Category: Tanzania

Tanzania is a country in Central Africa, bathed by the Indian Ocean. There are 52 million residents (2016). Since 1996, the official capital is Dodoma. The ancient capital Dar es Salaam is the largest city and still houses some organs of the Republic. In the Middle Ages, the coastal peoples of present-day Tanzania and the islands of Zanzibar had great Arab influence. In the 16th century, the Portuguese dominated much of that region. In the 18th century, Arabs came to dominate again, through the Sultanate of Oman. The region has become a major center for the slave trade, mainly in Zanzibar. In the late 19th century, Germany colonized today’s continental Tanzania (territory of Tanganyika), as part of German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika), along with Rwanda and Burundi. After the First World War, it came under British control under a League of Nations mandate. The islands of Zanzibar have been controlled by the British since the 19th century. Tanganyika gained independence in 1961, and Zanzibar in 1963. In 1964 they formed the United Republic of Tanzania.