ABOUT
THE GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY OF TANZANIA
THE
GEOGRAPHY OF TANZANIA:
Tanzania
which covers 937,062 Square Kilometers, is situated on the East
Coast of Africa and lies between 1and 11 Degrees South
of the Equator.
The
Country embraces the Islands of Zanzibar and Pemba
which occupy 2,614 Square Kilometers and Mafia in the Indian Ocean.
Tanzania rolls from forested mountains in the North
and South, through the great central plateau of rich brown savannah
grass and bush, down to the tropical coastline. Its mainland has
a Coastline of 804 Km of palm fringed beaches. Extremes of topographical
relief of the African Continent also lie within its territory.
Mount
Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, has
a permanent ice -cap at 5895M above sea level,
while in the deep trough like depression within the Great Rift
Valley is the Lake Tanganyika 772.45 Meters,
the World’s second deepest lake. In the South the Ruvuma river
separates Tanzania from Mozambique; the border meeting Lake
Nyasa about half-way its eastern shore.
In
the North up near the Uganda border lies Lake Victoria,
the third largest lake in the world. It is remarkably shallow, with
maximum depth of less than 300 feet. Tanzania has many other lakes,
rivers and waterfalls for you to enjoy.
Tanzania
has more than 10,000 species of tree, 700 species
of fish and hundreds of types of animals and birds
found in forests, national parks, lakes and Indian
Ocean
THE
HISTORY OF TANZANIA:
The
history of Tanzania goes back over one and half million years. It
starts in the Great Rift Valley, millions of years
ago with our ancestors Australopithecus
boisei. The remains of the earliest known man were
discovered in 1959 by Dr.L.Leakey here in the Olduvai
Gorge. Fossils of long extinct birds and animals have also
been unearthed.
At
least six civilizations have left traces of their culture and history
here. Excavations have revealed Roman Coins and Chinese
Pottery, and Persians, Turks and Portuguese all had transitory
settlements in the 16th and 17th Centuries.
Between
the 11th and 16th centuries there was also considerable development
along the coast during which time the Swahili language
evolved, derived from African, Persian and Arab languages.
Zanzibar
was once the trading center for the whole of East Africa, as well
as slave trade. In the early 19th century, the Sultan of
Oman introduced the clove plantations for which Zanzibar
is still famous today.
In
1888 the Coastal region was acquired by Germany
after the payment of 200,000 pounds to Sultan of Zanzibar.
The Inland territory then became a German protectorate. The Germans
were replaced after the 1st World War by the British who received
a mandate over most of the German East Africa and renamed it Tanganyika.
On
December 9 1961 Tanganyika attained Independence
and exactly a year later the country became a Republic of Tanganyika
within the Commonwealth.
Zanzibar
became independent on December 11, 1963, but only a month later
a popular movement deposed the Sultan and brought into being a Republic.
On
April 26 1964, the two sovereign states united to form the United
Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar and on October 26 1964 it became
the United Republic of Tanzania.
This
is Tanzania, made up of 120 ethnic groups and after centuries of
migration, a peaceful nation.
Please
click here to submit your interests.
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