Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. According to the 2022 national census, Tanzania has a population of nearly 62 million, making it the most populous country located entirely south of the equator.
The modern-day African Great Lakes state of Tanzania dates formally from 1964, when it was formed out of the union of the much larger mainland territory of Tanganyika and the coastal archipelago of Zanzibar. The former was a colony and part of German East Africa from the 1880s to 1919 when, under the League of Nations, it became a British mandate. It served as a British military outpost during World War II, providing financial help, munitions, and soldiers. In 1947, Tanganyika became a United Nations Trust Territory under British administration, a status it kept until its independence in 1961. The island of Zanzibar thrived as a trading hub, successively controlled by the Portuguese, the Sultanate of Oman, and then as a British protectorate by the end of the nineteenth century.
As it is in other countries, the music in Tanzania is constantly undergoing changes, and varies by location, people, settings and occasion. The five music genres in Tanzania, as defined by BASATA are, ngoma, dansi, kwaya, and taarab, with bongo flava being added in 2001. Singeli has since the mid-2000s been an unofficial music of uswahilini, unplanned communities in Dar es Salaam, and is the newest mainstream genre since 2020.
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, after which he led its successor state, Tanzania, as president from 1964 to 1985. He was a founding member and chair of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) party, and of its successor Chama Cha Mapinduzi, from 1954 to 1990. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he promoted a political philosophy known as Ujamaa.
The flag of Tanzania consists of a Gold-edged black diagonal band, divided diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner, with a green upper triangle and light blue lower triangle. Adopted in 1964 to replace the individual flags of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, it has been the flag of the United Republic of Tanzania since the two states merged that year. The design of the present flag incorporates the elements from the two former flags. It is one of a relatively small number of national flags incorporating a diagonal line, with other examples including the DR Congo, Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Trinidad and Tobago and Brunei.
The Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) was a Socialist, African nationalist Zanzibari political party formed between the mostly Shirazi Shiraz Party and the mostly African Afro Party.
Tanzanian Hip-hop, which is sometimes referred to Bongo Flava by many outside of Tanzania's hip hop community, encompasses a large variety of different sounds, but it is particularly known for heavy synth riffs and an incorporation of Tanzanian pop.
Abeid Amani Karume was the first President of Zanzibar. He obtained this title as a result of a revolution which led to the deposing of Sir Jamshid bin Abdullah, the last reigning Sultan of Zanzibar, in January 1964. Three months later, the United Republic of Tanzania was founded, and Karume became the first Vice President of the United Republic with Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika as president of the new country. He was the father of Zanzibar's former president, Amani Abeid Karume.
Ujamaa was a socialist ideology that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania after it gained independence from Britain in 1961.
Baraza la Muziki la Taifa was a national council created in 1974 by the government of the newly independent Tanzania. Its purpose was to regulate the music business in the country, in the context of a wider programme intended to create a solidified national identity. This, in turn, was a crucial element in Ujamaa, President Julius Nyerere's version of african socialism. Similar institutions were founded to rule over other aspects of the nation's culture, including the nationwide adoption of Swahili language and the development of Tanzanian art (BASATA). The overall idea was to build a new popular culture for the workers and peasants of the country, free from the heritage of colonialism and bourgeoisie culture.
Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam is a radio service in Tanzania.
Ramazani "Remmy" Mtoro Ongala was a Tanzanian guitarist and singer. Ongala was born in Kindu, in what was the Belgian Congo at the time, and now is the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Tanganyika was a colonial territory in East Africa which was administered by the United Kingdom in various guises from 1916 until 1961. It was initially administered under a military occupation regime. From 20 July 1922, it was formalised into a League of Nations mandate under British rule. From 1946, it was administered by the UK as a United Nations trust territory.
General elections were held for the first time in the newly formed Union of Tanzania in September 1965. The country had also just become a one-party state, with the Tanganyika African National Union as the sole legal party on the mainland, and the Afro-Shirazi Party was the only party in Zanzibar. For the National Assembly election there were two candidates from the same party in each constituency, whilst the presidential election was effectively a referendum on TANU leader Julius Nyerere's candidacy.
General elections were held in Tanzania on 30 October 1970. The country was a one-party state at the time, with the Tanganyika African National Union as the sole legal party on the mainland, and the Afro-Shirazi Party was the only party in Zanzibar. For the National Assembly election there were two candidates from the same party in each of the 106 constituencies, whilst the presidential election was effectively a referendum on TANU leader Julius Nyerere's candidacy.
General elections were held in Tanzania on 26 October 1975. The country was a one-party state at the time, with the Tanganyika African National Union as the sole legal party on the mainland, and the Afro-Shirazi Party was the only party in Zanzibar. For the National Assembly election there were two candidates from the same party in each of the constituencies, whilst the presidential election was effectively a referendum on TANU leader Julius Nyerere's candidacy.
The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, also known as the Permanent Constitution, was ratified in 16 March 1977. Before the current establishment, Tanzania has had three constitutions: the Independence Constitution (1961), the Republican Constitution (1962), and the Interim Constitution of the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar (1964).
The Articles of Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar of 1964 is the main foundation of the Constitutions of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977 and the Zanzibar Revolutionary Government of 1984. The Articles of the Union were signed on April 22, 1964, by the Founders of the Union, Julius Nyerere and Abeid Amani Karume and agreed in 11 matters which later increased to over 22 and are the source of tension and dispute between mainland Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar. See Uamsho movement. The original Articles of Union which contain both Signatures from Nyerere and Karume are yet to be found.
The Chama Cha Mapinduzi is the dominant ruling party in Tanzania and the second longest-ruling party in Africa, only after the True Whig Party of Liberia. It was formed in 1977, following the merger of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP), which were the sole operating parties in mainland Tanzania and the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar, respectively.
