Lying just south of the equator, Tanzania is East Africa’s largest country. It has a hot, tropical climate with a humid, rainy season from November to May. Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro is located close to Tanzania's border with Kenya. High plains and savanna grasslands stretch across much of the centre of the country. The coastal lowlands are greener and more forested. Three of the largest lakes in Africa lie partly in Tanzania: Lake Victoria in the north, Lake Tanganyika in the west and Lake Nyasa in the southwest. The island archipelago of Zanzibar is also part of Tanzania, although it has its own government.

People

There are around 120 peoples in Tanzania, most of them belonging to the Bantu ethnic group. They are united by Tanzania’s national language, Swahili. Children learn their own tribal language first and then Swahili; many people also speak English. Two-thirds of Tanzanians live in rural villages, while inland, there are vast areas that are almost completely uninhabited.

Economy

Around four-fifths of Tanzania’s workforce work on farms. Most of these are subsistence farmers, growing enough food for their families and communities. The main crops are maize, cassava and sorghum, a plant whose leaves can be dried and used to make rope. Coffee beans, tea, cotton and tobacco are grown for export while the island of Zanzibar exports spices: nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves.
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Tanzania’s largest export is gold. It is one of the leading gold-producing countries in Africa. The country also has large reserves of gemstones, including diamonds. Tourism is a growing industry, generating around a quarter of Tanzania’s foreign income.

Serengeti

The Serengeti plains of northern Tanzania are home to around 70 species of mammal, including lions, cheetahs, wildebeest, giraffes, antelopes and many different kinds of bird. A National Park, the Serengeti has World Heritage status, protecting all these creatures and their habitat from extinction. Safaris allow people to see animals in their natural environment, and local people to make a living from tourism.
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Every year at the end of May, a vast migration takes place across the plains of the Serengeti. Roughly 1.7 million wildebeest are joined by 260,000 zebra and 470,000 gazelles in a journey north to the plains of Kenya’s Maasai Mara, where they find pastures to graze during the hot, dry season. It is one of the largest migration of mammals on Earth.

Ngorongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Crater is part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a large volcanic caldera, the remnants of an old volcano that collapsed after an explosive eruption, and is 610 metres (2000 feet) deep. The slopes are covered with forests or scrubland, while the floor is mostly open grassland, with a salt lake (Magadi) in the centre and a swamp (Ngoitokitok) near the eastern wall. Living inside the crater are around 25,000 large animals, including rhinos, hippos, wildebeest, zebra, antelopes—but no giraffes or crocodiles. There are about 60 lions; the resident males expel any outsiders.

Dar es Salaam (its name is Arabic for "Abode of Peace") is Tanzania's largest city and financial hub. One of the fastest-growing cities in the world, its population, currently around 9 million, is on course to reach 12.9 million by 2030. Dar's origins dates to the 1860s when Sultan Majid bin Said of Zanzibar founded a new city close to the fishing village of Mzizima. The German East Africa Company established a station there in 1887, establishing its importance as a port.

Dar es Salaam consists of five districts: Kinondoni, which houses half of the city's population; Ilala, the central business district; Temeke, the main industrial area; Kigamboni, a beachfront suburb on a peninsula; Ubungo, home to the university.

​​​​​​​While the city is undergoing rapid development and construction of high-rise buildings, more than three-quarters of its population live in shantytowns or slums. Dar regularly experiences frequent flooding due to intense rainfall, its lowland coastal location and the River Msimbazi, which flows through the city.

Facts about Tanzania

Population 67,462,121 (2024 estimate)

Area 885,800 sq km (342,000 sq miles)

Highest point Kilimanjaro 5895 m (19,336 ft)

Capital Dodoma (population 765,179)

Other major cities Dar es Salaam (metro area pop. 8,989,150), Mwanza (1,104,521), Arusha (617,631)

Languages Swahili, English

Religions (Mainland Tanzania) Christian 30%, Muslim 35%, indigenous beliefs 35% (Zanzibar) Muslim 99%

Ethnicity African 99%, of which 95% Bantu, others 1%

Currency Tanzanian shilling (TZS)

Chief exports Gold, coffee, spices, cashew nuts, manufactured goods, cotton