To be honest, we think we could not tell you anything about Tanzania which not has been said elswere already ( e.g. the famous Wikipedia). So let us just list some of the facts about this country – some of them basic, some of them interesting, some of them even surprising:
basic
- According to the 2012 census, the total population was 44,928,923. The under 15 age group represented 44.1% of the population.
- 2014 population estimate: 50.76 million (that’s more than 5 million plus within two years).
- Since 1996, its official capital has been Dodoma, where the President’s Office, the National Assembly, and some government ministries are located.
- Dar es Salaam, the former capital, retains most government offices and is the country’s largest city, principal port, and leading commercial centre.
- At 947,303 square kilometres (365,756 sq mi), Tanzania is the 13th largest country in Africa and the 31st largest in the world, ranked between the larger Egypt and smaller Nigeria.
- Approximately 68 percent of Tanzania’s citizens live below the poverty line of $1.25 a day.
- 16 percent of children under 5 are malnourished.
- Ariculture accounts for 24.5% of gross domestic product, provides 85% of exports and accounts for half of the employed workforce.
- Travel and tourism contributed 12.7% of Tanzania’s gross domestic product and employed 11% of the country’s labour force in 2013.
interesting
- European colonialism began in mainland Tanzania during the late 19th century when Germany formed German East Africa, which gave way to British rule following World War I.
- The mainland was governed as Tanganyika, with the Zanzibar Archipelago remaining a separate colonial jurisdiction. Following their respective independence in 1961 and 1963, the two entities merged in April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania.
- The name “Tanzania” was created as a clipped compound of the names of the two states that unified to create the country: Tanganyika and Zanzibar.
- The name “Tanganyika” is derived from the Swahili words tanga (“sail”) and nyika (“uninhabited plain”, “wilderness”), creating the phrase “sail in the wilderness”.
- The name of Zanzibar comes from “zengi”, the name for a local people (said to mean “black”), and the Arabic word “barr”, which means coast or shore.
- Current statistics on religion are unavailable because religious surveys were eliminated from government census reports after 1967
- Religious leaders and sociologists estimate that Muslim and Christian communities are approximately equal in size, each accounting for 30% to 40% of the population.
- Tanzanias first President Nyerere encouraged the use of Swahili as a means of unifying the country’s many ethnic groups.
- Approximately 10% of Tanzanians speak Swahili as a first language, and up to 90% speak it as a second language.
- The widespread use and promotion of Swahili is contributing to the decline of smaller languages in the country. Young children increasingly speak Swahili as a first language.
Surprising
- Approximately 38% of Tanzania’s land area is set aside in protected areas for conservation.
- Tanzania has 16 national parks, plus a variety of game and forest reserves.
- As of 2011, Tanzania had 56 mobile telephone subscribers per 100 inhabitants, a rate slightly above the sub-Saharan average.
- The population consists of about 125 ethnic groups.
- Over 100 different languages are spoken in Tanzania, making it the most linguistically diverse country in East Africa.
- Tanzania is the site of Africa’s highest and lowest points: Mount Kilimanjaro, at 5,895 metres above sea level, and the floor of Lake Tanganyika, at 352 metres below sea level.
- Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest freestanding mountain in the world and one of the largest volcanoes – and just a sleeping one.
- The Nogorongoro Crater is not exactly a “crater” but a “caldera”. Means: it formed when a large volcano exploded and collapsed on itself two to three million years ago. Some people assume that volcano had had the same hight as Mount Kilimanjaro today.
- Freddie Mercury, leadsinger of the band “Queen” was born and lived his early years on Zanzibar. His real name was Farrokh Bulsara.
