Tanzania
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania in Swahili), or Tanzania, is a country on the east coast of east Africa. It is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south. To the east it borders the Indian Ocean. The country is named after Lake Tanganyika, which forms its western border. The country has been a member of the Commonwealth since reaching independence (1961). In 1964, Tanganyika united with the island of Zanzibar, forming the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, later renamed to the United Republic of Tanzania. In 1996, Tanzania's capital was officially moved from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, although many government offices remain in the old capital.
|
|||||
| Motto: Uhuru na Umoja (Swahili: Freedom and Unity) | |||||
| Anthem: Mungu ibariki Afrika (God Bless Africa) | |||||
 |
|||||
| Capital | Dodoma (Dar es Salaam) |
||||
| Largest city | Dar-es-Salaam | ||||
| Official languages | Swahili, English | ||||
| Government | Republic Benjamin William Mkapa Frederick Sumaye |
||||
| Independence -Tanganyika -Zanzibar -Merge |
From the United Kingdom December 9, 1961 December 19, 1963 April 26, 1964 |
||||
| Area • Total • Water (%) |
945,090 km² (30) 6.2% |
||||
| Population • 2004 est. • 2000 census • Density |
36,588,225 (33) 35,922,454 20/km² (163) |
||||
| GDP (PPP) • Total • Per capita |
2003 estimate 21,9131 (97) 611 (165) |
||||
| Currency | Tanzanian shilling (TZS) |
||||
| Time zone • Summer (DST) |
MSK (UTC+3) not observed (UTC+3) |
||||
| Internet TLD | .tz | ||||
| Calling code | +2552 |
||||
| 1. Data refers to mainland Tanzania only. 2. 007 from Kenya and Uganda |
|||||
Contents |
History
Main article: History of Tanzania
A German colony from the 1880s until 1919, the area subsequently became a British trust territory from 1919 to 1961. Julius Nyerere became Minister of British-administered Tanganyika in 1960, and continued as Prime Minister when Tanganyika became independent in 1961. Tanganyika and the neighbouring Zanzibar — which had become independent in 1963 — merged to form the nation of Tanzania on 26 April 1964. Nyerere introduced African socialism, or Ujamaa, which emphasized justice and equality, but proved economically disastrous, leading to food shortages as collective farms failed.
In 1979, Tanzania declared war on Uganda after Uganda invaded and tried to annex Tanzanian territory in the north of the country. Tanzania not only expelled Ugandan forces, but also invaded Uganda itself, forcing the ousting of Idi Amin.
Nyerere handed over power to Ali Hassan Mwinyi in 1985, but retained control of the ruling party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), as Chairman until 1990, when he handed that responsibility to Mwinyi. In October 1995, one-party rule came to an end when Tanzania held its first ever multi-party election. However, CCM comfortably won the elections and its candidate Benjamin Mkapa was subsequently sworn in as the new president of the United Republic of Tanzania on 23 November 1995.
One of the deadly 1998 U.S. embassy bombings occurred in Dar es Salaam; the other was in Nairobi, Kenya.
In 2004, the undersea earthquake on the other side of the Indian ocean caused tidal surges along Tanzania's coastline in which 11 people were killed. An oil tanker also temporarily ran aground in the Dar es Salaam harbor, damaging an oil pipeline.
Politics
Main article: Politics of Tanzania
Tanzania's president and National Assembly members are elected concurrently by direct popular vote for 5-year terms. The president appoints a prime minister who serves as the government's leader in the National Assembly. The president selects his cabinet from among National Assembly members. The Constitution also empowers him to nominate 10 non-elected members of Parliament, who also are eligible to become cabinet members. Elections for president and all National Assembly seats will be held in October 2005.
The unicameral National Assembly elected in 2000 has 295 members. These 295 members include the Attorney General, five members elected from the Zanzibar House of Representatives to participate in the Parliament, the special women's seats which are made up of 20% of the seats a particular party has in the House, 181 constituents seats of members of Parliament from the mainland, and 50 seats from Zanzibar. Also in the list are 48 appointed for women and the seats for the 10 nominated members of Parliament. At present, the ruling CCM holds about 93% of the seats in the Assembly. Laws passed by the National Assembly are valid for Zanzibar only in specifically designated union matters.
Zanzibar's House of Representatives has jurisdiction over all non-union matters. There are currently 76 members in the House of Representatives in Zanzibar, including 50 elected by the people, 10 appointed by the president of Zanzibar, 5 ex officio members, and an attorney general appointed by the president. In May 2002, the government increased the number of special seats allocated to women from 10 to 15, which will increase the number of House of Representatives members to 81. Ostensibly, Zanzibar's House of Representatives can make laws for Zanzibar without the approval of the union government as long as it does not involve union-designated matters. The terms of office for Zanzibar's president and House of Representatives also are 5 years. The semiautonomous relationship between Zanzibar and the union is a relatively unique system of government.
Tanzania has a five-level judiciary combining the jurisdictions of tribal, Islamic, and British common law. Appeal is from the primary courts through the district courts, resident magistrate courts, to the high courts, and Court of Appeals. Judges are appointed by the Chief Justice, except those for the Court of Appeals and the High Court who are appointed by the president. The Zanzibari court system parallels the legal system of the union, and all cases tried in Zanzibari courts, except for those involving constitutional issues and Islamic law, can be appealed to the Court of Appeals of the union. A commercial court was established in September 1999 as a division of the High Court.
For administrative purposes, Tanzania is divided into 26 regions--21 on the mainland, 3 on Zanzibar, and 2 on Pemba. Ninety-nine district councils have been created to further increase local authority. These districts are also now referred to as local government authorities. Currently there are 114 councils operating in 99 districts, 22 are urban and 92 are rural. The 22 urban units are classified further as city (Dar es Salaam and Mwanza), municipal (Arusha, Dodoma, Iringa, Kilimanjaro, Mbeya, Morogoro, Shinyanga, Tabora, and Tanga), and town councils (the remaining 11 communities).
Geography
Main article: Geography of Tanzania
Tanzania is mountainous in the north-east, where Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, is situated. To the north and west are the Great Lakes of Lake Victoria (Africa's largest lake) and Lake Tanganyika. Central Tanzania comprises a large plateau, with plains and arable land. The eastern shore is hot and humid, with the island of Zanzibar lying just offshore.
Tanzania contains many large and ecologically significant wildlife parks, including the famous Serengeti National Park in the north.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Tanzania
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 90% 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. Tanzania has vast amount of natural resources like gold deposits and beautiful national parks that remain underdeveloped. Growth in 1991-99 has 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 has already started [1]. Recent banking reforms have helped increase private sector growth and investment. Short-term economic progress also depends on curbing corruption and cutting on unnecessary public spending [2].
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Tanzania
Population distribution in Tanzania is extremely uneven. Density varies from 1 person per square kilometer (3/mi²) in arid regions to 51 per square kilometer (133/mi²) in the mainland's well-watered highlands to 134 per square kilometer (347/mi²) on Zanzibar. More than 80% of the population is rural. Dar es Salaam is the capital and largest city; Dodoma, located in the center of Tanzania, has been designated the new capital and the Parliament sits there, although action to move the capital has stalled.
The African population consists of more than 120 ethnic groups, of which the Sukuma, Haya, Nyakyusa, Nyamwezi, and Chaga have more than 1 million members. The majority of Tanzanians, including such large tribes as the Sukuma and the Nyamwezi, are of Bantu stock. Groups of Nilotic or related origin include the nomadic Masai and the Luo, both of which are found in greater numbers in neighboring Kenya. Two small groups speak languages of the Khoisan family peculiar to the Bushman and Hottentot peoples. Cushitic-speaking peoples, originally from the Ethiopian highlands, reside in a few areas of Tanzania.
Although much of Zanzibar's African population came from the mainland, one group known as Shirazis claims its origins to be the supposed island's early Persian settlers. Non-Africans residing on the mainland and Zanzibar account for 1% of the total population. The Asian community, including Hindus, Sikhs, Shi'a and Sunni Muslims, and Goans, has declined by 50% in the past decade to 50,000 on the mainland and 4,000 on Zanzibar. An estimated 70,000 Arabs and 10,000 Europeans reside in Tanzania.
Each ethnic group has its own language, but the national language is Kiswahili, a Bantu-based tongue with strong Arabic borrowings.
Regions
Main article: Regions of Tanzania For further information see Tanzania * [3]
Tanzania is divided into 26 regions: Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Iringa, Kagera, Kigoma, Kilimanjaro, Lindi, Manyara, Mara, Mbeya, Morogoro, Mtwara, Mwanza, Pemba North, Pemba South, Pwani, Rukwa, Ruvuma, Shinyanga, Singida, Tabora, Tanga, Zanzibar Central/South, Zanzibar North, Zanzibar Urban/West
Culture
Main article: Culture of Tanzania
Taarab Music[4] is a fusion of Swahili tunes sung in rhythmic poetic style spiced with Arabic or, at times, Indian melodies. It is an extremely lively art form springing from a classical culture, still immensely popular with women, drawing all the time from old and new sources. Taarab forms a major part of the social life of the Swahili people along the coastal areas; especially Zanzibar, Tanga and even further in Mombasa and Malindi along the Kenya coast. Wherever the Swahili speaking people travelled. Tarabu culture moved with them. It has penetrated to as far as Uganda. Rwanda and Burundi in the interior of East Africa, where taarab groups compete in popularity with other western-music inspired groups. In the Persian Gulf, Dubai and Muscat,perhaps because of significant number of Waswahili from Tanzania, play host to many groups of Taraab who receive frequent invitations.
These days a taarab revolution [5] is taking place and much heated debate continues about the music which has been changed drastically by the East African Melody phenomenon. Melody, as they are affectionately known by their mostly women fans, play modern taarab, which, for the first time, is 'taarab to dance to' and features direct lyrics, by- passing the unwritten laws of lyrical subtlety of the older groups such as Egyptian Musical Club and Al-Wattan Musical Club where meaning to their songs where only alluded to and never directly inferred. Today taarab songs are explicit sometimes even graphic in sexual connotation. Much of the music, today, of groups like Melody and Muungano is composed and played on keyboards, increasing portability, hence the group is much smaller in number than 'real taarab' orchestras and therefore more readily available to tour and play shows throughout the region and beyond.
Tanzanian music has lost much of its identity since the heydays of the likes of Mbaraka Minshehe (who, perhaps, was the most popular and original musician of his time), this is partly attributed to the influx of musicians from the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), who were entering the country as refugees and made residence in the country. But in recent years, mainly from the mid-nineties, a new breed of young Tanzanian musicians has emerged and are coming up with popular tunes which are Tanzanian in composition. Bands like Twanga Pepeta have managed to curve a new tune distinct from imported Zairean tunes and are competing with Zairean bands in popularity and audience acceptance.
The Tanzanian artistes have devised a new style going by the name of "Bongo Flava", which is blend of all sorts of melodies, beats, rhythms and sounds. The trend among the Tanzanian music consumers has started changing towards favouring products from their local artists who sing in Swahili, the national language.
The mushrooming of FM music stations and cheap production studios has been a major boost to the music industry in the country. Contemporary artists like Lady Jaydee, Mr Nice and many others command a huge audience of followers in the country and neighbouring countries.
More information about Tanzanian music and events can be found on the various portals that have sprung up recently. Tanzania has an enormously high growth-rate for internet technologies, estimated at up to 500% per year. Because costs for computers are still quite high many users share connections at internet cafes or at work. naomba.com business directory, Movie and Sports information, Arusha locality information all are part of an increasing number of websites dedicated to the region.
Communications
Telecommunication services in Tanzania are often very unreliable. The mobile telephone services are usually available only in urban areas, although there are currently efforts to provide nationwide mobile phone coverage. [6]
Mobile Phone Companies
Online Internet services have been available since 1996 however there is no current fiber connectivity available to the Internet backbone, thus the connectivity is over Satellite network to the rest of the world, even to the neighbouring countries. It is expected that EASSY fiber project will bring in Internet connectivity to Tanzania at lower latency and lower cost.
Data Operators
Miscellaneous topics
- Communications in Tanzania From the CIA World Factbook 2000. Not Wikified.
- Foreign relations of Tanzania From the CIA World Factbook 2000. Not Wikified.
- List of Tanzanian companies
- Military of Tanzania From the CIA World Factbook 2000. Not Wikified.
- Privatizing Tanzania telecommunication company
- Stamps and postal history of Tanzania
- Transportation in Tanzania From the CIA World Factbook 2000. Not Wikified.
This article incorporates information from The World Factbook, which is in the public domain.
External links
Government
- The United Republic of Tanzania official site
- Parliament of Tanzania official site
News
- AllAfrica.com - Tanzania news headline links
- The Express Online weekly newspaper
- IPP Media
- Tanzania News The Top headlines from the major Tanzanian newspapers.
Business
Overviews
Directories
- LookSmart - Tanzania directory category
- Open Directory Project - Tanzania directory category
- Stanford University - Africa South of the Sahara: Tanzania directory category
- University of Pennsylvania - African Studies Center: Tanzania directory category
- Yahoo! - Tanzania directory category
Tourism
Other
- GlobalPolitician - "Tanzania: An Example Of What Third World Should Not Do" December 22, 2004 editorial
- IHT - "Now, some good news from Africa" April 15, 2005 editorial
| Countries in Africa | ||
|
Algeria | Angola | Benin | Botswana | Burkina Faso | Burundi | Cameroon | Cape Verde | Central African Republic | Chad | Comoros | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Republic of the Congo | Côte d'Ivoire | Djibouti | Egypt | Equatorial Guinea | Eritrea | Ethiopia | Gabon | The Gambia | Ghana | Guinea | Guinea-Bissau | Kenya | Lesotho | Liberia | Libya | Madagascar | Malawi | Mali | Mauritania | Mauritius | Morocco | Mozambique | Namibia | Niger | Nigeria | Rwanda | São Tomé and Príncipe | Senegal | Seychelles | Sierra Leone | Somalia/Somaliland | South Africa | Sudan | Swaziland | Tanzania | Togo | Tunisia | Uganda | Western Sahara/SADR | Zambia | Zimbabwe |
||
| Dependencies: British Indian Ocean Territory | Canary Islands | Ceuta and Melilla | Madeira Islands | Mayotte | Réunion | Saint Helena and dependencies | ||
| UN Security Council Members |  |
|---|---|
| Permanent Members | |
| China - France - Russia - United Kingdom - United States | |
| Term ending December 31, 2005 | |
| Algeria - Benin - Brazil - Philippines - Romania | |
| Term ending December 31, 2006 | |
| Argentina - Denmark - Greece - Japan - Tanzania | |
