Travel information for Tanzania & Zanzibar

The name Tanzania is formed from a blend of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, when the two states were united in 1964. Tanzania safari holidays are very popular with British Visitors and can easily be combined with a beach holiday in Zanzibar, just off the coast.
Tanzania is in central East Africa 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 states eastern borders lie in the Indian Ocean.

Tanzania is a unitary republic composed of 26 mkoa (regions). The current head of state is President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, elected in 2005. Since 1996, the capital of Tanzania has been Dodoma, where government offices are located. Between independence and 1996 the major coastal city of Dar es Salaam had been the country’s political capital. Today Dar es Salaam remains the principal commercial city of Tanzania, and is major seaport for the country and its landlocked neighbours.

Tanzania & Zanzibar Regions

  • Geography

     At 945,087 km² Tanzania is comparable in size to Nigeria. Tanzania is mountainous in the northeast, where Africa’s highest peak Mount Kilimanjaro is situated. To the north and west are the Great Lakes of Lake Victoria (Africa’s largest lake) and Lake Tanganyika (Africa’s deepest lake, known for its unique species of fish). Central Tanzania comprises a large plateau, with plains and arable land. The eastern shore is hot and humid, with the island of Zanzibar lying just offshore.

    Tourism 

    Tanzania contains many large and ecologically significant wildlife parks, including the famous Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti National Park in the north, and Selous Game Reserve and Mikumi National Park in the south. Gombe National Park in the west is known as the site of Dr. Jane Goodall’s studies of chimpanzee behaviour.

    The government of Tanzania through its department of tourism has embarked on a campaign to promote the Kalambo water falls in southwest Tanzania’s region of Rukwa as one of Tanzania’s many tourist destinations. The Kalambo Falls are the second highest in Africa and are located near the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika.

    Climate

    Tanzania has a tropical type of climate. In the highlands, temperatures range between 10˚C and 20˚C during cold and hot seasons respectively. The rest of the country has temperatures never falling lower than 20˚C. The hottest period spreads between November and February (25˚C – 31˚C) while the coldest period occurs between May and August (15˚C- 20˚C).

    Two rainfall regimes exist over Tanzania. One is unimodal (December – April) and the other is bimodal (October -December and March – May). The former is experienced in southern, south-west, central and western parts of the country, and the later is found to the north and northern coast.

  • Tanzania High Commission in London Tel : 0207 569 1470 

    Website : http://tanzaniahighcommission.co.uk/

    Population: 41.5 million (2008)

     Capital: Dodoma (official), Dar es Salaam (commercial) 

    Largest city: Dar es Salaam 

    Major languages: English, Swahili 

    Major religions: Christianity, Islam 

    Monetary unit: 1 Tanzanian shilling = 100 cents 

    Internet domain: .tz 

    International dialling code: +255 

    Voltage: 230V 

    Plug size: Mainly British 13 amp three pin plugs but some old style British three round pin plugs still in use.

    (sources: Oxford History of the British Empire, Wikipedia, BBC)

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