KEY FACTS
Joined Commonwealth: 1961
Population: 47,783,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 2.2% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 152
Official languages: Kiswahili, English
Time: GMT plus 3hr
Currency: Tanzanian shilling (TSh)
Geography
Area: 945,090 sq km
Coastline: 1,420 km
Capital: Dodoma
The United Republic of Tanzania borders the Indian Ocean to the east, and has land borders with eight countries: (anti-clockwise from the north) Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (across Lake Tanganyika), Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. The country includes Zanzibar (consisting of the main island Unguja, plus Pemba and other smaller islands).
Main towns:
Dodoma (capital, pop. 179,800 in 2010), Dares Salaam (commercial and administrative centre, 3.21m), Mwanza (581,200), Zanzibar Town (495,100), Arusha (448,400), Mbeya (317,700), Morogoro (279,400), Tanga (245,200), Kigoma (182,800), Tabora (161,200), Moshi (157,900), Kasulo (142,700), Musoma (139,100), Songea (138,000), Iringa (111,000), Shinyanga (97,300), Sumbawanga (96,200) and Mtwara (79,500).
Society
KEY FACTS 2012
Population per sq km: 51
Life expectancy: 61 years
Net primary enrolment: 98% (2008)
Population:
47,783,000 (2012); 27 per cent of people live in urban areas and seven per cent in urban agglomerations of more than one million people; growth 2.9 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 40 per 1,000 people (48 in 1970); life expectancy 61 years (47 in 1970 and 51 in 1990). Most of the people are of Bantu origin, with some 120 ethnic groups on the mainland, none of which exceeds ten per cent of the population. The biggest group is the Sukuma; others include Nyamwezi, Masai, Haya Gogo, Chagga, Nyaliyusa and Hehe. The population also includes Asian and expatriate minorities. The people of Zanzibar are of Bantu, Persian and Arab origin.
Language:
The official language is Kiswahili (which is universally spoken in addition to various other African languages), and is the medium of instruction in primary schools. English is the second official language, the country’s commercial language, and also the teaching language in secondary schools and higher education.
Education:
Public spending on education was six per cent of GDP in 2010. There are seven years of compulsory education starting at the age of seven. Primary school comprises seven years and secondary six, with cycles of four and two years. Some 81 per cent of pupils complete primary school (2009). The school year starts in January. The principal public universities are the University of Dares Salaam (established in 1970); Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro (1984, before which it was the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry of University of Dar es Salaam); and Open University of Tanzania (established for distance education in 1995). There are a number of private universities including Hubert Kairuki Memorial University (with faculties of medicine and nursing, in Dares Salaam, established 1997); and International Medical and Technological University (Dar es Salaam, 1995). The female–male ratio for gross enrolment in tertiary education is 0.50:1 (2012). Literacy among people aged 15–24 is 77 per cent (2010).
