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Tanzania

Tanzania (officially United Republic of Tanzania, Swahili Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania) is a state in East Africa. It lies on the Indian Ocean and borders Kenya and Uganda in the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the DR Congo in the west and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique in the south. It has been a member of the Commonwealth of Nations since independence from the United Kingdom on 9 December 1961. Tanganyika (comprising the mainland area with the island of Mafia) became independent in 1961 from the British Mandate and joined Zanzibar (islands of Pemba and Unguja) in Tanzania in 1964, whose country name is composed of Tanganyika, Zanzibar and the name Azania. The approximately 49.3 million Tanzanians speak 125 languages, mostly Bantu languages, but also Nilotic and Cushitic languages, Arabic and Indian languages. The capital of the state is Dodoma, the seat of government and the largest city is the coastal city of Dar es Salaam.

Topographie

The United Republic of Tanzania shares its borders with Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its natural eastern border is the Indian Ocean with a coastline of 1,424 km. Tanzania is the largest nation in East Africa, both the area and the population. The land covers several distinct zones: a fertile stretch of coastline, the Masai area and mountains in the north, with Mount Kilimanjaro rising to 5.895m and Mount Meru 4.566m and a plateau in the central and southern regions. The Zanzibar Islands, 36 km from the mainland, are fertile, hilly, and densely populated on their western sides, low and sparsely populated on their eastern side. Tanzania has a total land area of ​​945,087 km² including 61,000 km² of water.

Climate

Tanzania is essentially divided into four main climatic zones: hot humid coastal plains; hot, semi-arid zone of the central plateau; Highly humid lake regions; and temperate highlands. In general, the country has a kind of tropical climate. Because of the proximity of the equator, there are no distinct seasons in Tanzania as in Europe. September and October are considered tropical spring and best time to travel. The daytime temperatures on the coast vary between 24 and 38 ° C, in the highlands it can be cooler.

Population & Religion

Almost the entire population of Tanzania and Zanzibar consists of Black Africans. There are also minorities of Asians (especially Indians), Europeans and Arabs. The black Africans are divided into more than 30 ethnic groups. The largest are the Bantu, Sukuma and Nyamwezi. The north and the coastal area as well as the former caravan routes are mostly shaped to strongly Islamic. Between 30 and 40 percent of the population are Muslims (at least 98 percent in Zanzibar). Inland Tanzania, Christianity is very widespread and also between 30 and 40 percent are Christian, most of them Catholic. Tanzania has strong population growth. The summarized fertility rate is 5.3 children per woman. Tanzania has a population of approximately 36.2 million in 2004 est., 49.25 million in 2013 est ..

Lakes

Lake Viktoriae

Lake Victoria (also Lake Victoria, Victoria Nyanza, formerly Ukerewesee) is located in East Africa and is part of the states of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. It is the third largest lake in the world (after the Caspian Sea and the Upper Lake) and the second largest freshwater lake in the world. The Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa, it has a catchment area of ​​193,000 km ². It has a surface of 68,800 km², which roughly corresponds to the area of ​​Bavaria or Ireland. On its shores in 2007 about 30 million people lived.

Lake Tanganyka

Lake Tanganyika is the second largest lake in Africa and the sixth largest and the second deepest lake in the world. It is located in the states Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Zambia and Burundi.

The Lake Malawi

The Lake Malawi or Lake Nyasa (after Nyasa in Tanzania, Niassa in Mozambique, from Yao nyasa "Lake") in East Africa is the ninth largest lake of the world. Its drain is the Shire. The riparian states of the lake are Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique.