|
HISTORY
Tanzania is the “cradle of mankind” for it was here, in the Olduvai Gorge, that
Dr Louis Leakey discovered the fossilised remains of
Homo habilis, or “handy man,” calculated to be 1.75 million years old and the
fore- runner of modern man.
Tanzania was occupied by various African tribes most recently the Maasai from
Kenya, who have retained their proud traditions. Arab merchants visited the
coast some 2,000 years ago and settled in Zanzibar around the eighth century AD
later establishing trade routes into the interior.
The inter-marriage of Arabs and local people created a new people with their own
language - Kiswahili (Swahili) whose word for a
journey - safari - has become the international description of a trip into the
wild.
The Portuguese established temporary settlements in the 16th century, supplanted
by the Omanis in the late 17th century who developed the infamous slave trade.
The scramble for Africa by the European powers at the end of the 19th century
led to occupation of the mainland by Germany although Zanzibar became a British
protectorate. After World War I, Germany was forced to surrender its territory
to the British. Tanganyika, as the mainland was then known, achieved
independence in 1961. Zanzibar became independent two years later and shortly
afterwards joined with the mainland to become the United Republic of Tanzania.
GEOGRAPHY
Tanzania covers 937,062 sq km making it the largest country in Eastern Africa.
Just south of the equator, it borders Kenya and Uganda in the north; the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi in the west; and Zambia,
Malawi and Mozambique in the south, and is therefore a splendid centre from
which to explore eastern, central and southern Africa.
Through the interior runs the Great Rift Valley, that vast fault-line down the
spine of Africa that, in Tanzania, has created many fascinating topographical
features such as the Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Tanganyika.
The central plateau (1,200m above sea level) is a huge expanse of savannah and
sparse woodland. To the north, the 5,890- metre (19,340 ft) Mount Kilimanjaro
rises, the highest mountain in Africa.
While the interior is largely arid, the 800 kilometre coastline is lush and
palm-fringed as are the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia.
CLIMATE
The coastal areas are hot and humid with an average day time temperature of
30°C. Sea breezes make the climate very pleasant from June to September. The
central plateau experiences hot days and cool nights. The hilly country between
the coast and the northern highlands has a pleasant climate from January to
September, with temperatures averaging around20°C. Temperatures vary around
Kilimanjaro according to the season
registering a low 15°C during May- August rising to 22°C during December- March.
For the whole country the hottest months are from October to February. The main,
long rainy season is from mid-March to late May.
|
