UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

• Official name: Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania, United Republic of Tanzania
• Location: East Africa
• International organisations: African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, African Union, Commonwealth of Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, United Nations, World Trade Organisation
• Borders: Burundi, Congo (Democratic Republic), Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia
• Coastline: Indian Ocean
• Land area: 945,087 Km2
• Population: 43,700,000
• Annual GDP (PPP) per capita: US$1,400 (2009 CIA estimate). World ranking: 169
• Ethnicity: The people of mainland Tanzania belong to the Bantu ethnic group. There is a small Indian minority. The people of Zanzibar (less than 2% of the national population) are mainly of Arab or mixed Arab-African descent.
• Languages: Kiswahili and English are the official languages, but English is in practice the language of government and business. Kiswahili is the first language of the majority of people in the coastal areas. In the hinterland many African languages are spoken. Arabic is used in Zanzibar.
• Religion: Mainland Tanzania is almost evenly divided between Christians, Sunni Moslems and people following indigenous beliefs. Zanzibar is almost entirely Moslem.
• Form of government: Federal presidential democratic republic. Tanzania is a federation between Tanganyika and Zanzibar, and is divided into 28 regions. Zanzibar has its own president and legislature with limited autonomy.
• Capital: Dodoma. Unofficially Dar-es-Salaam is still the government centre.
• Constitution: The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania came into effect on 25 April 1977, and has been revised many times, most importantly in 1992 in order to abolish the one-party state.
• Head of state: The President, elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term.
• Head of government: The President, who appoints the members of the Cabinet. One of these holds the title of Prime Minister but is not the head of the government. Mizengo Pinda has been Prime Minister since February 2008.
• Legislature: Tanzania has a unicameral legislature. The National Assembly (Bunge) has 343 members, of whom 239 are elected for five-year terms from single-member constituences. An additional 104 seats are allocated to women nominated by the president on a party-proportional basis. An additional ten members are appointed by the president, and five seats are allocated to members of the Zanzibar House of Representatives. The Attorney-General sits as an ex officio member,
• Electoral authority: Elections in Tanzania are conducted by the National Election Commission.
• Freedom House 2011 rating: Political Rights 3, Civil Liberties 3
• Transparency International Corruption Index: 33% (87 of 178 countries rated)
• Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom 2010 Index: 78.5% (80 of 178 countries rated)
• Heritage Foundation Economic Freedom 2010 Index: 64% (70 of 179 countries rated)

Political history

The island of Zanzibar became the southern terminus of the Arab trade network in East Africa in the Middle Ages. From 1806 the island and nearby coastal areas were ruled by the Sultan of Oman, but in 1861 Zanzibar became an independent sultanate under British protection. In 1888 the Germans leased the coastal territories from the Sultan, and this became the colony of German East Africa. In 1890 Zanzibar became a formal British protectorate. British forces occupied German East Africa during the First World War and in 1922 it became the League of Nations Mandated Territory of Tanganyika, under British administration.

Tanganyika achieved responsible government in 1960 and independence in 1961. The British protectorate over Zanzibar was ended in 1963, and in 1964 a revolution deposed the Sultan and Zanzibar briefly became a People's Republic. In October 1964 Tanganyika and Zanzibar federated as the United Republic of Tanzania, under the Presidency of Julius Nyerere. Nyerere, a utopian socialist, was widely admired in the west, but his economic policies bankrupted the country and his establishment of a one-party state in 1965 made political change impossible. Nyerere also tolerated the petty despotism of the Afro-Shirazi party in Zanzibar.

Nyerere retired in 1985 and political and economic liberalisation began under his successor Ali Hassan Mwinyi. In 1991 the one-party state was abandoned and free elections held, but the old socialist Constitution remained in place. Government in Tanzania remains corrupt and inefficient, particularly in Zanzibar.

Although Tanzania is now a multi-party state, Tanzanian government and politics are still dominated by the Party of the Revolution (Chama Cha Mapinduzi, CCM), which is descended from Nyerere's Tanganyikan African National Union. The only opposition parties of any significance are the Civic United Front (Chama Cha Wananchi, CCW), based in Zanzibar, and the Party for Democracy and Progress (Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo, CHADEMA), both of which favour further reforms including a new constitution.

Jakaya Kikwete succeeded Benjamin Mkapa as President in December 2005. He came to office with a reputation as a reformer, but in fact has done little to make Tanzania's political system more democratic or its economy more open. The 2010 presidential and legislative elections were held to be an improvement on earlier elections, but the CCM's domination of the state apparatus is still too strong for its grip on power to be challenged.

Freedom House's 2011 report on Tanzania says: "Tanzania is an electoral democracy. The October 2010 national elections were judged to be the most competitive and legitimate in Tanzania's history. Unlike past elections, the opposition accepted the 2010 results in Zanzibar and Pemba, due in large part to a July referendum providing for the creation of a national unity government after the poll... Although opposition parties were legalised in 1992, the ruling CCM continues to dominate the country's political life. The constitution prohibits political coalitions, which has impeded efforts by other parties to seriously contest the CCM's dominance. Opposition politics have also tended to be highly fractious... Corruption remains a serious problem. A 2007 anticorruption bill gave the government greater power to target abuses in procurement and money laundering, but critics claim it is insufficient... Although the constitution provides for freedom of speech, it does not specifically guarantee freedom of the press... The constitution guarantees freedoms of assembly and association. However, these rights are not always respected, particularly in Zanzibar... Tanzania's judiciary has displayed some signs of autonomy after decades of subservience to the one-party CCM regime, but it remains subject to considerable political influence."

Updated November 2011