Tanzania

Program Overview > Tanzania

INTRODUCTION

Shortly after achieving independence from Britain in the early 1960s, Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form the nation of Tanzania in 1964.

One-party rule came to an end in 1995 with the first democratic elections held in the country since the 1970s.

Zanzibar's semi-autonomous status and popular opposition have led to two contentious elections since 1995, which the ruling party won despite international observers' claims of voting irregularities.

Note: Statistical information and copy in the Project Locations area of our website is drawn from the CIA World Factbook, 2010.

OTHER INFORMATION >Tanzania

Major Infectious Diseases:

Degree of Risk: very high

Food or Waterborne Diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

Vectorborne Diseases: malaria and plague

Water Contact Disease: schistosomiasis

Animal Contact Disease: rabies

Median age:

Total: 18 years (2009 est.)

Male: 17.8 years (2009 est.)

Female: 18.3 years (2009 est.)

Nationality:

Noun: Tanzanian(s)

Adjective: Tanzanian

Ethnic Groups: mainland - African 99% (of which 95% are Bantu consisting of more than 130 tribes), other 1% (consisting of Asian, European, and Arab); Zanzibar - Arab, African, mixed Arab and African

Religions: mainland - Christian 30%, Muslim 35%, indigenous beliefs 35%; Zanzibar - more than 99% Muslim

Languages: Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguja (name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (official, primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education), Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar), many local languages
note: Kiswahili (Swahili) is the mother tongue of the Bantu people living in Zanzibar and nearby coastal Tanzania; although Kiswahili is Bantu in structure and origin, its vocabulary draws on a variety of sources including Arabic and English; it has become the lingua franca of central and eastern Africa; the first language of most people is one of the local languages

Population:

Total: 41,048,532
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2009 est.)

Population Growth Rate:

Growth Rate: 2.04% (2009 est.)

Birth Rate: 34.29 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Death Rate: 12.59 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

Net Migration Rate: -1.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Sex Ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth: total population: 52.01 years
male: 50.56 years
female: 53.51 years (2009 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate: total: 69.28 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 76.24 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 62.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Total Fertility Rate: 4.46 children born/woman (2009 est.)

Tanzania

AT A GLANCE
Tanzania

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 43% (male 8,853,529/female 8,805,810) (2009 est.)

15-64 years: 54.1% (male 10,956,133/female 11,255,868) (2009 est.)

65 years and over: 2.9% (male 513,959/female 663,233) (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS:

Adult Prevelence Rate: 6.2% (2007 est.)

People Living with HIV/AIDS: 1.4 million (2007 est.)

Deaths: 96,000 (2007 est.)

Literacy:

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write Kiswahili (Swahili), English, or Arabic

Population: total: 69.4%
male: 77.5%
female: 62.2% (2002 census)