Tanzania Travel Guide

The history of Tanzania is both colourful and varied and the more modern mention of market places in the area dates back to the Greek and Roma empires. This is backed up the discovery of Roman-era coins that were found along the coast.

The Swahili language and culture spread from northern Kenya into the coastal area of Tanzania. These Swahili towns, Kilwa being the most powerful and prosperous, acted as a conduit for goods between the interior of East Africa and its trade partners throughout the Indian Ocean.

Following Vasco da Gama’s arrival on the cost in 1498, the Portuguese captured Zanzibar in 1505 and remained in control of the island until the early 18^th century. Control changed hands when the local coastal peoples, aided by the Omani Arabs, managed to drive out the Portuguese from the area north of the Ruvuma River, the current border between Mozambique and Tanzania. The conquering Arabs claimed the strip along the coast and Seyyid Said, an Omani Sultan made Zanzibar his capital city in 1840, thus Zanzibar became the centre of the Arab slave trade.

Tanganyika was the name given to the area that was eventually to become Tanzania, only in 1920. Tanganyika was the playground of many explorers and where the famous words, Dr Livingstone, I presume? were spoken by Henry Morton Stanley when he “found” David Livingstone near Lake Tanganyika. The Belgians, British and Germans, developed rules on how colonies and protectorates were to be established, the end result being that Germany was given control of all the land east of Lake Tanganyika. With scant attention to local traditions and structures, German East Africa, stamped their authority on the region. This however resulted in railways and roads being built to aid trade in the region. The uprisings of 1891-1894 and the Maji Maji resistance to German rule, all of which were defeated by the Germans, resulted in over 120 000 Africans being killed in war or starving to death.

It was shortly thereafter that World War I broke out. The British and Belgians fought the Germans in Tanganyika until December 1917 when the last of the German forces crossed the Ruvuma River into Mozambique. Following the Treaty of Versailles, the British assumed control of Tanganyika which lead to it being called Tanganyika Territory in 1920. Under the British, local rule, in various forms, was established. Julius Nyerere became of the unofficial members of the Legislative Council in 1948 and he would go on to lead TANU (Tanganyika African National Union) and become the first president of Tanganyika. During this period the railway line between Tabora and Mwanza & Moshi to Arusha were opened and more hospitals were opened as a result of the British efforts to fight the sleeping sickness (carried by the Tsetse fly), malaria and Bilhazia.

After the World War II (1947), during which 100,000 people from Tanganyika joined the Allied Forces, Tanganyika became a UN (United Nations) trust territory under British control. The UN was used to put extra pressure on Britain for political progress. It is on 1 May 1961 that self-government started by TANU who had won the 3 recent Legislative Council elections

 Zanzibar Island (Unguja) and Pemba Island form what is today known as Zanzibar. In the early 20^th century, Zanzibar supplied 90% of the world’s cloves, all due to Sultan Seyyid Said, who encouraged the development of clove plantations and used local slave labour to do so. Very quickly Pemba and Zanzibar became known as the Spice Islands due to their world-renowned trade in spices, with ships coming from as far as the USA. While Britain first got involved in Zanzibar to try to bring and end to slavery it was only on signing the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty in 1890 that Zanzibar came under British rule. The British ruled through a Sultan until 1957 when elections of the Legislative Council were held.

The United Republic of Tanzania & Zanzibar came into being on the 26^th April 1964 and it became the United Republic of Tanzania on the 29^th October of the same year. The name Tanzania pulls aspects from both Tanganyika and Zanzibar. In 1977, Julius Nyrere merged TANU and the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) to form the Chama cha Mapinduzi CCM Revolutionary Party (CCN)

Nyrere believed that a one-party system was required to achieve national unity. This lead to the establishment of Kiswahili as the national language and African socialism. This philosophy sought to de-emphasize urban areas and promote rural industrial development and expanded the state control throughout the economy. Corruption, inefficient bureaucracy and high taxes damaged the economy enormously leading to an economic collapse in 1979.

In 1990, groups within Zanzibar, having seen their vibrant economy decimated by socialism, demanded a referendum, but to no avail.

As is the sad story of most African nations, the corrupt and ineffective governing party continued to win the elections. The elections in Zanzibar in 2001 were contested and lead to 35 peopl being killed and 600 injured when government forces gunned them down in the streets.

Tanzania is now a multi-party state with a two term limit on the Presidency and enjoys political stability. The Tanzanian government have embarked on pro-investment and pro-growth policies, developing the private sector, adherence to law, anti-corruption drives, job creation and human capital development to bring the country to its full potential.

With only 4% of the land being arable, agriculture making up 40% of GDP and 85% of exports, it is no wonder that Tanzania ranks amongst the poorest countries in the world. Industry, by-in-large is concentrated in processing agriculture products and producing light consumer goods. Tourism is one of the shining lights of the economy, accounting for an estimated 17.5% of GDP and growing at about 25% per annum.

The Tanzanian Shilling (Tsh) is the local unit of currency. The US$ is widely accepted at tourist establishments, but for buying local goods, it is good to have the local currency. You will receive change from the locals only in the local currency