for sorghum for the first time. This means that the government will buy seed from seed companies and sell it to farmers at almost half the market price. Farmers have reported that improved sorghum varieties grow quickly, demand less labour and are more resistant to pests and diseases.[38] According to the 2002 National Irrigation Master Plan, 29.4 million hectares in Tanzania are suitable for irrigation farming; however, only 310,745 hectares in June 2011 were actually being irrigated.[39]
Tanzania has vast amounts of minerals including gold, diamonds, coal, iron, uranium, nickel, chromium, tin, platinum, coltan, niobium, natural gas, and others. Commercial production of natural gas from the Songo Songo Island in the Indian Ocean off the Rufiji Delta commenced in 2004,[40] with the gas being transported by pipeline to Dar es Salaam. The bulk of the gas is converted to electricity by both public utility and private operators. A new gas field is being brought on stream in Mnazi Bay. It was announced in February 2012 that the collapsed volcano Mount Ngualla, approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Mbeya, contained one of the largest rare earths oxide deposits in the world.[41] In 2011, Tanzania was the fifteenth-largest producer of gold in the world and the third-largest in Africa after South Africa and Ghana and just ahead of Mali.[42] The value of the gold produced in Tanzania in 2011 was over US$2.5 billion, representing 10.5% of the country's gross domestic product.[42] The country is also known for Tanzanite, a type of precious gemstone that is found only in Tanzania.
Prolonged drought during the early years of the 21st century has severely reduced electricity generation capacity (some 60% of Tanzania's electricity supplies are generated by hydro-electric methods).[43] During 2006, Tanzania suffered a crippling series of "load-shedding" or power-rationing episodes caused by a shortfall of generated power, largely because of insufficient hydro-electric generation. Plans to increase gas- and coal-fuelled generation capacity are likely to take some years to implement, and growth is forecast to be increased to 7% or more per year.[44]
There are three major airlines in Tanzania: the Air Tanzania Corporation and Precision Air and Fastjet; all provide local flights to Arusha, Kigoma, Mtwara, Mwanza, Musoma, Shinyanga, Zanzibar and regional flights to Kigali, Nairobi and Mombasa. Fastjet is also flying to Johannesburg, There are also several charter firms and smaller airlines, such as Aurac Air Bold Aviation Ltd., Tropical Air and Coastal Aviation Ltd. There are two railway companies: TAZARA provides service between Dar-es-Salaam and Kapiri Mposhi, a district of the Central Province in Zambia. The other one is the Tanzania Railways Corporation, which provides services between Dar-es-Salaam and Kigoma, a town on the shores of Lake Tanganyika and between Dar-es-Salaam and Mwanza, a city on the shores of Lake Victoria. Several modern hydrofoil boats provide transportation across the Indian Ocean between Dar-es-Salaam and Zanzibar.
Tanzania is part of the East African Community and a potential member of the planned East African Federation. Also a founding member of SADC (Southern African Development Community).
Child labour is common in Tanzania with millions working.[45]: page 593 It is more common with girls rather than boys.[46] Girls are commonly employed as domestic servants, sometimes by force.[45]: page 594 Poor children in particular are trafficked internally for commercial sexual exploitation.[45]: page 594 Tanzania ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991[47] and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in 2003.[48] Tanzania then enacted the Law of the Child Act, 2009.[49] To help implement that Act and provide a mechanism for the reporting of children's rights violations, a free-of-charge helpline is available throughout the country.[50]
Geography
At 947,300 square kilometres (365,800 sq mi), Tanzania is the world's 31st-largest country and the 13th largest in Africa.[51] Compared to other African countries, it is slightly smaller than Egypt and slightly larger than Nigeria.[51] Tanzania lies mostly between latitudes 1° and 12°S and longitudes 30° and 40°E.[52]
Tanzania is mountainous in the northeast, where Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, is situated. Three of Africa's Great Lakes are partly within Tanzania. To the north and west lie Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake, and Lake Tanganyika, the continent's deepest lake, known for its unique species of fish. To the southwest lies Lake Nyasa. Central Tanzania is a large plateau, with plains and arable land. The eastern shore is hot and humid, with the Zanzibar Archipelago just offshore.
Tanzania contains many large and ecologically significant wildlife parks and reserves,[53] including the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, and the Serengeti National Park[54] in the north and the Selous Game Reserve, Ruaha National Park, and Mikumi National Park in the south. Gombe Stream National Park in the west is known as the site of Dr. Jane Goodall's studies of chimpanzee behaviour.[55]
The government of Tanzania through its department of tourism has embarked on a campaign to promote the Kalambo water falls in the southwestern region of Rukwa as one of Tanzania's main tourist destinations. The Kalambo Falls are the second highest in Africa and are located near the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika. The Menai Bay Conservation Area is Zanzibar's largest marine protected area.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the government of Tanzania has chosen the Engaresero village on the western shores of Lake Natron to "exemplify the Maasai pastoral system given its singularity, integrity, high diversity of habitats and biodiversity."[56]
Climate
Tanzania has a tropical climate. In the highlands, temperatures range between 10 and 20 °C (50 and 68 °F) during cold and hot seasons respectively. The rest of the country has temperatures rarely falling lower than 20 °C (68 °F). The hottest period extends between November and February (25–31 °C or 77.0–87.8 °F) while the coldest period occurs between May and August (15–20 °C or 59–68 °F). Annual temperature is 20 °C (68.0 °F). The climate is cool in high mountainous regions.
Tanzania has two major rainfall regimes. One is uni-modal (October–April) and the other is bi-modal (October–December and March–May). The former is experienced in southern, central, and western parts of the country, and the latter is found in the north from Lake Victoria extending east to the coast. The bi-modal regime is caused by the seasonal migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone.[57] In the bi-modal areas, the October–December rains are generally known as the short rains or Vuli in Kiswahili. The March–May rains are referred to as the long rains or Masika. In the uni-modal areas, the rainy season is usually referred to as Musumi.[58]
Biodiversity
Tanzania has considerable wildlife habitat, including much of the Serengeti plain, where the white-bearded wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus mearnsi) and other bovids participate in a large-scale annual migration. Up to 250,000 wildebeest perish each year in the long and arduous movement to find forage in the dry season. Tanzania is also home to 130 amphibian and over 275 reptile species, many of them strictly endemic and included in the IUCN Red Lists of different countries.[59]
Tanzania has developed a Biodiversity Action Plan to address species conservation. A recently discovered species of elephant shrew called Grey-faced Sengi was filmed for the first time in 2005, and it was known to live in just two forests in the Udzungwa Mountains. In 2008, it was listed as "vulnerable" on the 2008 Red List of Threatened Species. Lake Natron in northern Tanzania is the largest breeding site for the threatened Lesser Flamingo, a huge community of which nest in the salt marshes of the lake. Areas of East African mangroves on the coast are also important habitats.
Demographics
According to the 2012 census, the total population was 44,928,923.[2] The under 15 age group represented 44.1% of the population.[52]
Population distribution is extremely uneven, with density varying from 1 person per square kilometre (3 /mi2) in arid regions to 51 per square kilometre (133 /mi2) in the well-watered mainland highlands, to 134 per square kilometre (347 /mi2) in Zanzibar.[citation needed] More than 80 percent of the population is rural.[citation needed] Dar es Salaam is the largest city and commercial capital. Dodoma, located in the centre of Tanzania, is the capital of the country and hosts the National Assembly.
The population consists of more than 120 ethnic groups, of which the Sukuma, Nyamwezi, Chagga, Nyakyusa, Haya, Hehe, Bena, Gogo, and the Makonde have more than 1 million members.[2] Other Bantu peoples include the Pare, Zigua, Shambaa, and Ngoni. The majority of Tanzanians, including the Sukuma and the Nyamwezi, are Bantu.[2] Cushitic peoples include the half million Iraqw. Nilotic peoples include the nomadic Maasai and Luo, both of which are found in greater numbers in neighbouring Kenya. The Sandawe speak a language that may be related to the Khoe languages of Botswana and Namibia, while the language of the Hadza, although it has similar click consonants, is a language isolate.[2]
The population also includes people of Arab, Indian, and Pakistani origin, and small European and Chinese communities.[60] Many also identify as Shirazis. Thousands of Arabs and Indians were massacred during the Zanzibar Revolution of 1964.[21] As of 1994, the Asian community numbered 50,000 on the mainland and 4,000 on Zanzibar. An estimated 70,000 Arabs and 10,000 Europeans resided in Tanzania.[61]
According to 2010 official Tanzania statistics, total fertility rate in Tanzania was 5.4 children born per woman with 3.7 in urban areas and 6.1 in rural areas.[62]
Largest cities
Template:Largest cities of Tanzania
Religion
Current statistics on religion are unavailable because religious surveys were eliminated from government census reports after 1967. Religious leaders and sociologists estimate that Muslim and Christian communities are approximately equal in size, each accounting for 30 to 40% of the population, with the remainder consisting of practitioners of other faiths, indigenous religions, and people of no religion.[63]
According to recent estimates 35% of the population is Muslim, 30% is Christian and 35% practice the Traditional African religion.[64] Majority of the Muslims are Sunni with most of the remaining being Shia.[65]
The Christian population is mostly composed of Roman Catholics. Among Protestants, the large number of Lutherans, Seventh-Day Adventist Church and Pentecostal Churches and Moravians point to the German past of the country while the number of Anglicans point to the British history of Tanganyika. All of them have had some influence in varying degrees from the Walokole movement (East African Revival), which has also been fertile ground for the spread of charismatic and Pentecostal groups.[66]
Zanzibar is about 97 percent Muslim. On the mainland, Muslim communities are concentrated in coastal areas, with some large Muslim majorities also in inland urban areas especially and along the former caravan routes. A large majority of the Muslim population is Sunni. The Islamic population of Dar es Salaam, the largest and richest city in Tanzania, is composed of mainly Sunni Muslim.
There are also active communities of other religious groups, primarily on the mainland, such as Buddhists and Bahá'ís.[67]
Language
Swahili and English are the official languages of Tanzania. However, the former is the national language.[68] Swahili belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo family.[69] English is still the language of higher courts.[1] It can, however, be considered a de facto official language. Tanzanians see themselves as having two "official" languages, English and Swahili. Swahili is seen as the unifying language of the country between people of different ethnic groups, who each have their own language; English serves the purpose of providing Tanzanians with the ability to participate in the global economy and culture. Over 100 different languages are spoken in Tanzania, including Sukuma, Makonde and Maasai.[70] The first language typically learned by a Tanzanian is that of his or her ethnic group, with Swahili and English learned thereafter.
According to the official linguistic policy of Tanzania, as announced in 1984, Swahili is the language of the social and political sphere as well as primary and adult education, whereas English is the language of secondary education, universities, technology, and higher courts.[1] Though the British government financially supports the use of English in Tanzania,[1] its usage in the Tanzanian society has diminished over the past decades: In the seventies Tanzanian university students used to speak English with each other, whereas now they almost exclusively use Swahili outside the classroom. Even in secondary school and university classes, where officially only English should be used, it is now quite common to use a mix of Swahili and English.
Other spoken languages are Indian languages, especially Gujarati, and Portuguese (spoken by Indians and Mozambicans, respectively) and to a lesser extent French (from neighbouring Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of the Congo). Historically German was widely spoken during that colonial period, but this practice is already forgotten.
Education
The literacy rate in Tanzania is estimated to be 73 percent.[71] Education is compulsory for seven years, until children reach age 15, but most children do not attend school this long, and some do not attend at all. In 2000, 57 percent of children age 5–14 years were attending school. As of 2006, 87.2 percent of children who started primary school were likely to reach grade 5.[72]
Health
Life expectancy at birth was estimated in 2013 to be 60.76 years.[7]
Depending on the source, the under-five mortality rate in 2010 was estimated to be either 76[73] or 81[74] out of 1,000. The leading cause of death in children under 5 years old in 2010 was pneumonia.[75] The other leading causes of death for these children were malaria, diarrhoea, and prematurity.[75]
The probability of dying between the ages of 15 and 60 was estimated in 2011 to be 363 in 1,000 men and 322 in 1,000 women.[75]
The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a significant problem in Tanzania; in 2009, the prevalence was estimated to be 5.6% of the adult population.[7] Anti-retroviral treatment coverage for people with advanced HIV infection was 30 percent in 2011 – 7 percent below the average for the continent.[76] According to the 2011 UNAIDS Report, HIV prevalence has declined among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics, young people (ages 15–24 years) and men in the general population.[77]
2006 data shows that 55 percent of the population had sustainable access to improved drinking water sources and 33 percent had sustainable access to improved sanitation.[76]
Culture
The music of Tanzania includes traditional African music, string-based taarab, and a distinctive hip hop known as bongo flava. Famous taarab singers are Abbasi Mzee, Culture Musical Club, Shakila of Black Star Musical Group. Internationally known traditional artists are Bi Kidude, Hukwe Zawose and Tatu Nane. Tanzania also has its own distinct African rumba music, termed muziki wa dansi ("dance music"); important artists include Simba Wanyika, Remmy Ongala, and Orchestra Makassy.
Tanzania's literary culture is primarily oral.[78] Major oral literary forms include folktales, poems, riddles, proverbs, and songs.[78] The majority of the oral literature in Tanzania that has been recorded is in Swahili, though each of the country's languages has its own oral tradition.[78] The country's oral literature is currently declining because of changes in family structure that make transmission of oral literature more difficult and because of the devaluation of oral literature that has accompanied Tanzania's development.[78] Tanzania's written literary tradition is still relatively undeveloped; Tanzania does not have a strong reading culture, and books are often expensive and hard to come by.[78] Most Tanzanian literature is in Swahili or English.[78] Major figures in Tanzanian written literature include Shaaban Robert, Muhammed Said Abdulla, Abdulrazak Gurnah, and Penina Mlama.[78]
Tanzania has remarkable position in art. Two styles became world known: Tingatinga and Makonde. Tingatinga are the popular African paintings painted with enamel paints on canvas. Usually the motifs are animals and flowers in colourful and repetitive design. The style was started by Mr. Edward Saidi Tingatinga born in South Tanzania. Later he moved to Dar Es Salaam. Since his death in 1972 the Tingatinga style expanded both in Tanzania and worldwide. Makonde is both a tribe in Tanzania (and Mozambique) and a modern sculpture style. It is known for the high Ujamaas (Trees of Life) made of the hard and dark ebony tree. Tanzania is also a birthplace of one of the most famous African artists – George Lilanga.
Cuisine
One of Tanzania's, and other parts of eastern Africa's, most common cultural dishes is Ugali. It is usually composed of corn and is similar in consistency to a stiff paste or porridge, giving it its second name of corn meal porridge. Mixtures of cassava and millet flours are locally used for ugali. Rice and cooked green bananas are also important staples. Beef, goat meat, beans, yoghurt and a wide range of fish and green leafy vegetables all add nutrients to the dishes.
Sports
Filbert Bayi and Suleiman Nyambui both won track and field medals in the 1980 Summer Olympics. Tanzania competes in the Commonwealth Games as well as in the African Championships in Athletics.
Football (soccer) is widely played all over the country with fans divided between two major clubs, Young African Sports Club (Yanga) and Simba Sports Club (Simba). Football is the most popular sport in Tanzania, despite the little success that has been achieved by the national team. To date, they have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup and have made just one appearance in the African Cup of Nations, back in 1980, where they finished last in their group with just 1 draw and 2 losses.
Basketball is also played but mainly in the army and schools. Hasheem Thabeet is a Tanzanian-born NBA player with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is the first Tanzanian to play in the NBA. Cricket is a rapidly growing sport in Tanzania after hosting the ICC Cricket League division 4 in 2008, Tanzania finished with one win for the tournament, and Tanzania also has its own national team. Rugby is a minor sport in Tanzania. Tanzania now has a national team, which used to be part of the East Africa team, but was separated. The city of Arusha is home to Tanzanian rugby, and the city was host to the 2007 Castel Beer Trophy competition.
See also
- Outline of Tanzania
- Index of Tanzania-related articles
- Commonwealth of Nations
- Foreign relations of Tanzania
- German East Africa
- List of hospitals in Tanzania
- List of companies of Tanzania
- Tanzania People's Defence Force
- Postage stamps and postal history of Tanzania
- Tanzanian general election, 2005
- Tanzania Scouts Association
- Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute
- Tingatinga (painting)
- Tourism in Tanzania
Notes
- ^ In higher education and the higher courts.
- ^ Population estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.
- ^ Based on population estimate for 2013 of 46.2 million instead of the 2012 census result of 44.9 million.
- ^ +007 from Kenya and Uganda.
References
- ^ a b c d Masebo, J. A. and Nyangwine, N. Nadharia ya lugha Kiswahili 1. p. 126, ISBN 978-9987-676-09-5
- ^ a b c d e f Population Distribution by Administrative Units, 2012 Population and Housing Census, United Republic of Tanzania, 2013, page 1.
- ^ a b c d "Tanzania". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
- ^ "Gini Coefficient". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ^ "Human Development Reports". Hdrstats.undp.org. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Tanzania | Define Tanzania at Dictionary.com". Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
This approximates the Kiswahili pronunciation [tanzaˈni.a]. However, /tænˈzeɪniə/ is also heard in English. - ^ a b c d e f g h Central Intelligence Agency (2013). "Tanzania". The World Factbook. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ^ "The Tanzania National Website: Country Profile". Tanzania.go.tz. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
- ^ "Dar es Salaam Port". Tanzaniaports.com. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f Attention: This template ({{cite pmid}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by PMID 19407144, please use {{cite journal}} with
|pmid=19407144
instead. - ^ Ehret, Christopher (2001). An African Classical Age: Eastern and Southern Africa in World History, 1000 B.C. to A.D. 400. University Press of Virginia. pp. 31–. ISBN 978-0-8139-2057-3.
- ^ Martin, Phyllis and O'Meara, Patrick (1995). Africa. Indiana University Press. pp. 90–93. ISBN 0-253-20984-6.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Attention: This template ({{cite pmid}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by PMID 17830304, please use {{cite journal}} with
|pmid=17830304
instead. - ^ Horton, Mark and Middleton, John (2000) The Swahili: The Social Landscape of a Mercantile Society, Wiley, ISBN 063118919X
- ^ Nurse, Derek and Spear, Thomas (1985) The Swahili: Reconstructing the History and Language of an African Society, 800–1500, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 081221207X
- ^ "Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History". Britannica.com. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
- ^ "Slave societies". Encyclopedia Britannica. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ Brode, Heinrich. Tippoo Tib: The Story of His Career in Zanzibar & Central Africa. Translated by H. Havelock with preface by Sir Charles Elliot. London: Arnold, 1907, pp.7–8
- ^ "The Story of Africa: Slavery". BBC World Service. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ Rodriguez, Junius P. (1997). The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery. ABC-CLIO. p. 623. ISBN 978-0-87436-885-7.
- ^ a b "Unveiling Zanzibar's unhealed wounds". BBC News. 25 July 2009.
- ^ "Background history of The Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar" (PDF). Vice President's Office, United Republic of Tanzania. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
- ^ Monson, Jamie (2009). Africa's Freedom Railway: How a Chinese Development Project Changed Lives and Livelihoods in Tanzania. Indiana University Press. p. 199. ISBN 0-253-35271-1. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
- ^ Anna Muganda (2004). "Tanzania's Economic Reforms – and Lessons Learned" (PDF). Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania" (PDF). Judiciary of Tanzania. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ a b "Tanzania: Government". Broad College of Business, Michigan State University. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i The Constitution of Zanzibar. zltb.go.tz. 2006.
- ^ a b c "Zanzibar: Constitution". Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ a b c "Tanzanian criminal court system". Association of Commonwealth Criminal Lawyers. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
- ^ a b "Local Government System in Tanzania", Aspects of Local Self-Government: Tanzania, North-South Local Government Co-operation Programme, The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, 31 July 2009
- ^ Regions. tanzania.go.tz
- ^ "Tanzania: State Gazettes New Regions, Districts". AllAfrica. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "City Status". Dar Es Salaam City Council. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Local Government (Urban Authorities) Act, 1982, amended 1999" (PDF). Parliamentary On-line Information System. 1999. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
{{cite web}}
:|section=
ignored (help) - ^ "About the Bank — Primary Objective and Function of the Bank". Bank of Tanzania. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Banking Operations — Banknotes and Coins in Circulation". Bank of Tanzania. 30 September 2003. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Tanzania Banking Survey" (PDF). Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture. 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ Christine Wangari (11 June 2013). "Tanzania's government signs off on sorghum" (PDF). ICRISAT. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Irrigation will give us more food by 2015 – govt". IPP Media. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Songo Songo Gas-to-Electricity Project". Tpdc-tz.com. 11 October 2001. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
- ^ "Maiden resource, Ngualla rare earth project" (PDF). ASX. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ a b "The world's biggest gold-mining countries". World Gold Council. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ Energy. tic.co.tz
- ^ Power, Jonathan (1 December 2006). "A new lodestar for Africa? – Opinion –". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ a b c "'2011 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor – Tanzania" (PDF). U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ Florence Kondylis (April 2010). "School Proximity and Child Labor Evidence from Rural Tanzania" (PDF). Professor Marco Manacorda, Queen Mary University of London. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help); Unknown parameter|coauthor=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Convention on the Rights of the Child". United Nations. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Ratification Table / African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child". African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "The Law of the Child Act, 2009" (PDF). Parliamentary On-Line Information System. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "welcome to C-Sema". C-Sema. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ a b "CIA – The World Factbook – Rank Order – Area". Cia.gov. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ a b "Tanzania in figures 2012" (PDF). National Bureau of Statistics, Tanzania. June 2013. p. 7. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Home". Tanzania National Parks. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Serengeti". Serengeti Park, FZS and Business & Nature. 15 November 2000. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Gombe Stream National Park". Tanzania National Parks. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ Koohafkan, Parviz (2011). "Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems, A Legacy for the Future" (PDF). Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help); Unknown parameter|coauthor=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Zorita, Eduardo (12 February 2002). "Rainfall variability in Northern Tanzania in the March–May season (long rains) and its links to large-scale climate forcing" (PDF). Climate Research. 20. Inter-Research Science Center: 31–40. doi:10.3354/cr020031. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
{{cite journal}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthor=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Tanzania Agricultural Seasons", Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division, Foreign Agricultural Service, United States Department of Agriculture, 24 March 2003
- ^ "Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Arusha National Park" (PDF). Tanapa brochure. Tanzania National Parks. 2002. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Tanzania orders Chinese out of Dar es Salaam market". BBC News. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Tanzania (08/09)". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "2010 Demographic and Health Survey" (PDF). National Bureau of Statistics, Tanzania. 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2007: Tanzania". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "The World Fact Book: Tanzania". Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- ^ Pew Forum on Religious & Public life. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- ^ Fischer, Moritz (2011). "'The Spirit helps us in our weakness': Charismatization of Worldwide Christianity and the Quest for an Appropriate Pneumatology with Focus on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania". Journal of Pentecostal Theology. 20: 96–121.
- ^ "U.S. Department of State". State.gov. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
- ^ Kiswahili. tanzania.go.tz
- ^ "Swahili — A language of Tanzania". Ethnologue. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
- ^ M. Paul Lewis, ed. (1 February 2014). "Languages of the World". Ethnologue (16 ed.). SIL International. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Tanzania, United Republic of – Statistics". UNICEF. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ "2008 Findings on the worst forms of child labor" (PDF). U.S. Department of Labor. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Levels and trends in child mortality" (PDF). UNICEF. 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey 2010" (PDF). Dar es Salaam: National Bureau of Statistics (Tanzania). 2010. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
- ^ a b c "World Health Statistics" (PDF). World Health Organization. 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ a b "Statistical Information System". World Health Organization. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "UNAIDS World AIDS Day Report 2011" (PDF). UNAIDS. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g Kefa M. Otiso (2013). "Chapter 3". Culture and Customs of Tanzania. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-08708-0.
External links
- Official website of the government of Tanzania
- Wikimedia Atlas of Tanzania
- Tanzania travel guide from Wikivoyage
- "Tanzania". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency.
- Template:Dmoz
- Tanzania
- Countries in Africa
- East African countries
- Southeast Africa
- Commonwealth republics
- Least developed countries
- Member states of the African Union
- Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations
- Member states of the United Nations
- Bantu countries and territories
- English-speaking countries and territories
- Swahili-speaking countries and territories
- States and territories established in 1964
- Republics