TANZANIA

Tanzania (/ˌtænzəˈnə/),[13][14][note 2] officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in eastern Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands at the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, is in north-eastern Tanzania.

Some prehistoric population migrations into Tanzania include Southern Cushitic speakers who moved south from Ethiopia;[15] Eastern Cushitic people who moved into Tanzania from north of Lake Turkana about 2,000 and 4,000 years ago;[15] and the Southern Nilotes, including the Datoog, who originated from the present-day South Sudan–Ethiopia border region between 2,900 and 2,400 years ago.[15]:page 18 These movements took place at about the same time as the settlement of the Mashariki Bantu from West Africa in the Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika areas. They subsequently migrated across the rest of Tanzania between 2,300 and 1,700 years ago.[15][16]

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.[17]

The United Nations estimated Tanzania’s 2016 population at 55.57 million.[7] The population is composed of several ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. The sovereign state of Tanzania is a presidential constitutional republic and since 1996 its official capital city has been Dodoma where the president’s office, the National Assembly, and some government ministries are located.[18] Dar es Salaam, the former capital, retains most government offices and is the country’s largest city, principal port, and leading commercial centre.[17][19][20] Tanzania is a de facto one-party state with the democratic socialist Chama Cha Mapinduzi party in power.

Tanzania is mountainous and densely forested in the north-east, where Mount Kilimanjaro is located. Three of Africa’s Great Lakes are partly within Tanzania. To the north and west lie Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, and Lake Tanganyika, the continent’s deepest lake, known for its unique species of fish. The eastern shore is hot and humid, with the Zanzibar Archipelago just offshore. The Kalambo Falls, located on the Kalambo River at the Zambian border, is the second highest uninterrupted waterfall in Africa.[21] The Menai Bay Conservation Area is Zanzibar’s largest marine protected area.

Over 100 different languages are spoken in Tanzania, making it the most linguistically diverse country in East Africa.[22] The country does not have a de jure official language,[citation needed] although the national language is Swahili.[23] Swahili is used in parliamentary debate, in the lower courts, and as a medium of instruction in primary school. English is used in foreign trade, in diplomacy, in higher courts, and as a medium of instruction in secondaryand higher education,[22] although the Tanzanian government is planning to discontinue English as a language of instruction altogether.[24]Approximately 10 percent of Tanzanians speak Swahili as a first language, and up to 90 percent speak it as a second language.[22]

GEOGRAPHY

At 947,303 square kilometres (365,756 sq mi),[6] Tanzania is the 13th largest country in Africa and the 31st largest in the world, ranked between the larger Egypt and smaller Nigeria.[52] It borders Kenya and Uganda to the north; Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. Tanzania is located on the eastern coast of Africa and has an Indian Ocean coastline approximately 1,424 kilometres (885 mi) long.[53] It also incorporates several offshore islands, including Unguja (Zanzibar), Pemba, and Mafia.[54]:page 1245 The country is the site of Africa’s highest and lowest points: Mount Kilimanjaro, at 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) above sea level, and the floor of Lake Tanganyika, at 352 metres (1,155 ft) below sea level, respectively.[54]:page 1245

Tanzania is mountainous and densely forested in the northeast, where Mount Kilimanjaro is located. Three of Africa’s Great Lakes are partly within Tanzania. To the north and west lie Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, and Lake Tanganyika, the continent’s deepest lake, known for its unique species of fish. To the southwest lies Lake Nyasa. Central Tanzania is a large plateau, with plains and arable land. The eastern shore is hot and humid, with the Zanzibar Archipelago just offshore.

Kalambo Falls in the southwestern region of Rukwa is the second highest uninterrupted waterfall in Africa, and is located near the southeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika on the border with Zambia.[21] The Menai Bay Conservation Area is Zanzibar’s largest marine protected area.

CLIMATE

Climate varies greatly within Tanzania. In the highlands, temperatures range between 10 and 20 °C (50 and 68 °F) during cold and hot seasons respectively. The rest of the country has temperatures rarely falling lower than 20 °C (68 °F). The hottest period extends between November and February (25–31 °C or 77.0–87.8 °F) while the coldest period occurs between May and August (15–20 °C or 59–68 °F). Annual temperature is 20 °C (68.0 °F). The climate is cool in high mountainous regions.

Tanzania has two major rainfall regimes: one is uni-modal (October–April) and the other is bi-modal (October–December and March–May).[55] The former is experienced in southern, central, and western parts of the country, and the latter is found in the north from Lake Victoria extending east to the coast.[55]The bi-modal regime is caused by the seasonal migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone.[55]

WILDLIFE AND CONSERVATION

Approximately 38 percent of Tanzania’s land area is set aside in protected areas for conservation.[56] Tanzania has 16 national parks,[57] plus a variety of game and forest reserves, including the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. In western Tanzania, Gombe Stream National Park is the site of Jane Goodall‘s ongoing study of chimpanzee behaviour, which started in 1960.[58][59]

Tanzania is highly biodiverse and contains a wide variety of animal habitats.[60] On Tanzania’s Serengeti plain, white-bearded wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus mearnsi) and other bovids participate in a large-scale annual migration. Tanzania is home to about 130 amphibian and over 275 reptile species, many of them strictly endemic and included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature‘s Red Lists of countries.[61]

ZANZIBAR

The semi-autonomous Zanzibar Archipelago

The legislative authority in Zanzibar over all non-union matters is vested in the House of Representatives (per the Tanzania constitution)[62]:§ 106(3) or the Legislative Council (per the Zanzibar constitution).

The Legislative Council has two parts: the president of Zanzibar and the House of Representatives.[62]:§ 107(1)-(2)[66]:§ 63(1) The president is Zanzibar’s head of government and the chairman of the Revolutionary Council, in which the executive authority of Zanzibar is invested.[66]:§§ 5A(2), 26(1) Zanzibar has two vice-presidents, with the first being from the main opposition party in the house.[75][76] The second is from the party in power and is the leader of government business in the House.[76]

The president and the members of the House of Representatives have five-year terms.[66]:§ 28(2)

The president selects ministers from members of the House of Representatives,[66]:§ 42(2) with the ministers allocated according to the number of House seats won by political parties.[75] The Revolutionary Council consists of the president, both vice-presidents, all ministers, the attorney general of Zanzibar, and other house members deemed fit by the president.[75]

The House of Representatives is composed of elected members, ten members appointed by the president, all the regional commissioners of Zanzibar, the attorney general, and appointed female members whose number must be equal to 30 percent of the elected members.[66]:§§ 55(3), 64, 67(1) The House determines the number of its elected members[66]:§ 120(2) with the Zanzibar Electoral Commission determining the boundaries of each election constituency.[66]:§ 120(1) In 2013, the House had 81 members: fifty elected members, five regional commissioners, the attorney general, ten members appointed by the president, and fifteen appointed female members.[64]

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