Official Name:
United Republic of Tanzania

Cities: Capital--Dar es Salaam. Major metropolises--Arusha; Mwanza, Dodoma, Mbeya, Mtwara, Stonetown, Zanzibar.
Terrain: Varied.
Climate: Varies from tropical to arid to temperate.

Language: Kiswahili (official), English.
Work force: Agriculture--80%; industry, commerce government--20%.

Type: Republic.
Independence: Tanganyika 1961, Zanzibar 1963; union formed 1964. Constitution: 1982.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state and commander in chief) vice president, and prime minister. Legislative--unicameral National Assembly (for the union), House of Representative. (for Zanzibar only). Judicial--mainland: Court of Appeals, High Courts, resident Magistrate Courts, district courts, and primary courts. Zanzibar: High Court, people's district courts, kadhis court (Islamic courts).
Suffrage: Universal at l8.
Administrative subdivisions: 25 regions (20 on mainland, 3 on Zanzibar, 2 on Pemba).
Flag: Diagonal yellow-edged black band from lower left to upper right; green field at upper left, blue field at lower right.

GDP (1999): $9.3 billion.
Average growth rate: 3.8% (last 3 yrs.).
Per capita income: $260.
Agriculture (60% of GDP): Products--coffee, cotton, tea, tobacco, cloves, sisal, cashew nuts maize.
Industry (10% of GDP): Types--textiles, agribusiness, light manufacturing, oil refining, construction.
Trade: Exports--coffee, cotton, tea, sisal, diamonds, cashew nuts, tobacco, and cloves. Major markets--U.K., Germany, India, Japan, Italy, and Far East. Primary imports--petroleum, consumer goods, machinery and transport equipment, used clothing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals. Major suppliers--U.K., Germany, Japan, India, Italy, U.S.

Population distribution in Tanzania is extremely uneven. Density varies from 1 person per square kilometer (3 per sq. mi.) in arid regions to 51 per square kilometer (133 per sq. mi.) in the mainland's well-watered highlands and 134 per square kilometer (347 per sq. mi.) 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, 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.









German colonial interests were first advanced in 1884. Karl Peters, who formed the Society for German Colonization, concluded a series of treaties by which tribal chiefs in the interior accepted German "protection." Prince Otto is von Bismarck's government backed Peters in the subsequent establishment of the German East Africa Company.










Zanzibar's political development began in earnest after 1956, when provision was first made for the election of six nongovernment members to the Legislative Council. Two parties were formed: the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP), presenting the dominant Arab and "Arabized" minority and the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP), led by Abaid Karume and representing the Shirazis and the African majority.


On April 26,1964, Tanganyika union with Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, renamed the United Republic of Tanzania on October 29.

United Republic of Tanzania
TANU and the Afro-Shirazi Party of Zanzibar were merged into a single party (Chama cha Mapinduzi-CCM Revolutionary Party) on February 5, 1977. On April 26, 1977, the union of the two parties was ratified in a new constitution. The merger was reinforced by principles enunciated in the 1982 union constitution and reaffirmed in the constitution of 1984.


In 1977, Nyerere merged TANU with the Zanzibar ruling party, the ASP, to form the CCM as the sole ruling party in both parts of the union. The CCM was to be the sole instrument for mobilizing and controlling the population in all significant political or economic activities. He envisioned the party as a "two-way street" for the flow of ideas and policy directives between the village level and the government.

President Nyerere stepped down from office and was succeeded as President by Ali Hassan Mwinyi in 1985. Nyerere retained his position as Chairman of the ruling party for 5 more years and was influential in Tanzanian politics until his death in October 1999. The current President, Benjamin Mkapa, was elected in 1995 and will stand for re-election in nationwide balloting scheduled for October 2000. Zanzibar President Salmin Amour was elected in single-party elections in 1990. In 1995, he was named the winner of Zanzibar's first multi-party elections, a victory widely deemed to have been tainted by fraud. He is not eligible to run for a third term.

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 also selects his cabinet from among National Assembly members. Elections for president and all National Assembly seats will be held in October 2000.

The unicameral National Assembly elected in 1995 has 275 members, 232 of whom are from the mainland and Zanzibar. There are 37 appointed seats for women, and each political party receives a proportion of appointed seats commensurate with the number of constituency seats won. Also, five members are elected by the Zanzibar House of Representatives to participate in the National Assembly. At present, the ruling CCM holds about 80% 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 nonunion 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 exofficio members, 10 women appointed by political parties commensurate with constituency seats won, and an attorney general appointed by the president. Zanzibar's House of Representatives can make laws for Zanzibar without the approval of the union government. 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.


For administrative purposes, Tanzania is divided into 25 regions--20 on the mainland, 3 on Zanzibar, and 2 on Pemba. Ninety-nine district councils have been to further increase local authority. Of the 99 councils operating in 86 districts,19 are urban and 80 are rural. The 19 urban units are classified further as city (Dar es Salaam), municipal (Arusha, Dodoma, Tanga), and town councils (the remaining 15 communities).

Principal Government Officials
President--Benjamin W. Mkapa
Vice President--Dr. Omar Ali Juma
Prime Minister--Frederick T. Sumaye
President of Zanzibar--Dr. Salmin Amour
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Jakaya Kikwete
Ambassador to the United States--Mustafa Nyang'anyi


From independence in 1961 until the mid-1980s, Tanzania was a one-party state, with a socialist model of economic development. Beginning in the mid-1980s, under the administration of President Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Tanzania undertook a number of political and economic reforms. In January and February 1992, the government decided to adopt multiparty democracy. Legal and constitutional changes led to the registration of 11 political parties. Two parliamentary by-elections (won by CCM) in early 1994 were the first-ever multiparty elections in Tanzanian history. In October and November 1995, Tanzania held its first multi-party general elections. The ruling CCM party's candidate, Benjamin W. Mkapa, defeated his three main rivals, winning the presidential election with 62% of the vote. In the parliamentary elections, CCM won 186 of the elected seats, while the two main opposition parties--CUF and NCCR--won 24 seats and 16 seats, respectively. In the Zanzibar presidential election, incumbent CCM candidate Salmin Amour was declared the winner over rival CUF contender, Seif Sharif Hamad, in a controversial decision by the Zanzibar Electoral Commission that underpins current tensions on the island.

President Mkapa, Vice President Omar Ali Juma, Prime Minister Fredrick Sumaye, and National Assembly members will serve until the next general elections in 2000. Similarly, Zanzibar President Salmin Amour and members of the Zanzibar House of Representatives also will complete their terms of office in 2000.


The Tanzanian Government agreed to a new 3-year Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) arrangement with the International Monetary Fund in November 1996. Tanzania also embarked on a major restructuring of state-owned enterprises. The program has so far divested 275 out off some 425 parastatal entities. Overall, real economic growth has averaged about 4% a year, much better than the previous 20 years, but not enough to improve the lives of average Tanzanians. Also, the economy remains overwhelmingly donor-dependent. Moreover, Tanzania has an external debt of over $8 billion. The servicing of this debt absorbs about 40% of total government expenditures. Tanzania has qualified for debt relief under the enhanced Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.








Tanzania enjoys good relations with its neighbors in the region and in recent years has been an active participant in efforts to promote the peaceful resolution of disputes. Tanzania is helping to broker peace talks to end conflict in Burundi and supports the Lusaka agreement concerning the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In March 1996 Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya revived discussion of economic and regional cooperation. These talks culminated with the signing of an East African Cooperation Treaty in September 1999, which should in time lead to economic integration. Tanzania is the only country in East Africa which also is a member of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).


The Peace Corps program, revitalized in 1979, provides assistance in education through the provision of teachers. Peace Corps also is assisting in health and environment sectors. Currently, about 95 volunteers are serving in Tanzania.

Principal U.S. Officials
Ambassador--Rev. Charles R. Stith
Deputy Chief of Mission--Wanda L. Nesbitt
Director, USAID--Lucretia Taylor
Public Affairs Officer (USIS--Dudley O. Sims
Directors, Peace Corps--Gale Metcalf and Joel Wallach

The U.S. embassy in Tanzania is located on Kinondoni Road, Dar es Salaam. The consulate on Zanzibar was closed on June 15, 1979.

[This is a mobile copy of Tanzania (08/00)]