Dodoma

945,087 km²
(23x the Netherlands)

UTC +3

English, Swahili, Arabic, Bantu and Nile languages

Kilimanjaro - 5,892 m

The flag of Tanzania dates from 1964, the year Tanganyika was united with the People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba. The flag is a combination of the flags of the former states. The green represents the vegetation, black represents the Swahili people, the blue represents the Indian Ocean and the rivers and lakes. The thin stripes represent the mineral riches of the country.

The Tanzanian shilling was introduced in 1966. It replaces the East African shilling. Depicted on the banknote is an elephant.

Explorer John Hanning Speke named Lake Victoria after the English queen. The lake has an area of 68,800 km² and is the third largest freshwater lake in the world. In this lake, the White Nile begins its long journey to the Mediterranean Sea. The lake is spread over Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The lake has a maximum depth of 80 meters. Measurements have shown that the lake has dried up at least three times since it origin 400,000 years ago. The lake is located between the great rift valley and the western rift. Characteristic to the lake are large granite boulders resulting from volcanic activity.



The Ngorongoro crater is located in the Great Rift valley. The caldera with a 20 km diameter was formed 2 to 3 million years ago. The volcano, with an estimated altitude of 4500 to 5800 meters exploded and the walls collapsed. The walls are up to 600 meters high. The crater is home to approximately 25,000 animals, including the 'Big Five', buffalo, elephant, lion, leopard and rhinoceros. At the end of the day it is beautiful here because of the low position of the sun. Only a limited number of vehicles are allowed into the crater daily. Getting access to the crater is time consuming.

Serengeti is derived from the Masaï word Serengit which means endless plain. It has a national park status since 1951. The largest mammal migration in the world takes place here. In February, Wildebeest in the Ngorongoro Crater Area give birth to half a million calves. Early June, a herd of often over a million animals migrate to the environment of the Grumeti river. At the end of June they move on and cross the Mara River to the Masai Mara Park where they arrive in late July, early August. They stay there until the beginning of November. In the first 4 months after birth, 40% of the calves die. When crossing the Mara River hundreds of animals are killed by crocodiles. The trek spans a distance of 800 km and about a quarter of a million Wildebeest die from thirst, hunger, exhaustion and predators. The Serengeti Natl. Park is 14,763 km² big. The plain is accentuated by granite boulders and gneiss due to vulkanic activity and these are known as cups. In many places, the endless grass plains are destroyed by fires. The acacia is very common. The most common animals, after migration, are the Thomson's gazelle (400,000).

At 5,892 meters, Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa. It exists of three individual volcanoes, Kibo (5,892 meters), Mawenzi (5,145 meters) and Shira (3,962 meters). The mountain measures 80 by 40 km at the base. Kilimanjaro is a stratovolcano that started to form a million years ago. The mountain currently has 15 glaciers which are withdrawing rapidly. At the end of the 19th century, the top was completely covered with ice. From 1912 to present, more than 80% of them disappeared. At current speed, the ice on the mountain will be vanished between 2022 and 2033.

Zanzibar (Black Coast) is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania and consists of the islands of Unguja, informally Zanzibar, and Pemba and a number of smaller islands. Stone Town, the old part of Zanzibar city, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also known worldwide as the spice island. The most important are the cloves. It was used as an intermediate station for trading with Asia. The Portuguese were the first to rule the island. They were expelled by the Sultanate of Oman. The Sultanate started planting plantations for herbs. There was also slave trade at large scale. In the mid-19th century, 50,000 slaves were traded annually. In 1890 it became a British protectorate. The sultanate fulfilled only a puppet position at that time. The island measures 80 by 30 km. Wander through the maze of alleys in Stone Town and pay a visit to the Darajani market. You can also visit the house where Freddy Mercury was born.