Tanzania
|
| Basic Facts |
| Country name |
conventional long form: United Republic of Tanzania
conventional short form: Tanzania local long form: Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania local short form: Tanzania former: United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar |
| Gevernment type | republic |
| Capital |
name: Dar es Salaam
geographic coordinates: 6 48 S, 39 17 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: legislative offices have been transferred to Dodoma, which is planned as the new national capital; the National Assembly now meets there on a regular basis |
| 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 |
| Currency | Tanzanian shilling (TZS) |
| Internet country code | .tz |
| Ports and terminals | Dar es Salaam, Mtwara, Zanzibar City |
| Agriculture products | coffee, sisal, tea, cotton, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), cashew nuts, tobacco, cloves, corn, wheat, cassava (tapioca), bananas, fruits, vegetables; cattle, sheep, goats |
| Industries | agricultural processing (sugar, beer, cigarettes, sisal twine); diamond, gold, and iron mining, salt, soda ash; cement, oil refining, shoes, apparel, wood products, fertilizer |
| Geography |
| Location | Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Kenya and Mozambique |
| Coordinates | 6 00 S, 35 00 E |
| Continent | Africa |
| Area |
total: 945,087 sq km
land: 886,037 sq km water: 59,050 sq km note: includes the islands of Mafia, Pemba, and Zanzibar |
| Boundaries |
total: 3,861 km
border countries: Burundi 451 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 459 km, Kenya 769 km, Malawi 475 km, Mozambique 756 km, Rwanda 217 km, Uganda 396 km, Zambia 338 km |
| Coastline | 1,424 km |
| Climate | varies from tropical along coast to temperate in highlands |
| Terrain | plains along coast; central plateau; highlands in north, south |
| Natural resources | hydropower, tin, phosphates, iron ore, coal, diamonds, gemstones, gold, natural gas, nickel |
| Natural hazards | flooding on the central plateau during the rainy season; drought |
| People |
| Population | 37,445,392
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 2006 est.) |
| Ethnic groups | mainland - African 99% (of which 95% are Bantu consisting of more than 130 tribes), other 1% (consisting of Asian, European, and Arab); Zanzibar - Arab, African, mixed Arab and African |
| Religions | mainland - Christian 30%, Muslim 35%, indigenous beliefs 35%; Zanzibar - more than 99% Muslim |
| Languages | Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguja (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 |
