Brief Facts About Tanzania

Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa and known for its vast wilderness areas.

Capital: Dodoma
Currency: Tanzanian shilling
Official languages: Swahili, English
Religion: Christian, Muslim, indigenous beliefs
Area: 945,087 square kilometers (364,900 square miles)

Did you know:

Tanzania is just a little bit more than twice the size of California.

Over 120 languages are spoken in Tanzania. Most of these are Bantu languages, a category of over 535 languages and dialects that are spoken throughout Africa.

Tanzania shares its national anthem with South Africa and Zimbabwe. It’s titled “Mungu Ibariki Afrika” (God Bless Africa) and was composed by Enock Sontonga.

Tanzania is divided into 26 regions (mikoa), 21 on the mainland, 3 on Zanzibar Island and 2 on Pemba Island. These are further divided into 99 districts (wilaya)! That’s a lot of parts and pieces to divide a socialist country into. The stacks of paper must be huge.

Mount Kilimanjaro is located in Tanzania. At 19,341 feet above sea level, it is the largest mountain in Africa.

Tanzania is the home of the coconut crab. This crab, the largest crab in the world (and reportedly one of the most delicious), can be found on Chumbe Island of Zanzibar.

Mpingo trees (a.k.a. Africa blackwood trees, commonly seen in Tanzania) are the most expensive hardwood tree in the world.

The world’s earliest human skull was found in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania.

Tanzania has the largest concentration of wildlife animals per square kilometer, with more than 4 million wild animals and representatives of 430 species and subspecies.

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