Famous landmarks in Tanzania

Tanzania is a large country in East Africa on the Indian Ocean. It borders Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, and it includes the islands of Zanzibar. Its official capital is Dodoma, while Dar es Salaam on the coast is the biggest city.

Tanzania is famous for Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa, and for some of the greatest wildlife on Earth. On the globe you can find Kilimanjaro, Stone Town on Zanzibar and Ngorongoro Crater, along with lions, zebras, giraffes and hippos, the Serengeti National Park and the red waters of Lake Natron.

Geography and nature

Kilimanjaro, a snow-capped volcano about 5,895 metres tall, rises alone above the plains in the north-east. Nearby, the Serengeti's grasslands host a great migration in which more than a million wildebeest and many zebras follow the rains each year. Ngorongoro Crater is a huge volcanic caldera full of animals. Tanzania touches three of Africa's Great Lakes: Victoria, Tanganyika, one of the deepest lakes in the world, and Nyasa. Lake Natron, salty and often reddish, is where lesser flamingos gather to breed.

People, languages and culture

Tanzania is home to more than 120 ethnic groups, including the Sukuma, Chaga and Maasai. Swahili is the national language and helps everyone understand each other, and English is used in higher education and business. Christians and Muslims each make up a large part of the population. Ugali, a stiff maize porridge, is eaten with stews and greens, and grilled meat called nyama choma is a treat. Tingatinga paintings, full of bright animals, began in Dar es Salaam.

History in a nutshell

Tanzania has some of the oldest traces of humans: footprints at Laetoli are about 3.6 million years old, and many early human fossils were found at Olduvai Gorge. Swahili trading towns such as Kilwa grew rich from Indian Ocean trade, and Zanzibar later became the seat of an Omani sultanate. Germany ruled the mainland from the 1880s, followed by Britain after the First World War. Tanganyika became independent in 1961 and Zanzibar in 1963, and in 1964 they joined to form Tanzania, led by Julius Nyerere.