Tanzania

—Tanzanian, n., adj.

/tan'zeuh nee"euh/; Swahili. /tahn zah nee"ah/, n.

a republic in E Africa formed in 1964 by the merger of the republic of Tanganyika and the former island sultanate of Zanzibar (including Pemba and adjacent small islands). 29,460,753; 364,881 sq. mi. (945,037 sq. km). Cap.: Dodoma. Official name, United Republic of Tanzania.

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Tanzania

Introduction Tanzania -
Background: Shortly after independence, Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form the nation of Tanzania in 1964. One-party rule came to an end in 1995 with the first democratic elections held in the country since the 1970s. Zanzibar's semi- autonomous status and popular opposition have led to two contentious elections since 1995, which the ruling party won despite international observers' claims of voting irregularities. Geography Tanzania
Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Kenya and Mozambique
Geographic coordinates: 6 00 S, 35 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 945,087 sq km note: includes the islands of Mafia, Pemba, and Zanzibar water: 59,050 sq km land: 886,037 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than twice the size of California
Land boundaries: total: 3,402 km border countries: Burundi 451 km, Kenya 769 km, Malawi 475 km, Mozambique 756 km, Rwanda 217 km, Uganda 396 km, Zambia 338 km
Coastline: 1,424 km
Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM
Climate: varies from tropical along coast to temperate in highlands
Terrain: plains along coast; central plateau; highlands in north, south
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Kilimanjaro 5,895 m
Natural resources: hydropower, tin, phosphates, iron ore, coal, diamonds, gemstones, gold, natural gas, nickel
Land use: arable land: 4.24% permanent crops: 1.02% other: 94.74% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 1,550 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: flooding on the central plateau during the rainy season; drought Environment - current issues: soil degradation; deforestation; desertification; destruction of coral reefs threatens marine habitats; recent droughts affected marginal agriculture; wildlife threatened by illegal hunting and trade, especially for ivory Environment - international party to: Biodiversity, Climate
agreements: Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban
Geography - note: Kilimanjaro is highest point in Africa; bordered by three of the largest lakes on the continent: Lake Victoria (the world's second-largest freshwater lake) in the north, Lake Tanganyika (the world's second deepest) in the west, and Lake Nyasa in the southwest People Tanzania -
Population: 37,187,939 note: 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 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 44.6% (male 8,338,764; female 8,247,789) 15-64 years: 52.5% (male 9,674,951; female 9,847,084) 65 years and over: 2.9% (male 483,760; female 595,591) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.6% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 39.12 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 13.02 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/ female total population: 0.99 male(s)/ female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 77.85 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 51.7 years female: 52.67 years (2002 est.) male: 50.76 years
Total fertility rate: 5.33 children born/woman (2002 est.) HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 8.09% (1999 est.) HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ 1.3 million (1999 est.)
AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 140,000 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Tanzanian(s) adjective: Tanzanian
Ethnic groups: 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
Religions: mainland - Christian 30%, Muslim 35%, indigenous beliefs 35%; Zanzibar - more than 99% Muslim
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 note: Kiswahili (Swahili) is the mother tongue of the Bantu people living in Zanzibar and nearby coastal Tanzania; although Kiswahili is Bantu in structure and origin, its vocabulary draws on a variety of sources, including Arabic and English, and it has become the lingua franca of central and eastern Africa; the first language of most people is one of the local languages
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write Kiswahili (Swahili), English, or Arabic total population: 67.8% male: 79.4% female: 56.8% (1995 est.) Government Tanzania -
Country name: conventional long form: United Republic of Tanzania conventional short form: Tanzania former: United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar
Government type: republic
Capital: Dar es Salaam; note - legislative offices have been transferred to Dodoma, which is planned as the new national capital; the National Assembly now meets there on regular basis Administrative divisions: 25 regions; Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Iringa, Kagera, Kigoma, Kilimanjaro, Lindi, Mara, Mbeya, Morogoro, Mtwara, Mwanza, Pemba North, Pemba South, Pwani, Rukwa, Ruvuma, Shinyanga, Singida, Tabora, Tanga, Zanzibar Central/South, Zanzibar North, Zanzibar Urban/West
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
National holiday: Union Day (Tanganyika and Zanzibar), 26 April (1964)
Constitution: 25 April 1977; major revisions October 1984
Legal system: based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts limited to matters of interpretation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Benjamin William MKAPA (since 23 November 1995); Vice President Dr. Ali Mohammed SHEIN (since 5 July 2001); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government; Prime Minister Frederick SUMAYE (since NA) does not function as the head of government head of government: President Benjamin William MKAPA (since 23 November 1995); Vice President Dr. Ali Mohammed SHEIN (since 5 July 2001); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government; Prime Minister Frederick SUMAYE (since NA) does not function as the head of government note: Zanzibar elects a president who is head of government for matters internal to Zanzibar; Amani Abeid KARUME was elected to that office on 29 October 2000 cabinet: Cabinet ministers, including the prime minister, are appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly election results: Benjamin William MKAPA reelected president; percent of vote - Benjamin William MKAPA 71.7%, Ibrahim Haruna LIPUMBA 16.3%, Augustine Lyatonga MREME 7.8%, John Momose CHEYO 4.2% elections: president and vice president elected on the same ballot by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 29 October 2000 (next to be held NA October 2005); prime minister appointed by the president
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Bunge (274 seats - 232 elected by popular vote, 37 allocated to women nominated by the president, five to members of the Zanzibar House of Representatives; members serve five- year terms); note - in addition to enacting laws that apply to the entire United Republic of Tanzania, the Assembly enacts laws that apply only to the mainland; Zanzibar has its own House of Representatives to make laws especially for Zanzibar (the Zanzibar House of Representatives has 50 seats, directly elected by universal suffrage to serve five-year terms) election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - CCM 244, CUF 16, CHADEMA 4, TLP 3, UDP 2, Zanzibar representatives 5; Zanzibar House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - CCM 34, CUF 16 elections: last held 29 October 2000 (next to be held NA October 2005)
Judicial branch: Permanent Commission of Enquiry (official ombudsman); Court of Appeal (consists of a chief justice and four judges); High Court (consists of a Jaji Kiongozi and 29 judges appointed by the president; holds regular sessions in all regions); District Courts; Primary Courts (limited jurisdiction and appeals can be made to the higher courts) Political parties and leaders: Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo or CHADEMA [Bob MAKANI, chairman]; Chama Cha Mapinduzi or CCM (Revolutionary Party) [Benjamin William MKAPA, chairman]; Civic United Front or CUF [Seif Sharif HAMAD, secretary-general]; Democratic Party (unregistered) [Reverend Christopher MTIKLA]; National Convention for Construction and Reform or NCCR [James MBATIA, secretary general]; Tanzania Labor Party or TLP [Augustine Lyatonga MREMA, chairman]; Union for Multiparty Democracy or UMD [leader NA]; United Democratic Party or UDP [John CHEYO] Political pressure groups and NA
leaders: International organization ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, EADB, ECA, FAO,
participation: G- 6, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SADC, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Mustafa Salim NYANG'ANYI chancery: 2139 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 FAX: [1] [phone] telephone: [1] [phone] Diplomatic representation from the chief of mission: Ambassador Robert
US: V. ROYALL embassy: 140 Msese Road, Kinondoni District, Dar es Salaam mailing address: P. O. Box 9123, Dar es Salaam telephone: [255] (22) 666010 through 666015 FAX: [255] (22) 666701
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 Economy Tanzania
Economy - overview: Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which accounts for half of GDP, provides 85% of exports, and employs 80% of the work force. Topography and climatic conditions, however, limit cultivated crops to only 4% of the land area. Industry is mainly limited to processing agricultural products and light consumer goods. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and bilateral donors have provided funds to rehabilitate Tanzania's deteriorated economic infrastructure. Growth in 1991-2001 featured a pickup in industrial production and a substantial increase in output of minerals, led by gold. Natural gas exploration in the Rufiji Delta looks promising and production could start by 2002. Recent banking reforms have helped increase private sector growth and investment. Continued donor support and solid macroeconomic policies should support steady real GDP growth of 5% in 2002 and 2003.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $22.1 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $610 (2001 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 48.4% industry: 16.7% services: 34.9% (2000 est.) Population below poverty line: 51.1% (1991 est.) Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: 2.8%
percentage share: highest 10%: 30.1% (1993) Distribution of family income - Gini 38.2 (1993)
index: Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 13.495 million Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 80%, industry and services 20% (2000 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues: $1.01 billion expenditures: $1.38 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY00/01 est.)
Industries: primarily agricultural processing (sugar, beer, cigarettes, sisal twine), diamond and gold mining, oil refining, shoes, cement, textiles, wood products, fertilizer, salt Industrial production growth rate: 8.4% (1999 est.) Electricity - production: 2.765 billion kWh (2000) Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 18.08% hydro: 81.92% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0% Electricity - consumption: 2.616 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 45 million kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: coffee, sisal, tea, cotton, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), cashew nuts, tobacco, cloves (Zanzibar), corn, wheat, cassava (tapioca), bananas, fruits, vegetables; cattle, sheep, goats
Exports: $827 million (f.o.b., 2001)
Exports - commodities: gold, coffee, cashew nuts, manufactures, cotton (2000)
Exports - partners: UK 22.0%, India 14.8%, Germany 9.9%, Netherlands 6.9% (2000)
Imports: $1.55 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
Imports - commodities: consumer goods, machinery and transportation equipment, industrial raw materials, crude oil
Imports - partners: South Africa 11.5%, Japan 9.3%, UK 7.0%, Australia 6.2% (2000)
Debt - external: $6.8 billion (2000 est.) Economic aid - recipient: $963 million (1997)
Currency: Tanzanian shilling (TZS)
Currency code: TZS
Exchange rates: Tanzanian shillings per US dollar - 924.70 (January 2002), 876.41 (2001), 800.41 (2000), 744.76 (1999), 664.67 (1998), 612.12 (1997)
Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June Communications Tanzania - Telephones - main lines in use: 127,000 (1998) Telephones - mobile cellular: 30,000 (1999)
Telephone system: general assessment: fair system operating below capacity and being modernized for better service; VSAT (very small aperture terminal) system under construction domestic: trunk service provided by open wire, microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and fiber- optic cable; some links being made digital international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean) Radio broadcast stations: AM 12, FM 11, shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios: 8.8 million (1997) Television broadcast stations: 3 (1999)
Televisions: 103,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .tz Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 6 (2000)
Internet users: 115,000 (2001) Transportation Tanzania -
Railways: total: 3,569 km narrow gauge: 2,600 km 1.000- m gauge; 969 km 1.067-m gauge note: the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), which operates 1,860 km of 1.067-m narrow gauge track between Dar es Salaam and Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia (of which 969 km are in Tanzania and 891 km are in Zambia) is not a part of Tanzania Railways Corporation; because of the difference in gauge, this system does not connect to Tanzania Railways (2001)
Highways: total: 85,000 km paved: 4,250 km unpaved: 80,750 km (2001)
Waterways: note: Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, and Lake Nyasa are principal avenues of commerce between Tanzania and its neighbors on those lakes
Pipelines: crude oil 982 km
Ports and harbors: Bukoba, Dar es Salaam, Kigoma, Kilwa Masoko, Lindi, Mtwara, Mwanza, Pangani, Tanga, Wete, Zanzibar
Merchant marine: total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 21,987 GRT/27,121 DWT ships by type: cargo 2, passenger/ cargo 2, petroleum tanker 2, roll on/roll off 1, short-sea passenger 1 (2002 est.)
Airports: 125 (2001) Airports - with paved runways: total: 11 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2001) Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 114 1,524 to 2,437 m: 18 914 to 1,523 m: 61 under 914 m: 35 (2001) Military Tanzania -
Military branches: Tanzanian People's Defense Force (including Army, Navy, and Air Force), paramilitary Police Field Force Unit (including Police Marine Unit and Police Air Wing), territorial militia Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 8,636,817 (2002 est.) Military manpower - fit for military males age 15-49: 4,997,257 (2002
service: est.) Military expenditures - dollar $19 million (FY01)
figure: Military expenditures - percent of 0.2% (FY01)
GDP: Transnational Issues Tanzania - Disputes - international: Tanzania and Malawi maintain a largely dormant dispute over the boundary in Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) and current location of historical boundary in the meandering Songwe River
Illicit drugs: growing role in transshipment of Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin and South American cocaine destined for South African, European, and US markets and of South Asian methaqualone bound for Southern Africa

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officially United Republic of Tanzania

Country, eastern Africa.

It is mostly on the African mainland but also includes the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, and Mafia in the Indian Ocean. Area: 364,881 sq mi (935,037 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 37,188,000. Capital: Dar es Salaam; Dodoma, designated. There are about 120 identifiable ethnic groups; the largest, the Sukuma, are about one-fifth of the population. Languages: Swahili, English (both official). Religions: Islam, traditional religions, Christianity. Currency: Tanzanian shilling. Although most of Tanzania consists of plains and plateaus, it has some spectacular relief features, including Kilimanjaro and Mount Lengai, an active volcano. All or portions of Lakes Malawi, Tanganyika, Victoria, and Rukwa lie within Tanzania, as do the headwaters of the Nile, Congo, and Zambezi rivers. Serengeti National Park is the most famous of its extensive game reserves. Important mineral deposits include gold, diamonds, gemstones, iron ore, coal, and natural gas. The centrally planned economy is based largely on agriculture; major crops include corn, rice, coffee, cloves, cotton, sisal, cashews, and tobacco. Industries include food processing, textiles, cement, and brewing. Tanzania is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the president. Inhabited from the 1st millennium BC, it was occupied by Arab and Indian traders and Bantu-speaking peoples by the 10th century AD. The Portuguese gained control of the coastline in the late 15th century, but they were driven out by the Arabs of Oman and Zanzibar in the late 18th century. German colonists entered the area in the 1880s, and in 1891 the Germans declared the region a protectorate as German East Africa. In World War I Britain captured the German holdings, which became a British mandate (1920) under the name Tanganyika. Britain retained control of the region after World War II when it became a UN trust territory (1946). Tanganyika gained independence in 1961 and became a republic in 1962. In 1964 it united with Zanzibar under the name Tanzania. It experienced both political and economic struggles in recent years.

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▪ 2009

Area:

945,090 sq km (364,901 sq mi)

Population

(2008 est.): 40,213,000

De facto capital:

Dar es Salaam; only the legislature meets in Dodoma, the longtime planned capital

Chief of state and head of government:

President Jakaya Kikwete, assisted by Prime Ministers Edward Lowassa and, from February 9, Mizengo Pinda

      Change at the highest level of government and allegations of corruption characterized political life in Tanzania in 2008. In January Pres. Jakaya Kikwete was elected chairman of the African Union and almost immediately played a significant role in helping to negotiate the settlement of a dispute over election results in Kenya. He had been elected president of Tanzania to battle corruption and began the year by dismissing the governor of the Bank of Tanzania over a scandal involving payment irregularities. In February President Kikwete accepted the resignations of his longtime political associate Prime Minister Edward Lowassa and two other cabinet ministers who, according to the report of a commission of inquiry, had been implicated in a case involving political influence peddling in the awarding of a contract to an American electricity company. Moreover, in spite of being paid thousands of dollars, that company had never fulfilled its obligations. Constitutionally, the resignation of the prime minister required the dissolution of the cabinet, and on February 8 a new cabinet was appointed, with Mizengo Pinda as prime minister.

      The issue of corruption was not allowed to drop at that point, however. A number of MPs demanded that several other officials be investigated, and in July the government agreed under pressure from the opposition that the parliament should debate the report of another presidential commission, this time concerning mining.

      A brief visit by U.S. Pres. George W. Bush in mid-February was preceded by a demonstration in Dar es Salaam by some 2,000 Muslims denouncing U.S. foreign policy. Nevertheless, Bush's dealings with President Kikwete proved cordial, with the U.S. president announcing a compact between the Millennium Challenge Corporation and Tanzania that over five years would make available almost $700 million to improve transportation, energy supplies, and access to clean water.

      Balance of trade figures for 2007 had been favourable, with a significant rise in the value of exports; however, the cost of living rose markedly in 2008 because of an increase in food and fuel prices. It was welcome news early in the year, therefore, when the Tanzanian National Microfinance Bank, in partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution, launched a $6.1 million scheme to train poor farmers and ease access to fertilizers and seed.

      The awareness of endemic corruption in official circles and of the divisive potential of oil and natural gas exploitation forced the governments of both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar to give serious consideration to methods by which they might share equitably the profits from the offshore exploration. The announcement in October of the intention to extend still further the drilling for gas in Mnazi Bay promised even richer returns. The whole subject was further complicated by the continuing problems surrounding the political status of Zanzibar. In April the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) MPs staged a walkout when they concluded that the ruling Revolutionary Party of Tanzania (CCM) was reneging on an agreement that called for a power-sharing government in Zanzibar. In July, Prime Minister Pinda gave impetus to the dispute by stating explicitly that Zanzibar was not a sovereign country.

Kenneth Ingham

▪ 2008

Area:

945,090 sq km (364,901 sq mi)

Population

(2007 est.): 39,384,000

De facto capital:

Dar es Salaam; only the legislature meets in Dodoma, the longtime planned capital

Chief of state and head of government:

President Jakaya Kikwete, assisted by Prime Minister Edward Lowassa

      In March 2007 Tanzanian Pres. Jakaya Kikwete announced a number of measures that were aimed at encouraging both foreign and local investors. Speaking at a dinner of the Tanzania Bankers Association on April 3, he said that his policy was meant to encourage wider economic relationships wherever possible. Already playing an important role in his policy was the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), which was recognized in March when the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies conferred its annual award on the TIC (together with a group in South Korea and one in Portugal); 260 investment agencies took part in the competition.

      The government's plans for the future included an agreement in March with Kuwait to create a deep-water harbour at Tanga to provide an alternative port to handle heavy goods moving into and out of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. In May the Nile Basin Initiative, a nongovernmental organization, launched a project to construct a $200 million hydroelectric plant on the Kagera River on Tanzania's northwestern border with Uganda. Meanwhile, FBME Bank Ltd. (formerly the Federal Bank of the Middle East), based in Dar es Salaam, invested a more-modest $1 million in a gold refinery near Mwanza, where small-scale gold miners were working. There was criticism, however, from disappointed competitors over the awarding of a $2.6 billion contract to build an oil refinery to an international consortium in which a company owned by the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party had a share, although the company had made no secret of its participation in the project.

      Donors of aid remained well disposed toward Tanzania; in March, 14 donors promised aid totaling $650 million to support the general budget for 2007–08. Nevertheless, while stressing the government's good record in providing social services, Finance Minister Zakia Meghji emphasized in her budget speech on June 14 that there was still a need to make more provision for road construction and for providing electricity for both industry and household use. Critics of her plans, however, thought them insufficiently bold.

      Although the country's balance of trade with China was unfavourable, there was optimism that this state of affairs could be rectified. One long-standing drain on the country's resources seemed likely to come to an end. On a visit to Burundi in June, President Kikwete announced that with peace restored in Burundi, the refugee camps in the northwest would be closed by year's end.

      As chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Kikwete played a prominent role in the SADC's efforts to find a solution to the serious problems in Zimbabwe. He had a private meeting with Pres. Robert Mugabe in March, and in spite of intense pressure from a number of Western powers demanding strong action, Kikwete insisted that his aim was to reach an amicable settlement between the Zimbabwean government and the opposition. To that end, a summit meeting of the SADC later in March agreed to invite South African Pres. Thabo Mbeki to begin negotiations between the Zimbabwean government and its opponents.

Kenneth Ingham

▪ 2007

Area:

945,090 sq km (364,901 sq mi)

Population

(2006 est.): 37,445,000

De facto capital:

Dar es Salaam; only the legislature meets in Dodoma, the longtime planned capital

Chief of state and head of government:

President Jakaya Kikwete, assisted by Prime Minister Edward Lowassa

      On the eve of 2006, the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party won a landslide victory in Tanzania's parliamentary and presidential elections. The new president, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, appointed the experienced Edward Lowassa as prime minister and tapped a record number of women as ministers and as deputy ministers, including the important portfolios of finance, foreign affairs, justice, and education. Kikwete promised to root out poverty and raise standards of living, especially for more disadvantaged people, and to improve opportunities for education. He faced a range of problems in Zanzibar, however, and had to deal with corruption in the mainland public services that his predecessor had tackled with only limited success.

      Tanzania began the year faced with the effects of prolonged drought, which resulted in food shortages and a severe drop in water levels and necessitated power rationing. The government took immediate action to deal with these problems by increasing the import of corn (maize), the country's staple food, and by authorizing a three-month tax exemption on imports of that commodity. It also made an urgent appeal for donors to provide relief and began to distribute 14,951 metric tons of corn to more than half a million people who could not afford to buy food at the highly inflated price to which it had risen. The budget for the financial year 2006–07 contained provision for increased funds to be made available to reduce poverty and to make it easier for small farmers and businessmen to get credit from commercial banks and other lenders. Steps were also taken in April to protect the environment and water resources by banning the export of timber and by evicting livestock owners from riverbeds.

      In June the minister of education said that as a first step toward meeting the shortage of 6,000 secondary-school teachers that had arisen from the recent opening of 1,050 new secondary schools, an emergency measure would be introduced in 2007 giving 3,500 secondary-school leavers a crash course in teaching methods and that 250 retired teachers and 260 university graduates would be recruited.

      On April 23 a group of 10 people from semiautonomous Zanzibar (comprising the islands of Unguja [Zanzibar] and Pemba) filed a case in the Zanzibar High Court seeking the annulment of the union with mainland Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika), signed in 1964. They claimed that the treaty had never been ratified and that, in any case, the attorney general's office had been unable to produce an original copy of the agreement, which appeared to have been lost. Early in October the High Court dismissed the case, saying that it had not been properly filed and that because the proper people for the group to have sued—the two signatories, Pres. Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika and Pres. Abeid Amani Karume of Zanzibar—were now dead, the time for challenging the union had long since expired. The leader of the claimants, Rashid Addiy, insisted that they would continue the struggle by other means and said that 10,000 people had already signed a petition calling for an appeal against the High Court's ruling.

Kenneth Ingham

▪ 2006

Area:

945,090 sq km (364,901 sq mi)

Population

(2005 est.): 36,766,000

De facto capital:

Dar es Salaam; only the legislature meets in Dodoma, the longtime planned capital

Chief of state and head of government:

Presidents Benjamin William Mkapa and, from December 21, Jakaya Kikwete, assisted by Prime Ministers Frederick Tulway Sumaye and, from December 30, Edward Lowassa

      Beginning on Jan. 1, 2005, as a result of an agreement reached in 2004 between the presidents of Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, passport holders of the three countries were able to travel in the region free from immigration requirements. Together with the simultaneous implementation of a customs union, this marked a significant advance toward the federal relationship envisaged for 2012. In June the government suggested that primary education would be available by the end of the year for all who required it and that at least 100,000 people suffering from HIV/AIDS would receive free antiretroviral drugs by the end of 2006. Also in June, a company involved in producing an antimalarial drug stated that it would soon make the treatment available cheaply to Tanzanians.

      These hopeful signs, however, were set against the continuous struggle against poverty. Teachers complained that their profession was being denigrated by poor pay and difficult working conditions, and junior doctors at the Muhimbili National Hospital went on strike for a week in June for similar reasons. There also remained the ongoing problem of feeding and housing 400,000 refugees located in the northwest, although that situation improved slightly with a steady increase in the second half of the year in the numbers returning to Burundi. In May there were warnings of food shortages in 13 districts in the north of the country, and the government's contract with a company supplying water to Dar es Salaam was terminated because of poor performance, which meant that thousands of people continued to suffer acute shortages.

      The local elections for the president and the parliament of the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba were preceded by violent clashes between supporters of the two main parties, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Civic United Front (CUF), but went ahead as scheduled on October 30. Pres. Amani Abeid Karume was reelected, and the ruling CCM won a majority of parliamentary seats. Though the defeated CUF accused authorities of intimidation, complained about irregularities in the registration of voters, and questioned the legitimacy of Karume's government, its members agreed to take up their seats in the parliament.

      The national elections were postponed because of the death of one of the vice presidential candidates. When elections eventually took place on December 14, there was a high turnout; 11 million of the 16 million registered voters cast their ballots. The ruling CCM's presidential candidate and former foreign minister Jakaya Kikwete won 80.2% of the vote and succeeded retiring Pres. Benjamin Mkapa. The CCM also won 206 of the 232 seats in the parliament. Although there were some disturbances on Zanzibar when the results were announced, the African Union monitor submitted a favourable report on the general conduct of the elections.

Kenneth Ingham

▪ 2005

Area:

945,090 sq km (364,901 sq mi)

Population

(2004 est.): 35,078,000

De facto capital:

Dar es Salaam; Dodoma is the longtime planned capital

Chief of state and head of government:

President Benjamin William Mkapa, assisted by Prime Minister Frederick Tulway Sumaye

      The most significant event in Tanzania in 2004 was the government's decision in February to launch a $27.6 million project to draw water from Lake Victoria to supply hundreds of villages in the western Shinyanga region. The announcement that the contract for laying the pipeline had been awarded to a Chinese company brought an immediate protest from Egypt, which claimed that Tanzania was in breach of a 1929 treaty that had determined the distribution of the water that flowed from the lake to Egypt through the Nile River to be in perpetuity. On March 8 an emergency meeting took place in Uganda, where representatives gathered from 10 countries reliant upon Nile River water, and a majority of them agreed that the treaty should be updated.

      On March 2 a meeting of the presidents of Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda to sign an agreement preparing the way for an East African customs union passed off more quietly. Tanzanian businessmen, however, were anxious that the proposals would favour Kenya, which already exported far more goods to Tanzania than it imported. The protection of Tanzania's developing tea industry was a case in point; about 30% of the tea sold in Tanzania had been smuggled in from Kenya and Burundi.

      On July 21 the Ubongo power station in Dar es Salaam, which was financed by the U.S. and created electricity from natural gas, began producing power. Nonetheless, the vast majority of the population still relied on firewood to produce heat, which had disastrous consequences for the country's forests.

      Despite rainfall in areas that had been affected by drought, there was little improvement in the overall availability of food, and it was estimated that 3.5 million people would require food aid by May. In February the IMF approved a loan of $4.2 million to assist the country's poverty-reduction program, and on March 2 the Japanese government rescheduled a debt of some $115 million.

      The nearly 400,000 officially registered refugees from Burundi, along with another 400,000 who were undocumented and living in refugee circumstances, continued to impose a heavy financial and administrative burden on the country. As a result, Pres. Benjamin William Mkapa held a number of meetings in August with other regional heads of state in an effort to achieve a settlement of the conflicts in Burundi.

      There were problems too for the Civil Service Department. Although the government raised the salaries of civil servants in July, many of the recipients claimed that their incomes were still inadequate and denounced the huge gap between the salaries at the top and at the bottom of the pay scale.

      On the island of Zanzibar, March proved to be a turbulent month. A spate of bombings and protests took place, but they suddenly died down. The police were unable to pinpoint the reason for the outburst or the culprit behind it; the Tanzanian government believed the violence to have been politically motivated, but the police were unable to rule out religious extremism. Zanzibar also attracted attention in April when the island's parliament unanimously approved a bill outlawing homosexuality, with penalties of up to 25 years' imprisonment for breach of the law.

Kenneth Ingham

▪ 2004

Area:

945,090 sq km (364,901 sq mi)

Population

(2003 est.): 35,078,000

De facto capital:

Dar es Salaam; the legislature meets in Dodoma, the pending capital

Chief of state and head of government:

President Benjamin William Mkapa, assisted by Prime Minister Frederick Tulway Sumaye

      In May 2003, by-elections were held in all the constituencies of Tanzania that had had no parliamentary representatives since the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) in Zanzibar and Pemba had refused to recognize the elections of 2000. On Pemba the CUF won all 15 contested seats for the Union Parliament and 11 for the Zanzibar House of Representatives. To build on this successful outcome (following earlier disagreements), in October the Commonwealth urged the government to reform the Zanzibar judiciary and the Zanzibar Electoral Commission.

      The economic situation was less buoyant. CDC Globeleq, a subsidiary of the CDC Group owned by the British government through its Department for International Development, took a controlling interest in the Songas project. The project aimed to bring gas to Dar-es-Salaam by means of a 225-km (140-mi) pipeline from Songo Island and thus gave an important boost to Tanzania's economic potential. The fishing industry based on Lake Victoria was thriving as a result of the increased demand from the EU. Fish became Tanzania's biggest export, accounting for 25% of the country's export earnings. The boom had its downside, however, and overfishing by all the countries around Lake Victoria threatened to deplete the stocks of fish seriously.

      In January, fears of a possible terrorist attack on Zanzibar caused the U.S. and other Western countries to issue a warning to their nationals of the danger of visiting the island. Although no attack took place, Tanzanian economic planners who were hoping to make tourism their country's largest foreign currency earner were given a brief setback. Others were less concerned, fearing that the main beneficiaries of tourism would be foreign tourist operators and hoteliers rather than the population as a whole. They were particularly worried by the future availability of land for smallholdings and cattle herding, upon which the majority of the population depended and to which there appeared no visible alternative form of employment for the numbers of people involved. The setting aside of large areas of land as wildlife conservation parks to attract tourists was already depriving herdsmen such as the Masai of land they needed for their cattle. At the same time, leading politicians and successful businessmen were acquiring large pieces of land, and the arrival of numbers of white Zimbabweans fleeing from Pres. Robert Mugabe's land reforms was further increasing the demand. Of still greater concern was the fear that the government appeared ready to acquiesce in the call from the president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, for a change in the land law to encourage foreign enterprises.

      In August Pres. Benjamin Mkapa highlighted a further problem when he destroyed 1,000 guns as part of his plan to rid the country of illegal arms seized by the police. The flow of small arms into the lake region was, he maintained, an important factor contributing to the unrest in the area and thus to the influx of refugees into Tanzania, which was imposing a serious burden on the country's administrative resources. In October the UN World Food Programme appealed to the international community for $17 million to assist 2 million people in the centre and north of the country who were suffering severe food shortages as a result of adverse weather conditions.

Kenneth Ingham

▪ 2003

Area:

945,090 sq km (364,901 sq mi)

Population

(2002 est.): 34,902,000

De facto capital:

Dar es Salaam; the legislature meets in Dodoma, the pending capital

Chief of state and head of government:

President Benjamin William Mkapa, assisted by Prime Minister Frederick Tulway Sumaye

      In January 2002 a new deal was made between the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party and the leading opposition party, the Civic United Front (CUF). The arrangement restored working relations that had been disrupted in 2001 and called for the implementation of the peace accord signed in October of that year. It was strongly endorsed by the secretary-general of the CUF, Seif Shariff Hamad. Hamad said that the CUF no longer disputed the outcome of the 2000 elections but simply wanted to ensure that the mechanics of the constitution were wholly apparent.

      On March 3 Pres. Benjamin William Mkapa announced that he would defy the World Bank and implement an air traffic control system supplied by the British aerospace company BAE Systems. British Prime Minister Tony Blair had authorized the transaction in December 2001 against the advice of Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. Brown argued that Tanzania, one of the world's poorest countries, should not invest in such an unnecessarily expensive system. The British secretary of state for international development, Clare Short, agreed with Brown and initially suspended £10 million (about $15.5 million) in aid in protest. Short also voiced her suspicions that the deal had been corrupt, though she admitted that she had no evidence to prove it so.

      The corporate privatization program encouraged by the World Bank and the IMF continued to make steady progress in 2002. The Presidential Parastatal Sector Reform Commission (PSRC), however, came under increasing attack from CCM critics who feared that the country's assets were being sold to foreigners. Although the government denied the charge, CCM MPs threatened to bring a motion calling for an investigation into the conduct of the PSRC. In September their case gained substance when, in response to the government's attempt to dispose of 75% of Air Tanzania shares, South African Airways emerged as the only bidder for a 49% holding in the failing company. The government had already encountered a serious setback on June 24 when the Tanzania Railways Corp., one of the largest entities scheduled for privatization, reported that more than 280 people had been killed in a crash near Dodoma. (See Disasters.)

      The task of creating a customs union with Kenya and Uganda within the East African Community also proved difficult. Government officials and businessmen feared that freeing the regional market would benefit only the stronger economy of Kenya.

Kenneth Ingham

▪ 2002

Area:

945,090 sq km (364,901 sq mi)

Population

(2001 est.): 36,232,000 (including nearly 1,000,000 refugees, nearly all of whom are from Burundi)

De facto capital:

Dar es Salaam; the legislature meets in Dodoma, the capital designate

Chief of state and head of government:

President Benjamin William Mkapa, assisted by Prime Minister Frederick Tulway Sumaye

      On January 26–27, 2001, police used tear gas and live ammunition to break up demonstrations called by the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) on the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba; the CUF demanded a rerun of the October 2000 parliamentary and presidential elections. Though CUF reports of the number of people killed during the demonstrations were exaggerated, the government's estimate of 20 dead was regarded by impartial observers as too low. The U.S. and several European countries condemned the killings, and Amnesty International criticized the excessive use of force by police and called on both the Tanzanian and Zanzibari governments to institute an impartial investigation. The simultaneous demonstrations that were planned on the mainland were apparently forestalled when officials and other supporters of the CUF were arrested. Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete visited London, Washington, Brussels, and Stockholm in a damage-control effort, even though there were no signs that donors were threatening to withhold aid.

      Tanzania's continuing dependence on foreign aid was highlighted by the budget presented by Finance Minister Basil Mramba on June 14. Estimated income for the year 2001–02 amounted to markedly less than 60% of estimated expenditure, with something less than the about 40% remaining to come from external grants and loans. Nor was external aid uniformly successful in achieving its aims. Primary-school enrollment suffered a sharp decline; the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries debt-relief program, launched jointly by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), insisted that poor parents contribute a part of the cost of educating their children, a condition that few could meet. Moreover, in spite of the program, Tanzania was still spending 26% of its export earnings on debt servicing. After a March meeting with the members of an IMF–World Bank mission in Tanzania, leaders of southern and central African countries called for urgent steps to be taken to encourage African exports.

      Against this backdrop, the news that the British government was contemplating issuing an export license that would authorize a British company to provide a sophisticated $40 million air traffic control system for Tanzania caused the World Bank and the IMF considerable consternation in August.

      There were, however, some hopeful signs for the economy. Increased investor interest in gold mining raised Tanzania's hopes of becoming the third largest gold producer in the world by 2004; some 300 of the 400 companies earmarked for privatization had achieved their aim. In addition, tourism, which in 1999 had accounted for 14% of gross domestic product, continued to expand. Telecommunications lagged well behind neighbouring countries, but the rapid growth in mobile phone ownership—more than 160,000 by midyear—meant that business development was not being held back. There was further good news on November 27 when the IMF and World Bank agreed to a reduction of $77 million in Tanzania's debt repayment for the year 2002. On the political front, however, the peace accord signed between the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), and the CUF on October 10 ran into difficulties when the leadership of the CUF accused the CCM of lacking the will to implement it.

Kenneth Ingham

▪ 2001

Area:

945,090 sq km (364,901 sq mi)

Population

(2000 est.): 35,306,000 (including about 950,000 refugees, of whom about 800,000 are from Burundi)

De facto capital:

Dar es Salaam; the legislature meets in Dodoma, the capital designate

Chief of state and head of government:

President Benjamin William Mkapa, assisted by Prime Minister Frederick Tulway Sumaye

      The year 2000 began on a promising note for Tanzania's gold-mining industry. The first commercial gold mine, Golden Pride, had begun production in 1999, and Ashanti Goldfields Co. Ltd., owner of the Geita mine, was saved from the crisis in which it had found itself in 1999 by a debt facility agreement for $100 million signed on February 22 with Barclays Capital. Additional financial backing was provided by the South African company AngloGold Ltd., which took a 50% share in the mine, and operations at Geita were officially commissioned in August by Pres. Benjamin Mkapa. The first gold from what was expected to become East Africa's largest gold field was produced in June, three months ahead of schedule.

      The right to mine two-thirds of the world's only known source of tanzanite, in the Merelani hills in the north of the country, was bought by the South African company African Gem Resources Ltd. Preliminary operations for mining tanzanite, a gemstone many times rarer than diamonds, began near the end of the year, with the government holding a 25% share in the undertaking.

      Preparations for the presidential and parliamentary elections on October 29 dominated the political scene. Initially, although the main opposition parties lacked cohesion and appeared to have no dramatic policies to attract the electorate, victory for the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), was in doubt. Critics accused the government of becoming increasingly dictatorial. Charges of extensive corruption in high places carried considerable credence, and, while President Mkapa himself was not believed to be involved, it was thought he lacked the determination to rid the country of the blight. Nationalist sentiment in Zanzibar and Pemba also appeared to threaten the islands' constitutional relationship with the mainland.

      In July the selection of CCM's candidates for the elections led to serious discontent among party members, with further accusations of bribery and even of violence in the selection process. The party's national executive committee, spurred on by President Mkapa, acted quickly to meet the criticisms. At a meeting in Dodoma in August, the committee rejected 40 of those nominated, including four cabinet ministers and some of the wealthiest candidates.

      The crisis in Zanzibar over its relationship with the mainland was also in part defused when the members of the national executive committee of the CCM persuaded Zanzibar's controversial incumbent president, Salmin Amour, not to run for an unconstitutional third term. Instead, they selected as their candidate Amani Abeid Karume, son of Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume, who, along with former president Julius Nyerere, had established the United Republic of Tanzania.

      In the election President Mkapa won a landslide victory over three opposition candidates, a strong endorsement of his economic reforms. In Zanzibar Karume won with 67% of the vote. Claiming that the Zanzibar election was rigged, however, many supporters of the opposition candidates joined in a boycott of the rerun of the elections in 16 of the island's 50 constituencies and of the swearing in of President Mkapa.

Kenneth Ingham

▪ 2000

Area:

945,090 sq km (364,901 sq mi)

Population

(1999 est.): 31,271,000

De facto capital:

Dar es Salaam; the legislature meets in Dodoma, the capital designate

Chief of state and head of government:

President Benjamin William Mkapa, assisted by Prime Minister Frederick Tulway Sumaye

      At the end of 1998, and to the satisfaction of the International Monetary Fund, the government submitted its long-running dispute with Malaysian-financed Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL) over the cost of the IPTL's newly constructed thermal power station for arbitration by the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington, D.C. On April 7, 1999, the U.S. gave $9,230,000 to assist the victims of the Aug. 7, 1998, bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam.

      Tanzania's weak economy caused considerable rethinking of its relations with its neighbours. During 1998 businessmen had questioned the wisdom of the government's plan to re-create the East African Community with Kenya and Uganda, fearing that Kenya would be the principal beneficiary. In spite of modifications to the proposal aimed at protecting infant industries, the project, intended to take effect on July 30, was postponed at Tanzania's insistence. A report published by the central bank in August suggested that such caution was not misplaced. Export earnings were the lowest in five years, as a result of low prices for cotton and tea, while the El Niño rains had had a disastrous effect upon agricultural production. During the same period, the cost of imports had risen because of the need to import food. Nevertheless, the three presidents reestablished the East African Community on November 30 but without committing their countries to a clear timetable for free trade.

      A significant factor contributing to the country's economic problems was the rapidly increasing influx of refugees crossing Lake Tanzania to escape the rebellion in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. By September Tanzania was host to nearly half a million refugees, and the camps in which they were housed had become critically overcrowded. The desperate conditions in which the refugees lived were exacerbated by an acute shortage of food and gave rise to a serious threat of violence.

      Political opposition to the government was weakened when on April 25 Augustine Lyatonga Mrema, leader of the National Convention for Construction and Reform–Mageuzi, resigned to join the Tanzania Labour Party, taking with him 1,200 other members.

      On the island of Zanzibar, the dispute between the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party and the opposition Civic United Front (CUP), arising from the CCM's refusal to accept the results of the 1995 elections, seemed certain to continue when, on March 3, 18 members of the CUP were brought to trial for allegedly having stated their intention to overthrow the governments of Zanzibar and Tanzania. On June 7, however, representatives of both parties signed an agreement aimed at bringing the dispute to an end.

      The death of former president Julius Nyerere on October 14 removed from the political scene one of Africa's most revered personalities. (See Obituaries (Nyerere, Julius Kambarage ).)

Kenneth Ingham

▪ 1999

      Area: 945,090 sq km (364,901 sq mi)

      Population (1998 est.): 30,609,000

      De facto capital: Dar es Salaam; the legislature meets in Dodoma, the capital designate

      Chief of state and head of government: President Benjamin William Mkapa, assisted by Prime Minister Frederick Tulway Sumaye

      Zanzibar was the main focus of attention in Tanzania as 1998 began. On January 12 Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the Commonwealth secretary-general, visited the island in an attempt to settle the long-running dispute between the government and the main opposition party, the Civic United Front (CUF). The controversy had begun when the CUF accused the authorities of having mismanaged the 1995 elections to the presidency and the National Assembly. In December 1997 police had arrested about 15 members of the opposition, accusing them of plotting to overthrow the government, and on January 3 two more arrests were made. Anyaoku presented the contending parties with a set of proposals that called upon each to take positive steps to calm the atmosphere and to achieve a functioning legislature with full representation by all elected members.

      On the mainland both the general public and foreign observers waited to see how Pres. Benjamin Mkapa would pursue the anticorruption campaign that he had said was under way when he reported to the national congress of the ruling Revolutionary Party of Tanzania (Chama Cha Mapinduzi) in October 1997 that 1,500 civil servants had already been dismissed. An indicator of a change in the climate of public morality could be seen in the resignation of Hassy Kitine, minister of state in the office of the president, on August 9 after widespread criticism of his wife's receiving medical treatment abroad.

      In April, having failed to renegotiate a contract with the Malaysian company Independent Power Tanzania (IPTL) to construct a 100-MW diesel power plant, the government decided to default on the contract and, if necessary, to take the issue to international arbitration. This was the result of prolonged pressure from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which had insisted that the government either renegotiate the terms of the contract or cancel it altogether. The IPTL plan, it was maintained, was uneconomical because it committed the government to buying the total output of the plant at two and a half times the cost of power expected to be produced from the offshore Songo Songo gas project financed by the World Bank and a number of bilateral donors. Answering charges that it had entered into the agreement with IPTL in 1995 with undue haste and secrecy, the government pleaded that it had been an emergency measure taken in response to an acute shortage of power due to prolonged drought.

      On August 7 terrorists detonated a bomb at the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam, killing 11 people and injuring more than 80. On December 16 the U.S. government indicted five men, all still at large, for their involvement; two other men were in custody in Tanzania.

KENNETH INGHAM

▪ 1998

      Area: 945,090 sq km (364,901 sq mi)

      Population (1997 est.): 29,461,000

      De facto capital: Dar es Salaam; the legislature meets in Dodoma, the capital designate

      Chief of state: President Benjamin William Mkapa

      Head of government: Prime Minister Frederick Tulway Sumaye

      Pres. Benjamin Mkapa's campaign to root out corruption in high places was bolstered in 1997 by the resignation in late 1996 of two ministers named in a comprehensive report submitted by the nine-man Anti-Corruption Commission appointed by the president. The resignation of Simon Mbilinyi, minister of finance, in November was followed by that of Juma Alifa Ngasongwa in December. Both men said that they had resigned in order to clear the way for a thorough government investigation. A third man, Kilonzo Mporogonyi, deputy minister of finance, was dismissed by President Mkapa in February 1997.

      On January 21 it was announced that the largest state-owned bank, the National Bank of Commerce, which had incurred heavy losses over a long period, was to be split into three smaller banks. This was part of the effort to bring greater efficiency into banking and into the economy generally. Faced with having to set aside 40% of its revenue for the year to service the foreign debt, and with a further 40% earmarked for the salaries of state employees, the government, however, had little income left to finance the development programs the country needed.

      Fortunately, foreign donors remained willing to help. Following aid of $211 million provided by the European Union late in 1996, the Paris Club of creditors agreed in January to cancel $1 billion of the country's debt and to reschedule an additional $700 million. Ireland, too, offered to make aid to Tanzania a priority, with a promise of £19 million over a three-year period. After Tanzania and Uganda had reaffirmed their interest in cross-border transport links in April, President Mkapa met with the presidents of Kenya and Uganda on April 29 to discuss further measures aimed at creating an East Africa Common Market.

      All efforts to improve the country's economic performance and the welfare of its people were, however, hampered by the worst drought in 40 years. The production of coffee and cotton, Tanzania's two biggest foreign-currency earners, had been in decline for several years and dropped again sharply in 1997, and other projects were hard hit by the severe water shortage. Appealing to the international community for aid in September, President Mkapa said that 13 of the country's 20 mainland regions would be unable to produce sufficient food to meet their needs. He forecast that the total food deficit would amount to 916,000 metric tons, of which the bulk would be bought on the open market, but asked foreign donors to provide 92,000 metric tons.

      In January Tanzania's exemplary record in dealing with refugees was threatened when Amnesty International sent a delegation to Dar es Salaam to urge the government to stop the forcible repatriation of refugees from the camps in the northwest of the country that had begun in December 1996. In February a new dimension was added to the refugee problem when supporters of Pres. Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire sought sanctuary in the western region of Kigoma from the attacks of rebels attempting to overthrow his government.

KENNETH INGHAM

      This article updates Tanzania, history of (Tanzania).

▪ 1997

      Tanzania, a member of the Commonwealth, consists of Tanganyika (mainland Tanzania), on the east coast of Africa, and Zanzibar and Pemba islands, just off the coast in the Indian Ocean. Area: 945,090 sq km (364,901 sq mi). Pop. (1996 est.): 29,058,000. Cap.: government in process of being transferred from Dar es Salaam; legislature meets in Dodoma, the new capital. Monetary unit: Tanzania shilling, with (Oct. 11, 1996) a free rate of 578 shillings to U.S. $1 (910.52 shillings = £ 1 sterling). President in 1996, Benjamin William Mkapa; prime minister, Frederick Tulway Sumaye.

      Pres. Benjamin Mkapa began his term of office by appealing to opposition parties in 1996 not to oppose the government on every issue but to put the interests of their country before those of their party. He himself, he said, would deal fairly with members of all parties. His appeal fell on deaf ears in Zanzibar and Pemba. There the opposition persisted in boycotting the National Assembly, claiming that the government had come to power by employing fraudulent tactics in the recent elections.

      In his attempts to introduce a free-market economy, Mkapa encountered the same problems that had plagued his predecessor. A preference for nationalization and state control of the economy died hard, not least among the bureaucrats who were staffing the government agencies. The delays caused by the slow working of the bureaucracy continued to encourage businessmen to resort to bribing officials in order to speed up their projects.

      Mkapa himself, however, was held in high esteem by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and private donors alike. Assistance, cut off in 1994, was resumed in November with a three-year IMF credit of $234 million. Remarkably, this went through despite the problems that began in September when a parliamentary select committee demanded that the finance minister, Simon Mbilinyi, be called to account for granting tax exemptions worth several billion shillings to four companies importing edible oil. At that moment Mbilinyi was engaged in negotiations with the IMF in New York; he resigned in November.

      International interest in Tanzania had been demonstrated earlier in the year when the South African Iron and Steel Corp. signed an agreement with Pangea Goldfields of Canada to undertake jointly the exploration of three potential sources of gold. At the end of January, the Lake Victoria steamer passenger service between Tanzania and Kenya was reopened after 18 years. At a meeting in Kampala, Uganda, earlier in January, the presidents of Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda agreed that every effort would be made to revive the economic links that had formerly existed between the three countries.

      Some 550,000 Rwandan refugees who had crossed the border into northwestern Tanzania continued to receive help, but it became increasingly difficult to maintain adequate food supplies. In addition, about 100,000 refugees from Burundi were also in Tanzania. Although reluctant to add to the number of refugees already given sanctuary, President Mkapa pledged that his government would not forcibly repatriate those already in the country. In December, however, refugees were asked to return to their home countries. (KENNETH INGHAM)

      This article updates Tanzania, history of (Tanzania).

▪ 1996

      The republic of Tanzania, a member of the Commonwealth, consists of Tanganyika, on the east coast of Africa, and Zanzibar, just off the coast in the Indian Ocean, which includes Zanzibar Island, Pemba Island, and small islets. Area: 942,799 sq km (364,017 sq mi). Pop. (1995 est.): 28,072,000. Cap.: government in process of being transferred from Dar es Salaam; legislature meets in Dodoma, the new capital. Monetary unit: Tanzania shilling, with (Oct. 6, 1995) a free rate of 600 shillings to U.S. $1 (948.54 shillings = £1 sterling). Presidents in 1995, Ali Hassan Mwinyi and, from November 23, Benjamin William Mkapa; prime ministers, Cleopa Msuya and, from November 28, Frederick Tulway Sumaye.

      For Tanzania, 1995 opened on a gloomy economic note. After the nation's chief donor countries had decided in November 1994 to suspend aid because of serious fraud over the noncollection of customs duties, the governor of the central bank informed the National Assembly in January that inflation was being made more severe by heavy expenditure and borrowing. He stated that unless government borrowing from commercial banks was curtailed, it would gravely damage the economic recovery program. In June, however, Finance Minister Jakaya Kikwete introduced a budget that won praise from the International Monetary Fund. Particular commendation was accorded to proposals for narrowing the budget deficit and for cutting company taxes.

      On March 31, with thousands of Rwandan refugees threatening to pour into the country and join those in already overcrowded camps, it became necessary to close the northwestern border.

      For most politicians the main focus of attention was the first multiparty election since independence for members of the National Assembly and for president. This took place in October. Former president Julius Nyerere threw the weight of his reputation behind the ruling Revolutionary Party of Tanzania (CCM), arguing that the other contenders needed more political experience.

      Elections in Zanzibar and Pemba were held on October 22, a week before those on the mainland. The opposition Civic United Front (CCW) campaigned for greater autonomy for the islands, but even before the results were known, the CCW brought charges of vote rigging and called for a recount. The contest was expected to be close and proved to be so. In the legislative elections the CCM won 25 seats against 23 for the CCW, while the CCM candidate for the presidency, the incumbent, Salmin Amour, triumphed by less than 0.5% of the votes cast.

      The opposition National Convention for Construction and Reform-Mageuzi party threatened briefly to boycott the mainland elections unless a recount took place in Zanzibar, but it was maladministration rather than malpractice that brought chaos on October 29. Polling stations did not open at the appointed time; there were delays in supplying voting papers; and would-be voters were left waiting in the rain. The chairman of the national electoral commission, Lewis Makame, concluded that the voting in Dar es Salaam had to be declared null and void and that the elections should be repeated during the following week. To avoid a similar situation in the rest of the country, he decided to extend the voting period for an additional two days. The CCM was declared victorious, Benjamin Mkapa was elected president, and Frederick Sumaye became prime minister.

      (KENNETH INGHAM)

      This updates the article Tanzania, history of (Tanzania).

▪ 1995

      The republic of Tanzania, a member of the Commonwealth, consists of Tanganyika, on the east coast of Africa, and Zanzibar, just off the coast in the Indian Ocean, which includes Zanzibar Island, Pemba Island, and small islets. Area: 942,799 sq km (364,017 sq mi). Pop. (1994 est.): 27,296,000. Cap.: government in process of being transferred from Dar es Salaam; legislature meets in Dodoma, the new capital. Monetary unit: Tanzania shilling, with (Oct. 7, 1994) a free rate of 535 shillings to U.S. $1 (850.92 shillings = £1 sterling). President in 1994, Ali Hassan Mwinyi; prime ministers, John Malecela and, from December 7, Cleopa Msuya.

      A World Bank report published on March 14, 1994, evaluated Tanzania's performance in carrying out its economic reform program as second only to Ghana's among 29 sub-Saharan African countries. This result had been achieved through close adherence to a stern structural-adjustment schedule, and in 1994 additional measures to curb expenditure and encourage production were introduced.

      In February the charges for electricity supplied by the Tanzania Electric Supply Corporation to domestic users were increased by 68%, while charges for street lighting, paid for by town councils, municipalities, and districts, were raised by 233%. However, charges to industrial users were reduced. Hopes of cheaper electricity in the future were raised by the announcement that the government planned to construct a trial plant to produce methane by treating solid waste. The plant, costing $3.9 million, was to be financed by the Global Environment Facility, and if it proved successful other plants would be constructed in different parts of the country. The electricity generated would then be sold to the Tanzania Electric Supply Corporation.

      As if to underscore the extent of Tanzania's problems, on January 11 Pres. Ali Hassan Mwinyi warned of the imminent danger of famine resulting from the prolonged drought from which the country had recently suffered, a warning reiterated in April by the Agency for International Development. Then, adding to the troubles caused by nature, a man-made catastrophe occurred when the violence that had burst out in Rwanda in April caused a flood of refugees to seek sanctuary in Tanzania. Although the government officially closed the border on May 1, within a 24-hour period some 250,000 Rwandan refugees occupied a camp near Ngara in northwestern Tanzania, making it the second most densely populated area in the country. An urgent appeal was made to the international community to assist in making provision for the refugees, a task that was beyond any resources immediately available in Tanzania itself.

      The limitations that poverty imposed on the country were reflected in the decision, made reluctantly in June, to withdraw the Tanzanian contingent from the peacekeeping operation in Liberia. The UN, Tanzania complained, had failed to provide the funds needed to enable the troops to carry out their task effectively.

      Yet not all was gloom. In March it was announced that the petroleum company Caltex had decided to use Zanzibar as its storage centre and distribution point for oil to be sold in eastern, central, and southern Africa. This, it was hoped, would cut the cost of petroleum products, and Zanzibar also anticipated that the beneficial effect on commodity prices would make the island more attractive to investors. Soon afterward five international investment corporations announced that they intended to fund three safari lodges on the mainland. In a Cabinet reshuffle in early December, Mwinyi reappointed former prime minister Cleopa Msuya. (KENNETH INGHAM)

      This updates the article Tanzania, history of (Tanzania).

▪ 1994

      The republic of Tanzania, a member of the Commonwealth, consists of Tanganyika, on the east coast of Africa, and Zanzibar, just off the coast in the Indian Ocean, which includes Zanzibar Island, Pemba Island, and small islets. Area: 942,799 sq km (364,017 sq mi). Pop. (1993 est.): 26,542,000. Cap.: government in process of being transferred from Dar es Salaam; legislature meets in Dodoma, the new capital. Monetary unit: Tanzania shilling, with (Oct. 4, 1993) a free rate of 445.74 shillings to U.S. $1 (675.30 shillings = £1 sterling). President in 1993, Ali Hassan Mwinyi; prime minister, John Malecela.

      Early in 1993 Pres. Ali Hassan Mwinyi instituted a number of Cabinet changes by creating new portfolios and by transferring existing ministers to other posts. The first significant innovation was the creation of the new post of deputy prime minister, to which on January 24 the minister of home affairs, Augustine Lyatonga Mrema, was appointed; he also retained his old portfolio. On April 13 a new Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs was established, headed by Samuel Sitta. Meanwhile, on January 28 Ahmed Hassan Diria, minister of foreign affairs and international relations, had exchanged portfolios with Joseph Clemence Rwegasira, minister of labour and youth development.

      The new deputy prime minister soon became prominent when he announced that three Sudanese nationals who were Muslim teachers at a school in Morogoro had been expelled on April 25 for promoting Islamic fundamentalism and plotting to stage a holy war in order to install an Islamic regime. The government's action was an indication of its concern over the disturbances created by Muslims in many parts of the country, which had led to the arrest earlier in April of more than 50 people, including Kasim ibn Juma, imam of a mosque in Dar es Salaam; they were charged with incitement and with holding illegal demonstrations.

      On January 10 Zanzibar confirmed that it had joined the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) but stressed that it would keep political and religious issues apart and that its union with mainland Tanzania would not be threatened by this action. Mwinyi gave his support to Zanzibar on January 28, arguing that the island had joined the OIC for economic rather than political ends. Some of the mainland legislators were not so accommodating, however. Zanzibar, they claimed, had violated the country's constitution, which prohibited any part of Tanzania from joining such an association. Previously, mainland legislators had, for the most part, favoured a strong union and had looked askance at Zanzibar's special constitutional status. In light of recent events, however, 58 of them introduced a bill in August for a separate government for the mainland similar to that enjoyed by Zanzibar. In a closed session of the legislature later in the month, former Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere argued strongly that such a proposal was neither logical nor cost-effective and that if it were to be adopted, it would lead to the collapse of the union. Following the meeting, Pres. Salmin Amour of Zanzibar promised that his government would withdraw from the OIC, and on the mainland the vote was deferred, but many thought it was too late to halt the drift toward dissolution.

      The economy continued to cause problems. On March 12 it was announced that 30,000 government employees would be laid off by the end of the 1993-94 financial year, and in July, in an attempt to alleviate the difficulties faced by the industrial sector, the government decided to raise taxes on imported goods that were also produced in the country. The first high-level diplomatic contacts with South Africa since 1964 marked a significant advance in external relations. (KENNETH INGHAM)

      This updates the article Tanzania, history of (Tanzania).

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Introduction

officially  United Republic of Tanzania , Swahili  Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania 

Tanzania, flag of  East African country situated just south of the Equator. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean on the east and eight other nations: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo (Kinshasa), Zambia, Malaŵi, and Mozambique. Tanzania was formed as a sovereign state in 1964 through the union of the theretofore separate states of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Mainland Tanganyika constitutes more than 99 percent of the combined territories' total area. Mafia Island is administered from the mainland, while Zanzibar and Pemba islands (Pemba Island) 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.

The land: Tanzania mainland

Relief

 

      Except for the narrow coastal belt of the mainland and the offshore islands, most of 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 (Tanganyika, Lake) (4,710 feet [1,436 metres] deep).

      The East African Rift System runs in two north–south-trending branches through 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 (Meru, Mount) (14,980 feet). 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.

Drainage

      Because of its numerous lakes, approximately 22,800 square miles of Tanzania's territory consists of inland water. Lake Victoria (Victoria, Lake), which ranks as the world's second largest freshwater lake, is not part of the Rift System. Interestingly, Tanzania has no big rivers, yet it forms the divide from which the three great rivers of the African continent rise—the Nile (Nile River), Congo (Congo River), and Zambezi (Zambezi River), which flow to the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean, respectively. Separated by the Central Plateau, the watersheds of these rivers do not meet.

      All of Tanzania's major rivers—the Ruvuma (Ruvuma River), the Rufiji (Rufiji River), the Wami, and the Pangani—drain into the Indian Ocean. The largest, the Rufiji River, has a drainage system that extends over most of southern Tanzania. The Kagera flows into Lake Victoria, whereas other minor rivers flow into internal basins formed by the Great Rift Valley. With so many rivers, Tanzania is rich in hydroelectricity potential.

Soils

      The variety of soils in Tanzania surpasses that of any other country in Africa. The reddish brown soils of volcanic origin in the highland areas are the most fertile. Many river basins also have fertile soils, but they are subject to flooding and require drainage control. The red and yellow tropical loams of the interior plateaus, on the other hand, are of moderate-to-poor fertility. In these regions, high temperatures and low rainfall encourage rapid rates of oxidation, which result in a low humus content in the soil and, consequently, a clayey texture rather than the desired crumblike structure of temperate soils. Also, tropical downpours, often short in duration but very intense, compact the soil; this causes drainage problems and leaches the soil of nutrients.

Climate

      Tanzania is subject to a warm, equatorial climate modified by variations in elevation. The high amount of solar radiation throughout the year is associated with a limited seasonal fluctuation of temperature: the mean monthly variation is less than 9° F (5° C) at most stations. Ground frosts rarely occur below 8,200 feet.

      Rainfall is highly seasonal, being influenced greatly by the annual migration of the intertropical convergence zone. Roughly half of Tanzania receives less than 30 inches (750 millimetres) of rainfall annually, an amount considered to be the minimum required for most forms of crop cultivation in the tropics. The Central Plateau, the driest area, with less than 20 inches per year on average, experiences a single rainy season between December and May. Rainfall is heavier on the coast, where there are two peaks of rainfall in October–November and April–May. The offshore islands and many highland areas have high annual rainfall totals of over 60 inches.

Plant and animal life

      Forests grow in the highland areas where there is high rainfall and no marked dry season. The western and southern plateaus are primarily miombo woodland, consisting of an open cover of trees, notably Brachystegia, Isoberlinia, Acacia, and Combretum. In areas of less rainfall (16–32 inches), bushland and thicket are found. In the floodplain areas, wooded grassland with a canopy cover of less than 50 percent has been created by poor drainage and by the practice of burning for agriculture and animal grazing. Similarly, grassland appears where there is a lack of good drainage. For example, the famous Serengeti Plain owes its grasslands to a calcrete, or calcium-rich hardpan, deposited close to the surface by evaporated rainwater. Swamps are found in areas of perennial flooding. Desert and semidesert conditions range from an Alpine type at high altitudes to saline deserts in poorly drained areas and arid deserts in areas of extremely low rainfall.

      Due to the historically low density of human settlement, Tanzania is home to an exceptionally rich array of wildlife. Large herds of hoofed animals—most spectacularly the wildebeest, as well as the zebra, giraffe, buffalo, gazelle, eland, dik-dik, and kudu—are found in most of the country's numerous game parks. Predators include hyenas, wild dogs, and the big cats—lions, leopards, and cheetahs. Crocodiles and hippopotamuses are common on riverbanks and lakeshores. The government has taken special measures to protect the rhinoceros and elephant, which have fallen victim to poachers. Small bands of chimpanzees inhabit Gombe National Park along Lake Tanganyika. Nearly 1,500 varieties of birds have been reported, and there are numerous species of snakes and lizards.

Settlement patterns

      The two most important factors influencing the regional pattern of human settlement are rainfall and the incidence of tsetse fly. The tsetse, which thrives on wild game in miombo woodlands, is the carrier of Trypanosoma, a blood parasite that causes sleeping sickness in cattle and people. Tsetse infestation makes human settlement hazardous in areas of moderate rainfall, so that areas of low and unreliable rainfall are more densely populated than would otherwise be the case. The insect does not pose a threat to areas of high rainfall and high population density.

      Population is concentrated in the highlands of the Mbeya Range, Kilimanjaro, and the Bukoba area west of Lake Victoria, on the cultivation steppe south of Lake Victoria, in the moderately high-rainfall region of Mtwara on the southern coast, and in the urban area of Dar es Salaam. These areas are all located on the perimeter of the country. The influence of the central rail line is clearly evident in the corridor of moderate population density extending from Dar es Salaam to Lake Victoria. Three sparsely populated areas stand out: the arid area of Arusha in the north and the two large tsetse-infested areas centred around Tabora in the west and Lindi and Songea in the south.

      Regional variations in agricultural productivity are strongly related to the pressure of population on the land. Shifting (shifting agriculture) cultivation, which involves rotating crops annually and leaving some fields to lie fallow for 20 years or more, was traditionally the means of renewing the fertility of the soil throughout Tanzania (with the exception of the more fertile and densely populated highland areas). A settlement pattern of widely dispersed, isolated farmsteads resulted from this practice. As the rural population expanded, however, fallow periods became shorter, and consequently soil fertility and crop yields suffered. In order to raise productivity, during the 1960s and '70s the government tried to bring about the use of improved agricultural methods, equipment, and fertilizer through the nucleation of rural settlements. First, the ujamaa (or “familyhood”) policy of the 1960s supported collectivized agriculture in a number of government-sponsored planned settlements. These settlements were over-reliant on government finance and gradually dwindled in number. On a much larger scale, the “villagization” program of the 1970s moved millions of peasants into nucleated villages of 250 households or more. By 1978 there were more than 7,500 villages, in comparison to only about 800 in 1969. Villagization was aimed not at collectivizing agriculture but at facilitating the distribution of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and improved seeds as well as making social services more accessible to the rural population.

      Only about 15 percent of the population lives in urban areas, and one-third of the urban population resides in Dar es Salaam, a city of more than one million people. Bagamoyo and Tabora, old towns connected with the 19th-century Arab slave trade, have stagnated. The fortunes of Tanga, the second largest city during the British colonial period, have been tied to the export of sisal; as that has declined, the city has grown very slowly, although it remains the country's third largest city. Mwanza, Mbeya, and Arusha have thrived as trading centres remote from Dar es Salaam, and the growth of Morogoro and Moshi reflects their rich agricultural hinterlands.

Deborah Fahy Bryceson

The land: Zanzibar and Pemba

Relief

      Low-lying Pemba, whose highest point reaches an elevation of 311 feet, and Zanzibar, which reaches 390 feet, are islands whose structure consists of coralline rocks. The west and northwest of Zanzibar consist of several ridges rising above 200 feet, but nearly two-thirds of the south and east are low-lying. Pemba appears hilly because the level central ridge has been gullied and eroded by streams draining into numerous creeks. On Zanzibar Island short streams drain mostly to the north and west. The few streams in the east disappear into the porous coralline rock.

Soils

      Among the 10 types of soils recognized in Zanzibar are fertile sandy loams and deep red earths, which occur on high ground; on valley bottoms, less fertile gray and yellow sandy soils are found. The eight soil types in Pemba include brown loams; pockets of infertile sands are found on the plains.

Climate

      Zanzibar and Pemba have rainfall of 60 inches and 80 inches, respectively. The rainfall is highest in April and May, lowest in November and December. Humidity is high. The average temperature is 81° F (27° C) in Zanzibar and 79° F (26° C) in Pemba; the annual temperature ranges are small.

Vegetation

      Long human occupation has resulted in the clearance of most of the forests, which have been replaced with coconuts, cloves, bananas, citrus, and other crops. On the eastern side of the islands, especially on Zanzibar, there is bush (scrub).

Animal life

      Although there is some difference between the animal life of the two islands, it is generally similar to that on the mainland. Animal life common to both islands includes monkeys, civet cats, and mongooses. More than 100 species of birds have been recorded in Zanzibar.

Rural settlements

      The rural settlements—and the life in them—changed drastically after the nationalization of land in 1964 and subsequent agricultural reforms. By 1970, large plantations of cloves and coconuts, once almost exclusively the property of fewer than 50 Arab families, had been redistributed. The production of food crops, especially rice, is being encouraged. Fishing villages are still important in the east.

Urban settlements

      The city of Zanzibar is still primarily a Muslim town, although the distinctive mode of life and culture, reminiscent of an Eastern commercial centre, has almost disappeared since the downfall of the Arab oligarchy in 1964. The hub of civic life is moving from Stone Town with its narrow lanes to a new town with modern buildings and amenities at Ngambo, the former African quarter. Kilimani, Bambi, and Chaani are being developed into new rural towns; a similar change is taking place in Pemba at Mkoani, Chake Chake, and Wete.

Adolfo C. Mascarenhas

The people: Tanzania mainland

Ethnic composition

      Tanzania is extremely heterogeneous, with more than 120 different indigenous African peoples as well as small groups of Asians and Europeans. As early as 5000 BC, San-type hunting bands inhabited the country. The Sandawe hunters of northern Tanzania are thought to be their descendants. By 1000 BC, agriculture and pastoral practices were being introduced through the migration of Cushitic people from Ethiopia. The Iraqw, Mbugu, Gorowa, and Burungi have Cushitic origins. About AD 500, iron-using Bantu agriculturalists coming from the west and south started displacing or absorbing the San hunters and gatherers; at roughly the same time, Nilotic pastoralists entered the area from the southern Sudan. Today the majority of Tanzanians are of Bantu (Bantu languages) descent; the Sukuma constitute the largest group, and others are the Nyamwezi, Hehe, Nyakyusa, Makonde, Yao, Haya, Chaga, Gogo, and Ha. Nilotic peoples are represented by the Masai, Arusha, Samburu, and Baraguyu. No one group has been politically or culturally dominant, although the tribes that were subject to Christian missionary influence and Western education during the colonial period (notably the Chaga and Haya) are now disproportionately represented in the government administration and cash economy.

      There are also Asian and European minorities. During the colonial period, Asian immigration was encouraged, and Asians dominated the up-country produce trade. Coming mostly from Gujurāt in India, they form several groups distinguished by religious belief: the Ismāʿīlīs, Bohrās, Sikhs, Punjabis, and Goans. Since independence the Asian population has steadily declined due to emigration. The European population, never large because Tanganyika was not a settler colony, was made up primarily of English, Germans, and Greeks. In the postindependence period, a proliferation of different European, North American, and Japanese expatriates connected with foreign aid projects have made Tanzania their temporary residence.

Language

      Swahili (Swahili language) is the national language. Virtually all Tanzanians speak the language, and it is used as the medium of instruction in the first seven years of primary education. English, the country's second official language (together with Swahili), is the medium of instruction at further levels of education and is commonly used by the government in official business. Most African Tanzanians speak their traditional tribal language as well. The main languages spoken by the Asian minorities are Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu.

Religion

      Roughly one-third of the population is Muslim, another third professes Christianity, and the remainder is considered to hold animist beliefs. The division is usually not as clear as official statistics suggest, since many rural Tanzanians adhere to elements of their traditional animistic religions while practicing their Islāmic or Christian faith. A wide array of Christianity is represented, notably Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism. Among Muslims, both the Sunnite and Shīʿite sects are represented. The majority of Asian Muslims are Ismāʿīlī Khōjās under the Aga Khan's spiritual leadership. In addition, there are Asian adherents to Hinduism, Jainism, and Roman Catholicism.

Demographic trends

      Tanzania's population growth rate is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite great improvements since the 1950s, the infant and child mortality rates remain high, but fertility is high as well. Nearly 50 percent of Tanzanians are under the age of 15. Life expectancy, at about 53 years, is above average for the subcontinent.

Deborah Fahy Bryceson

The people: Zanzibar and Pemba

Language

      Swahili is the principal language in Zanzibar and Pemba. The classical dialect is Kiunguja. Arabic (Arabic language) is also important because of long-established Islāmic tradition, past Arab overlordship, and the presence of a large Arab-speaking minority. Among the Asian communities, the chief languages are Gujarati, Kutchi, and Hindustani. English, taught in schools, is widely used.

Ethnic groups

      There are several groups of Africans, nearly one-third of whom are recent arrivals from the mainland. Indigenous Bantu groups, consisting of the Pemba in Pemba and the Hadimu and Tumbatu in Zanzibar, have absorbed the settlers who came 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. Later Arab arrivals came from Oman and constituted an elite. The poorer recent immigrants from Oman are known as Manga. The Asians, now forming a very small minority, may be divided into Muslim and non-Muslim groups.

Religion

      Almost the whole of the Arab and the African peoples of Zanzibar profess the Islāmic (Islāmic world) faith. Traditional African beliefs are also found existing in conjunction with Islām. Among Muslims, the Sunnite sect is preferred by the indigenous people.

Adolfo C. Mascarenhas

The economy

      The Tanzanian economy is overwhelmingly agrarian in nature and reflects the leadership's political commitment to socialist development and central planning. Agriculture constitutes over half of the gross domestic product (GDP) and some 80 percent of export earnings, and it provides a livelihood for about nine-tenths of the economically active population. Industry accounts for less than 10 percent of the GDP, and mining less than 1 percent, whereas services, including public administration, produce approximately one-third of the GDP. A number of industries and public services were nationalized at the time of the Arusha Declaration in 1967, when the intention to build a socialist state was announced.

      Beginning in 1979 and continuing throughout the 1980s, the international oil price rise, the country's declining terms of trade, and the sluggishness of the domestic economy brought about rapid inflation, the emergence of an unofficial market (consisting of the smuggling of goods abroad in order to avoid taxes and price controls), and a government fiscal crisis. Despite attempts to cut imports to the barest minimum, the trade deficit widened to an unprecedented level, and the balance-of-payments problem became so acute that development projects had to be suspended. This economic crisis forced the government to secure a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1986. The loan's conditions required the elimination of subsidies and price controls as well as some social services and staff positions in state-run enterprises. Thereafter, the government continued to implement measures intended to create a mixed economy and reduce the extent of the untaxable unofficial markets.

Agriculture

      The major food crops are corn, rice, sorghum, millet, bananas, cassava, sweet potatoes, barley, potatoes, and wheat. Corn and rice are the preferred cereals, whereas cassava and sweet potatoes are used as famine-prevention crops owing to their drought-resistant qualities. In some areas food crops are sold as cash crops. Peasants in the Ruvuma and Rukwa regions, for example, have specialized in commercial corn production, and in riverine areas, especially along the Rufiji, rice is sold.

      Export cash crops provide the major source of foreign exchange for the country. Coffee and cotton are by far the most important in this respect, but exports of tea, cashew nuts, tobacco, and sisal are also substantial. Cloves are Zanzibar's main export. Once the source of over 90 percent of the world's cloves, Zanzibar now produces only about 10 percent of the international supply.

      The villagization program of the mid-1970s was followed by government efforts to distribute improved seed corn and fertilizers through the new village administrations, but timely distribution of such agricultural inputs was largely thwarted by the logistical problems of transporting them to the villages. Nevertheless, increased yields, attributed to the use of chemical fertilizers, have been achieved in peasant corn production in the south and southwestern regions.

Industry

      Tanzania's industry is based on the processing of its agricultural goods and on import substitution—that is, the manufacture (often from imported materials and parts) of products that were once purchased from abroad. The principal industries are food processing, textiles, brewing, and cigarettes. Production of clothing, footwear, tires, batteries, and bottles takes place as well. There is also a hot-rolling steel mill, a factory producing asbestos cement sheets, a bicycle factory, and a large pulp and paper mill.

      A strategy to lay the foundation for the rapid growth of such basic industries as steel, chemicals, rubber, and textiles was thwarted by the national economic crisis of the 1980s. The large amounts of imported materials, parts, and capital equipment necessary to implement such a policy could not be paid for, owing to the country's lack of foreign exchange. Standby credit facilities from the IMF provided the capital investment needed to initiate a rehabilitation of industry.

Resources

      Tanzania mines diamonds, gold, kaolin, gypsum, tin, and various gemstones, including tanzanite. There are large exploitable deposits of coal in the southwest, phosphate deposits in Arusha, and nickel in the Kagera region. Natural gas has been discovered at Songo Songo Island. Several international companies have been involved in onshore and offshore petroleum exploration.

      Tanzania's native forests are primarily composed of hardwoods, but softwood production is increasing. A large pulp and paper mill at Mufindi is supplied by the extensive softwood forest nearby at Sao Hill. Because firewood and charcoal are the major domestic fuels, there is growing concern about the deforestation of land in the hinterland of Dar es Salaam and Tanzania's other large towns.

      Several lakes, especially Lake Victoria, are important sources of fish. Prawns are commercially fished in the Rufiji River delta, but coastal fishery is primarily of an artisanal nature.

Finance and trade

      All private banks were nationalized between 1967 and 1992, but since then private banks (including branches of foreign-owned banks) have been allowed to open. The state-run Bank of Tanzania operates as the central bank; it manages the country's finances and issues the currency, the Tanzanian shilling.

Transportation

      Transport in Tanzania spans a wide spectrum, from the motorized means made possible by roads, railways, seaports, and airfields to the traditional carrying of loads by animals and people. It is estimated that the average peasant household carries by headload approximately 56 ton-miles (90 ton-kilometres) of firewood, water, and crops per year.

      Roads are by far the most important nontraditional mode of transport, carrying some 70 percent of total traffic. The road network extends to all parts of the country, but it is densest along the coast and southeast of Lake Victoria. The country's percentage of roads paved is one of the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa. The Tanzam Highway, opened in the early 1970s between Dar es Salaam and Zambia, has significantly reduced the isolation of southern Tanzania. A newer highway intersects it at Makambako and proceeds southward through the southern highlands to Songea. Government efforts have been placed on rehabilitating the trunk road system, which deteriorated with a decline in the importation of maintenance materials during the economic crisis.

      Dar es Salaam port, with its deep-water berths, handles about three-fourths of all ships calling at Tanzanian ports. The remainder go primarily to Tanga, Mtwara, and the port of the city of Zanzibar. The Tanzania Coastal Shipping Line offers transport services along the coast; a passenger ferry operates between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.

      The Air Tanzania Corporation provides internal air services as well as international flights to destinations in central and southern Africa, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean. There are international airports at Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, and Zanzibar, but most scheduled international flights land in Dar es Salaam.

      The railway system dates back to the pre-World War I, German-built Central Railway Line, which bisects the country between Dar es Salaam and Kigoma, and the Tanga-to-Moshi railway. Today there is also a branch between these two lines, and another line connects Mwanza with Tabora on the Central Line. The TAZARA rail line, running between Dar es Salaam and Kapiri-Mposhi on the Zambian border, was built with Chinese aid in the early 1970s. It provided the main outlet to the sea for Zambia's copper exports prior to the political changes in South Africa in the 1990s that opened southern transport routes for Tanzania's landlocked neighbour.

Administration and social conditions

The government

      The Interim Constitution of 1965 established the United Republic of Tanzania through the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, until then separate and independent countries. A permanent constitution for the United Republic was approved in 1977 and amended in 1984 to include a bill of rights.

      Zanzibar has a separate constitution, approved in 1979 and amended in 1985. The executive branch is composed of an elected president and a cabinet called the Supreme Revolutionary Council. Zanzibar's parliament, the House of Representatives, is made up of elected and appointed members. These political bodies deal with matters internal to Zanzibar. Since the union with Tanganyika, some segments of Zanzibari society have occasionally demanded greater autonomy from the mainland.

Deborah Fahy Bryceson

      The president of the United Republic is the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. The cabinet of ministers is advisory to the president. Prior to 1995 it included two vice presidents: the prime minister, who is appointed by the president and acts as the leader of the cabinet, and the president of Zanzibar. Since then an amendment to the constitution, which was approved in 1994 and took effect after the 1995 general election, rescinded the stipulation that called for the president of Zanzibar to serve as a vice president.

      According to the 1984 constitutional amendments, most members (216 in the 1990 election) of the National Assembly are directly elected. Many seats also are allocated to ex-officio, nominated, and indirectly elected members—including those seats reserved for women, representatives of mass organizations, and the president's nominees. The National Assembly has a term of five years but can be dissolved by the president before this term expires.

      By law Tanzania was a one-party state until 1992, when the constitution was amended to establish a multiparty political process. In 1977 the Tanganyika African Nationalist Union, which had led the colony to independence, and the Afro-Shirazi Party of Zanzibar, which had taken power after a coup in 1964, were amalgamated into the Revolutionary Party (Chama cha Mapinduzi; CCM). Prior to the 1992 amendment, the CCM dominated all aspects of political life, and there was no clear separation of party and government personnel at regional and district levels. By the time of the first national multiparty election in 1995, more than a dozen opposition political movements were officially registered. The CCM's involvement in local government and other local affairs also began to wane, particularly its administration of the 10-cell neighbourhood watch program (with each cell varying in size from single-family homes to large apartment buildings).

      For administrative purposes, mainland Tanzania is divided into 20 regions. Each region is administered by a commissioner who is appointed by the central government. At district, division, and ward levels, there are popularly elected councils with appointed executive officers.

Deborah Fahy Bryceson Ed.

The judiciary

      Tanzania's judiciary is appointed by the president in consultation with the chief justice. Judges cannot be dismissed except on the grounds of misbehaviour or incapacity. A network of primary and district courts has been established throughout the country. English, Islāmic, and customary laws have been absorbed into the legal system. In Zanzibar the highest judicial authority is the Supreme Council. Muslim courts deal with marriage, divorce, and inheritance.

Education

      The government-supported education system has three levels: primary (seven years), secondary (four to six years), and university, as well as vocational training schools. During the mid-1970s universal primary education was made mandatory, resulting in a vast increase in primary-school children. Popular pressure for the expansion of secondary schools has outstripped the availability of government finance. As a result, private secondary schools sponsored by religious institutions and, most notably, by parents themselves have expanded in number. There are two universities, the University of Dar es Salaam (1961), formerly part of the University of East Africa, and Sokoine University of Agriculture (1984). Extensive adult education has focused on eradicating illiteracy, and, as a result, Tanzania has one of the highest literacy rates in Africa.

Health and welfare

      National and local governments support a network of village dispensaries and rural health centres; hospitals are located in the urban areas. Private doctors and religious organizations provide medical facilities as well.

      The emphasis of national health policy has been on preventive medicine, especially better nutrition, maternal and child health, environmental sanitation, and the prevention and control of communicable diseases. The main communicable diseases are poliomyelitis, leprosy, tuberculosis, dysentery, enteric fevers, and AIDS. Environmental diseases include malaria, sleeping sickness, bilharzia, and onchocerciasis (river blindness). Inadequate nutrition, particularly of children, is a major concern. Improvements in health and reduction of mortality rates have resulted from the provision of medical care to the rural population and from an inoculation program for children.

Cultural life

       Olduvai Gorge, in the Great Rift Valley, is the site of the discovery of some of the earliest known remains of human ancestry, dating back 1,750,000 years. The ancient in-migration of Cushitic, Nilotic, and Bantu peoples, displacing the native San-type population, resulted in a complex agglomeration of tribal communities practicing complementary forms of pastoral and agricultural livelihoods. In the last 500 years, Portuguese, Arab, Indian, German, and British traders and colonists have added to the mosaic. Today Tanzania's multiethnic and multiracial population practices a variety of traditions and customs that form a rich cultural heritage.

      The role of kin is central to Tanzanian social and recreational life. Visiting kin on joyous and sorrowful family occasions is given high priority despite the inconvenience caused by a relatively undeveloped transport system. Educated members of the extended family are frequently held responsible for the education and welfare of younger siblings.

      Football (soccer) is a popular sport. In international competitions, Tanzanian sportsmen have excelled in long-distance running.

      Oral storytelling traditions and tribal dancing are an important part of the cultural life of the rural population. The University of Dar es Salaam has an active theatre arts group. Among the visual arts, Makonde carvers from southern Tanzania are renowned for their abstract ebony carvings, and Zanzibar is famous for its elaborately carved doors and Arab chests. Basket weaving, pottery, and musical instrument making are prevalent in many rural areas.

      Tanzania has government-owned Swahili and English daily newspapers. The radio, more than newspapers or television, is the medium through which the rural population receives national and international news. The radio has been extensively used by the government for the promotion of adult literacy, better nutrition, and ecological conservation.

Deborah Fahy Bryceson

History

Tanganyika

Early exploration

      Most of the known history of Tanganyika before the 19th century concerns the coastal area, although the interior has a number of important prehistoric sites, including the Olduvai Gorge. Trading contacts between Arabia (Arab) and the East African coast existed by the 1st century AD, and there are indications of connections with India. The coastal trading centres were mainly Arab settlements, and relations between the Arabs and their African neighbours appear to have been fairly friendly. After the arrival of the Portuguese in the late 15th century, the position of the Arabs was gradually undermined, but the Portuguese made little attempt to penetrate into the interior. They lost their foothold north of the Ruvuma River early in the 18th century as a result of an alliance between the coastal Arabs and the ruler of Muscat on the Arabian Peninsula. This link remained extremely tenuous, however, until French interest in the slave trade from the ancient town of Kilwa, on the Tanganyikan coast, revived the trade in 1776. Attention by the French also aroused the sultan of Muscat's interest in the economic possibilities of the East African coast, and a new Omani governor was appointed at Kilwa. For some time most of the slaves came from the Kilwa hinterland, and until the 19th century such contacts as existed between the coast and the interior were due mainly to African caravans from the interior.

 In their constant search for slaves, Arab traders began to penetrate farther into the interior, more particularly in the southeast toward Lake Nyasa. Farther north two merchants from India followed the tribal trade routes to reach the country of the Nyamwezi about 1825. Along this route ivory appears to have been as great an attraction as slaves, and Saʿīd ibn Sulṭān himself, after the transfer of his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar, gave every encouragement to the Arabs to pursue these trading possibilities. From the Nyamwezi country the Arabs pressed on to Lake Tanganyika in the early 1840s. Tabora (or Kazé, as it was then called) and Ujiji, on Lake Tanganyika, became important trading centres, and a number of Arabs made their homes there. They did not annex these territories but occasionally ejected hostile chieftains. Mirambo, an African chief who built for himself a temporary empire to the west of Tabora in the 1860s and '70s, effectively blocked the Arab trade routes when they refused to pay him tribute. His empire was purely a personal one, however, and collapsed on his death in 1884.

      The first Europeans to show an interest in Tanganyika in the 19th century were missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, Johann Ludwig Krapf and Johannes Rebmann (Rebmann, Johannes), who in the late 1840s reached Kilimanjaro. It was a fellow missionary, Jakob Erhardt, whose famous “slug” map (showing, on Arab information, a vast, shapeless, inland lake) helped stimulate the interest of the British explorers Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke. They traveled from Bagamoyo to Lake Tanganyika in 1857–58, and Speke also saw Lake Victoria. This expedition was followed by Speke's second journey, in 1860, in the company of J.A. Grant, to justify the former's claim that the Nile rose in Lake Victoria. These primarily geographic explorations were followed by the activities of David Livingstone (Livingstone, David), who in 1866 set out on his last journey for Lake Nyasa. Livingstone's object was to expose the horrors of the slave trade and, by opening up legitimate trade with the interior, to destroy the slave trade at its roots. Livingstone's journey led to the later expeditions of H.M. Stanley and V.L. Cameron. Spurred on by Livingstone's work and example, a number of missionary societies began to take an interest in East Africa after 1860.

German East Africa

 It was left to Germany, with its newly awakened interest in colonial expansion, to open up the country to European influences. The first agent of German imperialism was Carl Peters (Peters, Carl), who, with Joachim, Count Pfeil and Karl Juhlke, evaded the sultan of Zanzibar late in 1884 to land on the mainland. He made a number of “contracts” in the Usambara area by which several chiefs were said to have surrendered their territory to him. Peters' activities were confirmed by Bismarck. By the Anglo-German Agreement of 1886 the sultan of Zanzibar's vaguely substantiated claims to dominion on the mainland were limited to a 10-mile-wide coastal strip, and Britain and Germany divided the hinterland between them as spheres of influence, the region to the south becoming known as German East Africa. Following the example of the British to the north, the Germans obtained a lease of the coastal strip from the sultan in 1888, but their tactlessness and fear of commercial competition led to a Muslim rising in August 1888. The rebellion was put down only after the intervention of the imperial German government and with the assistance of the British navy.

      Recognizing the administrative inability of the German East Africa Company, which had theretofore ruled the country, the German government declared a protectorate over its sphere of influence in 1891 and over the coastal strip, where the company had bought out the sultan's rights. Germany was anxious to exploit the resources of its new dependency, but lack of communications at first restricted development to the coastal area. The introduction of sisal from Florida in 1892 by the German agronomist Richard Hindorff marked the beginning of the territory's most valuable industry, which was encouraged by the development of a railway from the new capital of Dar es Salaam to Lake Tanganyika. In 1896 work began on the construction of a railway running northeastward from Tanga to Moshi, which it reached in 1912. This successfully encouraged the pioneer coffee-growing activities on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. Wild rubber tapped by Africans, together with plantation-grown rubber, contributed to the economic development of the colony. The government also supplied good-quality cottonseed free to African growers and sold it cheaply to European planters. The administration tried to make good the lack of clerks and minor craftsmen by encouraging the development of schools, an activity in which various missionary societies were already engaged.

      The enforcement of German overlordship was strongly resisted, but control was established by the beginning of the 20th century. Almost at once came a reaction to German methods of administration, the outbreak of the Maji Maji rising in 1905. Although there was little organization behind it, the rising spread over a considerable portion of southeastern Tanganyika and was not finally suppressed until 1907. It led to a reappraisal of German policy in East Africa. The imperial government had attempted to protect African land rights in 1895 but had failed in its objective in the Kilimanjaro area. Similarly, liberal labour legislation had not been properly implemented. The German government set up a separate Colonial Department in 1907, and more money was invested in East Africa. A more liberal form of administration rapidly replaced the previous semimilitary system.

      World War I put an end to all German experiments. Blockaded by the British (British Empire) navy, the country could neither export produce nor get help from Germany. The British advance into German territory continued steadily from 1916 until the whole country was eventually occupied. The effects of the war upon Germany's achievements in East Africa were disastrous; the administration and economy were completely disrupted. In these circumstances the Africans reverted to their old social systems and their old form of subsistence farming. Under the Treaty of Versailles (1919), Britain received a League of Nations mandate to administer the territory except for Ruanda-Urundi, which came under Belgian administration, and the Kionga triangle, which went to Portugal.

Tanganyika Territory

      Sir Horace Byatt, administrator of the captured territory and, from 1920 to 1924, first British governor and commander in chief of Tanganyika Territory (as it was then renamed), enforced a period of recuperation before new development plans were set on foot. A Land Ordinance (1923) ensured that African land rights were secure. Sir Donald Cameron, governor from 1925 to 1931, infused a new vigour into the country. He reorganized the system of native administration by the Native Authority Ordinance (1926) and the Native Courts Ordinance (1929). His object was to build up local government on the basis of traditional authorities, an aim that he pursued with doctrinaire enthusiasm and success. He attempted to silence the criticisms by Europeans that had been leveled against his predecessor by urging the creation of a Legislative Council in 1926 with a reasonable number of nonofficial members, both European and Asian. In his campaign to develop the country's economy, Cameron won a victory over opposition from Kenya by gaining the British government's approval for an extension of the Central Railway Line from Tabora to Mwanza (1928). His attitude toward European settlers was determined by their potential contribution to the country's economy. He was, therefore, surprised by the British government's reluctance to permit settlement in Tanganyika. The economic depression after 1929 resulted in the curtailment of many of Cameron's development proposals. In the 1930s, too, Tanganyika was hampered by fears that it might he handed back to Germany in response to Hitler's demands for overseas possessions.

      At the outbreak of World War II Tanganyika's main task was to make itself as independent as possible of imported goods. Inevitably the retrenchment evident in the 1930s became still more severe, and, while prices for primary products soared, the value of money depreciated proportionately. Tanganyika's main objective after the war was to ensure that its program for economic recovery and development should go ahead. The continuing demand for primary produce strengthened the country's financial position. The chief item in the development program was a plan to devote 3 million acres (1.2 million hectares) of land to the production of peanuts (the Groundnuts Scheme). The plan, which was to be financed by the British government, was to cost £25 million, and, in addition, a further £4.5 million would be required for the construction of a railway in southern Tanganyika. It failed because of the lack of adequate preliminary investigations and was subsequently carried out on a greatly reduced scale.

      Constitutionally, the most important immediate postwar development was the British government's decision to place Tanganyika under UN trusteeship (1947). Under the terms of the trusteeship agreement, Britain was called upon to develop the political life of the territory, which, however, only gradually began to take shape in the 1950s with the growth of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU). The first two African members had been nominated to the Legislative Council in December 1945. This number was subsequently increased to four, with three Asian nonofficial members and four Europeans. An official majority was retained. In an important advance in 1955, the three races were given parity of representation on the unofficial side of the council with 10 nominated members each, and for a time it seemed as if this basis would persist. The first elections to the unofficial side of the council, however, enabled TANU to show its strength, for even among the European and Asian candidates only those supported by TANU were elected.

      A constitutional committee in 1959 unanimously recommended that after the elections in 1960 a large majority of the members of both sides of the council should be Africans and that elected members should form the basis of the government. The approval of the British colonial secretary was obtained for these proposals in December 1959, and in September 1960 a predominantly TANU government took office. The emergence of this party and its triumph over the political apathy of the people were largely due to the leadership of Julius Nyerere (Nyerere, Julius). Tanganyika became independent on December 9, 1961, with Nyerere as its first prime minister.

Zanzibar

      The history of Zanzibar has been to a large extent shaped by the monsoons (prevailing trade winds) and by its proximity to the continent. The regular annual recurrence of the monsoons has made possible its close connection with India and the countries bordering the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Its proximity to the continent has made it a suitable jumping-off point for trading and exploring ventures not only along the coast but also into the interior.

Portuguese and Omani domination

 Though the first references to Zanzibar occur only after the rise of Islam, there would appear to be little doubt that its close connection with southern Arabia and the countries bordering the Persian Gulf began before the Christian era. At the beginning of the 13th century, the Arab geographer Yakut recorded that the people of Lenguja (namely, Unguja, the Swahili name for Zanzibar) had taken refuge from their enemies on Tumbatu, the inhabitants of which were Muslims.

      In 1498 Vasco da Gama (Gama, Vasco da) visited Malindi, and in 1503 Zanzibar Island was attacked and made tributary by the Portuguese. It appears to have remained in that condition for about a quarter of a century. Thereafter the relations between the rulers of Zanzibar and the Portuguese seem to have been those of allies, the people of Zanzibar more than once cooperating with the Portuguese in attacks upon Mombasa. In 1571 the “king” of Zanzibar, in gratitude for Portuguese assistance in expelling certain African invaders, donated the island to his allies, but the donation was never implemented. A Portuguese trading factory and an Augustinian mission were established on the site of the modern city of Zanzibar, and a few Portuguese appear also to have settled as farmers in different parts of the island. The first English ship to visit Zanzibar (1591–92) was the Edward Bonaventure, captained by Sir James Lancaster (Lancaster, Sir James).

      When the Arabs captured Mombasa in 1698, all these settlements were abandoned and (except for a brief Portuguese reoccupation in 1728) Zanzibar and Pemba came under the domination of the Arab rulers of Oman. For more than a century those rulers left the government of Zanzibar to local hakims (governors). The first sultan to take up residence in Zanzibar was Sayyid Saʿīd ibn Sulṭān, who after several short visits settled there soon after 1830 and subsequently greatly extended his influence along the East African coast. On Saʿīd's death in 1856 his son Majīd succeeded to his African dominions, while another son, Thuwayn, succeeded to Oman.

      As a result of an award made in 1860 by Lord Canning (Canning, Charles John Canning, Earl), governor general of India, the former African dominions of Saʿīd were declared to be independent of Oman. Majīd died in 1870 and was succeeded by his brother Barghash. Toward the end of the latter's reign his claims to dominion on the mainland were restricted by Britain, France, and Germany to a 10-mile-wide coastal strip, the administration of which was subsequently shared by Germany and Britain. Barghash died in 1888. Both he and Majīd had acted largely under the influence of Sir John Kirk (Kirk, Sir John), who was British consular representative at Zanzibar from 1866 to 1887. It was by Kirk's efforts that Barghash consented in 1873 to a treaty for the suppression of the slave trade.

British protectorate

      In 1890 what was left of the sultanate was proclaimed a British protectorate, and in 1891 a constitutional government was instituted under British auspices, with Sir Lloyd Mathews as first minister. In August 1896, on the death of the ruling sultan, Ḥamad ibn Thuwayn, the royal palace at Zanzibar was seized by Khālid, a son of Sultan Barghash, who proclaimed himself sultan. The British government disapproved, and, as he refused to submit, the palace was bombarded by British warships. Khālid escaped and took refuge at the German consulate, whence he was conveyed to German East Africa. Ḥamud ibn Moḥammed was then installed as sultan (August 27, 1896). In 1897 the legal status of slavery was finally abolished. In 1913 the control of the protectorate passed from the Foreign Office to the Colonial Office, when the posts of consul general and first minister were merged into that of British resident. At the same time, a Protectorate Council was constituted as an advisory body. In 1926 the advisory council was replaced by nominated executive and legislative councils.

      Khalīfa ibn Harūb became sultan in 1911. He was the leading Muslim prince in East Africa, and his moderating influence did much to steady Muslim opinion in that part of Africa at times of political crisis, especially during the two world wars. He died on October 9, 1960, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Abdullah ibn Khalīfa.

      In November 1960 the British Parliament approved a new constitution for Zanzibar. The first elections to the Legislative Council then established were held in January 1961 and ended in a deadlock. Further elections, held in June, were marked by serious rioting and heavy casualties. Ten seats were won by the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP), representing mainly the African population; 10 by the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP), representing mainly the Zanzibari Arabs; and 3 by the Zanzibar and Pemba People's Party (ZPPP), an offshoot of the ZNP. The ZNP and ZPPP combined to form a government with Mohammed Shamte Hamadi as chief minister.

      A constitutional conference held in London in 1962 was unable to fix a date for the introduction of internal self-government or for independence, because of failure to agree on franchise qualifications, the number of elected seats in the legislature, and the timing of the elections. An independent commission, however, subsequently delimited new constituencies and recommended an increase in the numbers of the Legislative Council, which the council accepted, also agreeing to the introduction of universal adult suffrage. Internal self-government was established in June 1963, and elections held the following month resulted in a victory for the ZNP–ZPPP coalition, which won 18 seats, the ASP winning the remaining 13. Final arrangements for independence were made at a conference in London in September. In October it was agreed that the Kenya coastal strip—a territory that extended 10 miles inland along the Kenya coast from the Tanganyika frontier to Kipini and that had long been administered by Kenya although nominally under the sovereignty of Zanzibar—would become an integral part of Kenya on that country's attainment of independence.

Independence

      On December 10, 1963, Zanzibar achieved independence as a member of the Commonwealth. In January 1964 the Zanzibar government was overthrown by an internal revolution, Sayyid Jamshid ibn Abdullah (who had succeeded to the sultanate in July 1963 on his father's death) was deposed, and a republic was proclaimed.

      Although the revolution was carried out by only about 600 armed men under the leadership of the communist-trained “field marshal” John Okello, it won considerable support from the African population. Thousands of Arabs were massacred in riots, and thousands more fled the island. Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume, leader of the Afro-Shirazi Party, was installed as president of the People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba. Sheikh Abdulla Kassim Hanga was appointed prime minister, and Abdul Raḥman Mohammed (“Babu”), leader of the new left-wing Umma (The Masses) Party (formed by defectors from the ZNP), became minister for defense and external affairs. Pending the establishment of a new constitution, the cabinet and all government departments were placed under the control of a Revolutionary Council of 30 members, which was also vested with temporary legislative powers. Zanzibar was proclaimed a one-party state. Measures taken by the new government included the nationalization of all land, with further powers to confiscate any immovable property without compensation except in cases of undue hardship.

The United Republic

      The Tanganyikan constitution was amended in 1962, and Julius Nyerere (Nyerere, Julius) became executive president of the Republic of Tanganyika. In 1963 TANU was declared the only legal party, but voters in each constituency were often offered a choice between more than one TANU candidate in parliamentary elections. That this arrangement amounted to something more than lip service to the idea of democracy was demonstrated in 1965 and in subsequent elections when, although Nyerere was reelected again and again as the sole candidate for president, a considerable number of legislators, including cabinet ministers, lost their seats.

      An army mutiny was suppressed in January 1964 only after the president had reluctantly sought the assistance of British marines. Nyerere's authority was quickly restored, however, and in April he made an agreement with President Karume of Zanzibar to establish the United Republic of Tanzania, with Nyerere himself as president and Karume as first vice president. On April 26, 1964, the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar was founded. (Despite unification, for years Zanzibar continued to pursue its own policies, paying little attention to mainland practices.)

      Nyerere's chief external task was to convince the outside world, particularly the Western powers, that Tanzania's foreign policy was to be one of nonalignment; but the overt involvement of the Eastern bloc in Zanzibar, as well as Nyerere's own insistence that to rectify the imbalance created in the colonial era Tanzania must turn more to the East for aid, did little to make the task easier. The high moral tone taken by the president over Britain's role in Rhodesia and over the supply of British (British Empire) arms to South Africa also strained the bonds of friendship between the two countries, with Tanzania severing diplomatic relations with Britain from 1965 to 1968. The consequent loss of aid from Britain was more than made good by help from Eastern countries, notably from China, which culminated in 1970 in the offer of an interest-free Chinese loan to finance the construction of a railway line linking Dar es Salaam with Zambia.

      Though Nyerere fully appreciated the generous assistance his country was receiving, he was anxious to impress upon his countrymen the need for maximum self-reliance. Political freedom, he insisted, was useless if the country was to be enslaved by foreign investors. His views were formulated in the Arusha Declaration of February 5, 1967. The resources of the country, Nyerere said, were owned by the whole people and were held in trust for their descendants. The leaders must set an example by rejecting the perquisites of a capitalist system and should draw only one salary. Banks must be nationalized, though compensation would be given to shareholders; the same would apply to the more important commercial companies. Agriculture, however, was the key to development, and only greater productivity could hold at bay the spectre of poverty. To give a fillip to his argument, people were to be moved into cooperative villages where they could work together for their mutual benefit.

      Nyerere's exhortations did not arouse the enthusiasm for which he had hoped. Individuals resisted his plans for collectivization, and not even the majority of his supporters wholeheartedly adopted his moral stand. The cooperative village scheme failed, bringing additional pressure to bear upon an already desperately weak economy. The sisal industry, one of those nationalized, became badly run down by the mid-1970s because of inefficient management.

      Nyerere's criticisms were not reserved for his own people, nor yet for the wealthy nations of the world. In 1968 he challenged the rules of the Organization of African Unity (African Union) (OAU) by recognizing the secession of Biafra from Nigeria, and in 1975 he attacked the OAU for planning to hold its summit meeting in Uganda, where Idi Amin was acting with extreme cruelty. Relations with Kenya also deteriorated, and in 1977 the East African Community ceased to exist after the closure of the Kenyan border. Even more challenging to the OAU's policy of nonintervention in the affairs of member states was the attack launched against Uganda in January 1979 after Amin had invaded the northwestern corner of Tanzania in October 1978. The retention of Tanzanian troops in Uganda for several years after Amin's overthrow, together with Nyerere's long-standing friendship with Uganda's former president, Milton Obote, also led to strained relations with some of Uganda's leaders as well as arousing suspicions in Kenya. Elsewhere in Africa, however, Nyerere was able to play an authoritative role, notably in the negotiations leading to the independence of Zimbabwe and in the formation of an organization of African states to try to resist economic domination by South Africa.

Kenneth Ingham

      Events in Zanzibar caused continuing concern for the mainland leadership. The arbitrary arrest and punishment of anyone believed to oppose the state gave rise to regret that the constitution of the joint republic prevented the mainland authorities from intervening in the island's affairs where questions of law and justice were involved. The failure to hold elections in Zanzibar also contrasted unfavourably with developments on the mainland. In April 1972 Karume was assassinated by members of the military. His successor, Aboud Jumbe, had been a leading member of Karume's government, and, while his policies did not differ markedly from those of Karume, they appeared to be moving gradually closer into line with mainland practices. The amalgamation of TANU and the ASP under the title of Revolutionary Party (Chama cha Mapinduzi; CCM) early in 1977 was a hopeful sign but was followed by demands for greater autonomy for Zanzibar. This trend was checked when Ali Hassan Mwinyi succeeded Jumbe in 1984 and became president of the joint republic after Nyerere resigned in November 1985; however, in the late 1980s dissent resurfaced in Zanzibar, culminating in the revelation in January 1993 that Zanzibar had joined the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Criticism on the mainland forced its withdrawal later that year.

      Mwinyi inherited an economy suffering from the country's lack of resources, the fall in world prices for Tanzanian produce, the rise in petroleum prices, and inefficient management. An acute shortage of food added still further to his problems. Though he promised to follow Nyerere's policy of self-reliance, Mwinyi soon concluded that his predecessor's resistance to foreign aid could no longer be sustained. In accepting an offer of assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1986, Mwinyi adopted some structural reforms and furthered the devaluation of the currency begun in 1984 by Nyerere, who also had denationalized the state-run sector of the sisal industry in 1985. Moreover, private enterprise had been allowed to take over other areas of business.

      In May 1992 the constitution was amended to provide for a multiparty political system, and in 1995 the first national elections under this system were held; Benjamin Mkapa of the CCM was elected president. Mkapa continued the economic reforms pursued by his predecessors. Beginning in the mid-1990s and continuing into the 2000s, Tanzania's already-tenuous economy and food supply were strained by the number of refugees (refugee) arriving from the neighbouring countries of Rwanda, Burundi, and Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo); the country eventually requested international aid to assist with the care of the refugees. Meanwhile, in 1998, a bomb attack by terrorists (terrorism) on the United States embassy in Dar es Salaam left 11 people dead and many more injured.

      Mkapa was reelected in late 2000 amid allegations of electoral fraud in Zanzibar. Several violent demonstrations followed, including one in January 2001 where police intervention resulted in at least 40 people dead and 100 people injured. Zanzibar also experienced escalating Islamic militancy. Several demonstrations, violent attacks, and bombings in the 2000s were attributed to a few radical organizations protesting the government's refusal to comply with their extremist views. In late 2004, 10 people were killed in Dar es Salaam by the Indian Ocean tsunami; the government was criticized for not doing enough to warn the public about the impending threat. During Mkapa's second term, the government continued to focus on improving the country's economy. After more than a decade of preparation, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya launched the East African Community Customs Union in 2005, in an effort to stimulate economic activity in the region.

      In the early 21st century Tanzania continued on the long path of economic advancement while also dealing with such issues as increasing religious and political tension, providing care for a large refugee population, and having enough food for its own citizens. Tanzania continued to maintain positive relationships with foreign countries and international organizations, many of which provided assistance in addressing these matters.

Kenneth Ingham Ed.

Additional Reading

Geography

Spatial aspects of resources and development are found in the official Atlas of Tanzania, 2nd ed. (1976); and the more comprehensive Tanzania in Maps, ed. by Leonard Berry (1971). Juhani Koponen, People and Production in Late Precolonial Tanzania: History and Structures (1988), provides a demographic study of precolonial Tanzania; Abdul Sheriff, Slaves, Spices, & Ivory in Zanzibar: Integration of an East African Commercial Empire with the World Economy, 1770–1873 (1987), gives a detailed history. Issa G. Shivji, Law, State, and the Working Class in Tanzania, c. 1920–1964 (1986), traces the creation of a working class during the colonial period. Deborah Fahy Bryceson, Food Insecurity and the Social Division of Labour in Tanzania, 1919–85 (1990), a thematic history of Tanzania, traces the development of the market, state, and client networks in relation to the fluctuation of the country's food supply. Jannik Boesen et al. (eds.), Tanzania: Crisis and Struggle for Survival (1986), collects articles on the rural economy written by a group of Scandinavian authors. Andrew Coulson, Tanzania: A Political Economy (1982), is an interpretive account.Deborah Fahy Bryceson

History

I.N. Kimambo and A.J. Temu (eds.), A History of Tanzania (1969), contains essays on political history from earliest times to independence. John Iliffe, A Modern History of Tanganyika (1979), is a comprehensive, documented, and scholarly general history from 1800 to 1961, mainly political but also economic and social, and Tanganyika Under German Rule, 1905–1912 (1969), studies in detail the early colonial history. John Charles Hatch, Tanzania (1972), by a sympathetic socialist writer, profiles the emergent country before and after independence. Andrew Roberts (ed.), Tanzania Before 1900 (1968), collects essays on the history of several ethnic groups before the colonial period. Hugh W. Stephens, The Political Transformation of Tanganyika, 1920–67 (1968), studies Tanganyika's political progress to independence. Justinian Rweyemamu, Underdevelopment and Industrialization in Tanzania: A Study of Perverse Capitalist Industrial Development (1973), critically views colonial economic policy and its outcome. Rodger Yeager, Tanzania: An African Experiment, 2nd ed., rev. and updated (1989), outlines the problems of independent Tanzania. John Gray, History of Zanzibar, from the Middle Ages to 1856 (1962, reprinted 1975), offers a detached, scholarly study by a former chief justice of Zanzibar. Anthony Clayton, The Zanzibar Revolution and Its Aftermath (1981), gives a preliminary but acute assessment of the causes and immediate effects of the revolution of 1964.Kenneth Ingham

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