TANZANIA

officially United Republic of Tanzania, Swahili Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania 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, Malawi, and Mozambique. Tanzania was formed as a sovereign state in 1964 through the union of the theretofore separate states of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. The combined territories comprise 364,017 square miles (942,799 square kilometres), with mainland Tanganyika covering more than 99 percent of the total area. Mafia Island is administered from the mainland, while Zanzibar and Pemba islands 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. officially United Republic of Tanzania, Swahili Jamhuri ya Mwungano wa Tanzania East African country lying immediately south of the equator, covering an area of 364,881 square miles (935,037 square km). Dar es Salaam is the largest city and the seat of government, pending the transfer of official functions to the new capital at Dodoma. Facing the Indian Ocean on the east, Tanzania is bordered by Malawi and Mozambique in the south; Zambia, Zaire, Burundi, and Rwanda in the west; and Uganda and Kenya in the north. The outlying territories comprise the islands of Zanzibar (641 square miles), Pemba (380 square miles), and Mafia (200 square miles). The population in 1990 was estimated to be 24,403,000. The land. Although most of Tanzania consists of plain and plateau, it has some spectacular relief features. The coastal area is low and narrow. The mountain system sprawls in a twisting pattern from north to southwest, formed by the Ufipa Plateau, the Mbeya Range, and Rungwe Mountains. Near the coast are the Usambara and Pare mountains. The highland complex culminates in the snow-clad peak of Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, rising to 19,340 feet (5,895 m). The Uluguru Mountains stand about 120 miles (190 km) west of Dar es Salaam; overlooking Lake Nyasa in the south are the Kipengere and Livingstone mountains. Lake Tanganyika, the second deepest lake in the world (4,710 feet deep), forms part of the world's greatest continental rift system. To the north of Lake Nyasa the rift system divides into a western rift and an eastern rift. Mount Lengai, west of Kilimanjaro, is the only active volcano. The rifts have produced depressions such as the Pangani Valley (extending southwestward from Kilimanjaro to the Indian Ocean) and the Malagarasi Swamp. On the borders are three lakes, including Lake Victoria (26,828 square miles [69,485 square km]), the world's second largest freshwater lake (following Lake Superior). Although three great riversthe Nile, the Congo, and the Zambezihave their origins in Tanzania, the country has few permanent rivers. The country's largest river basin, the Rufiji, covers an area of 61,000 square miles (157,900 square km) in southern Tanzania. The soils in many areas of the country are clayey and of limited fertility. Tanzania experiences an equatorial type of climate, generally modified by elevation. The coastal area and immediate hinterland experience temperatures averaging 80 F (27 C) with high humidity and an annual rainfall varying from 30 inches (760 mm) inland to more than 60 inches (1,500 mm) along the coast. The central plateau, which is hot and dry, has from 20 to 30 inches of rainfall. In the Lake Victoria area rainfall ranges between 30 and 90 inches. Forests grow in the highland areas that receive high rainfall. The western and southern plateaus are primarily miombo woodland, which consists of an open cover of trees (notably Brachystegia and Isoberlinia), while in areas of less rainfall, bushland and thickets are found. Thinly wooded grasslands cover areas where the original forest cover has been burnt off for human use. The famous Serengeti Plain, by contrast, owes its grasslands to a calcium-rich hardpan deposited close to the soil surface by evaporated rainwater. Reed and grass swamps of the central plateau contrast with the thick mangrove forests of the coastal creeks. National parks and game reserves occupy one-seventh of the country and include the Serengeti National Park, famous for its vast plains-animal migrations. Tanzania's wildlife includes wildebeest, elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, lion, leopard, zebra, giraffe, eland, kudu, and dik-dik. Only about 4 percent of the land area is considered arable, though the total irrigated area has increased substantially since the 1960s. Nearly 40 percent of the land is pasture or rangeland. Tanzania has important deposits of gold and base metals. It also has energy reserves of coal and natural gas. 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, 17701873 (1987), gives a detailed history. Issa G. Shivji, Law, State, and the Working Class in Tanzania, c. 19201964 (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, 191985 (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, 19051912 (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, 192067 (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 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 membersincluding 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 The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica 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, Islamic, 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. 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