Tanzania, officially the United Republic of
Tanzania (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Muungano wa
Tanzania) is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north; Rwanda,
Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west;
and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The
country's eastern border is formed by the Indian Ocean. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania.
The country is divided into 30 administrative regions:
five on the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar and 25 on the
mainland in the former Tanganyika The head of state is President Jakaya
Mrisho Kikwete, elected in 2005. Since 1996, the official capital of
Tanzania has been Dodoma, where the National Assembly and some
government offices are located. Between
independence and 1996, the main coastal city of Dar es Salaam served as
the country's political capital. It remains Tanzania's principal commercial
city and is the main location of most government institutions. It is also the principal port of the country.
Though it remains one of
the poorest countries in the world, with many of its people living below the
World Bank poverty line, it has had some success in wooing donors and
investors.
Unlike many African
countries, whose potential wealth contrasted with their actual poverty,
Tanzania had few exportable minerals and a primitive agricultural system. In an
attempt to remedy this, its first president, Julius Nyerere, issued the 1967
Arusha Declaration, which called for self-reliance through the creation of
cooperative farm villages and the nationalisation of factories, plantations,
banks and private companies.
But a decade later,
despite financial and technical aid from the World Bank and sympathetic
countries, this programme had completely failed due to inefficiency,
corruption, resistance from peasants and the rise in the price of imported
petroleum.
Tanzania's economic woes
were compounded in 1979 and 1981 by a costly military intervention to overthrow
President Idi Amin of Uganda.
After Mr Nyerere's
resignation in 1985, his successor, Ali Hassan Mwinyi, attempted to raise
productivity and attract foreign investment and loans by dismantling government
control of the economy.
This policy continued under
Benjamin Mkapa, who was elected president in 1995. The economy grew, though at
the price of painful fiscal reforms.
Tourism is an important
revenue earner; Tanzania's attractions include Africa's highest mountain,
Kilimanjaro, and wildlife-rich national parks such as the Serengeti.
The political union between
Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania has weathered more than four decades of change.
Zanzibar has its own parliament and president.
At
a glance
- Politics: Tanzania has enjoyed stability. Multi-party
politics was introduced in 1992
- Economy: Annual growth
rate has averaged 6.7% since 2006, one of the best in sub-Sahara Africa.
Power supplies are erratic and fall short of demand. Gold earnings have
been rising, and the find of a major offshore gas field is promising
- International: Tanzania hosts thousands of refugees from conflict in the
neighbouring Great Lakes region
- Environment: Experts fear a planned highway threatens the
Serengeti game park, Tanzania's biggest draw for tourism
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