BSAD301 – MAFOUA
Tanzania
Sarah Marie
12/8/2014
Tanzania is known officially as the United Republic of Tanzania is located in East Africa.
It is in an area known as the African Great Lakes Region, surrounded by Uganda and Kenya to
the north, Mozambique to the south, the Indian Ocean in the east, and Rwanda, Burundi and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo in the west. The Republic consists of both Mainland
Tanzania, as well as Zanzibar, which holds its own government, while still following the absolute
laws of the United Republic. It is most known for Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania’s dormant
volcano, which is the highest mountain in Africa, as well as the “highest free-standing mountain
the world” (Mount Kilimanjaro). It is also one of the four countries which divides Lake
Tanganyika, and African Great Lake which is the second largest freshwater lake in the world.
History of Tanzania
The area in northern Tanzania in Olduvai Gorge is known as the “Cradle of Mankind”.
This area houses the oldest fossils found in this part of Africa. Fossils found here date back over
2 million years, as well as footprints found here from the Lactoli are thought to be dating back
even farther, possibly 3.6 million years old. The main people of this region are the Bantu-
speaking people, who migrated to the region over 2000 years ago. This is a land of much history
and culture.
Early people of this area lived off the land, hunting and gathering, as is common in most
early peoples’ history. Farming is thought to have started as far back as 1000 B.C., with farmers
still using wooden and stone tools. It wasn’t until the Bantu people arrived that they brought iron
tools and weapons. Four centuries later, Arabs sailed into the area and brought Islam, influencing
the local beliefs and converting many people to Muslims.
The well-known history of Tanzania begins in 1498, with Portuguese explorer, Vasco de
Gama. De Gama traveled to Tanzania from Portugal in search of riches and to take control of the
area. However, he was met with resistance and was not able to travel too far inland. In 1503 Rui
Lorenco Ravasco arrived at Unguji Island. They began a war with the people of the area, and the
ruler of Zanzibar, Mwinyi Mkuu, was forced to surrender to the Portuguese. Not long after the
Portuguese also captured Mombassa and Pemba Island. The local people tried to rebel, but were
defeated by Portugal. They set up control of the coast, set up Zanzibar town in 1560, and brought
cassava and cashew nuts from Brazil. However, because they were not able to bring their control
inland, they faced trouble from the Arabs from Oman, and in 1652, the Arabs captured Unguja,
then in 1695 they took Pemba and forced out the remaining Portuguese. After this time, Seyyid
Said-Omani moved his capital to Zanzibar, and made it the center of Arab slave trade. Slave
trade would continue until it’s prohibition in 1876.
During the mid-19th century, the Germans began to take notice of the area. By the 1880’s
they began to take over. Led by Karl Peters, the German East Africa Company tricked African
chiefs into signing treaties with his company. In 1890, the Germans and British signed a treaty
dividing the land, with Britain taking Zanzibar and Germany taking over the mainland. However,
Germany was met with much resistance from the local people, and it resulted in a number of
revolts. These revolts continued until World War I, when Germany was forced to surrender to
Britain, and Tanzania was handed over to them. Under British rule, Tanzania would continue
fairly uneventfully for the next 30-some years.
In 1953, Julius Nyerere was elected the president of the Tanganyika African Association,
later renamed the Tanzania African National Union. This Union’s main goal was Tanzanian
independence, and in December 1961 it gained just that. Nyerere became the first prime minister
of an independent Tanzania, then in December 1962, Tanzania became a Republic, and he once
again became president, of a now independent nation. Nyerere was known to the people as
“Mwalimu”, meaning teacher in Swahili, as he proposed great ideas for education. However,
with that he also adopted a socialistic policy. This turned to be a complete failure, and even
though he was re-elected in 1980, the economy was falling apart and corruption was rampant.
Nyerere refused to change his policies, despite this, and was forced to resign in 1985. His
replacement, Ali Hassan Mwinyi, spent the next decade trying to fix what had been broken. Due
to his efforts, Tanzania’s economy began to rise. In January and February 1992, Tanzania
adopted a multiparty democracy, where they once had a one-party state. This resulted in 11
registered parties. In 1995, Chama Cha Mapinduz’s candidate Benjamin Mkapa won with 71%
of the votes, and in 2005 Jakawa Kikwete was elected.
