Country Facts - Tanzania

The People

Ethnic Composition

African	99%
Other	1%

Religious Composition

Christian	45%
Muslim	35%
Indigenous beliefs	20%

Languages Spoken
Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguju (name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (official, primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education), Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar), many local languages.

Nationality

Tanzanian(s)

Education and Literacy

Tanzania's overall adult literacy is around 67.8 percent. Among males it is 79.4 percent and females 56.8 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 13.5 million (2000)

By occupation:

Agriculture	80%
Industry and commerce	20%

Geography

Land Mass Total

364,900 sq mi (945,087 sq km)
Note: Includes the islands of Mafia, Pemba, and Zanzibar

Land

342,100 sq mi (886,037 sq km)

Water

22,799 sq mi (59,050 sq km)

Land Boundaries

total: 2,113 mi (3,402 km)
border countries: Burundi 280 mi (451 km), Kenya 477 mi (769 km), Malawi
295 mi (475 km), Mozambique 469 mi (756 km), Rwanda 134 mi (217 km), Uganda 246 mi (396 km), Zambia 210 mi (338 km)

Coastline

884 mi (
1,424 km)

Maritime claim

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Varies from tropical along coast to temperate in highlands.

Terrain

Plains along coast; central plateau; highlands in north, south

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Indian Ocean 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Kilimanjaro 19,340 ft (5,895 m)

Natural Resources

Hydropower, tin, phosphates, iron ore, coal, diamonds, gemstones, gold, natural gas, nickel

Land use

Arable land	4%
Permanent crops	1%
Other	95%

(1998)

Natural hazards

The tsetse fly; flooding on the central plateau during the rainy season; drought

Environment - current issues

Soil degradation; deforestation; desertification; destruction of coral reefs threatens marine habitats; recent droughts affected marginal agriculture; wildlife threatened by illegal hunting and trade, especially for ivory

Geography Note

Kilimanjaro is highest point in Africa; bordered by three of the largest lakes on the continent: Lake Victoria (the world's second-largest freshwater lake) in the north, Lake Tanganyika (the world's second deepest) in the west, and Lake Nyasa in the southwest.

Demographics

Population

37,187,939 (July 2002)
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 and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.

Age structure

0-14 years:	44.6%	Male: 8,338,764	Female: 8,247,789
15-64 years:	52.5%	Male: 9,674,951	Female: 9,847,084
65 years and over:	2.9%	Male: 483,760	Female: 595,591

(2002)))

Growth Rate

2.6% (2002)

Life Expectancy

51.7 years (2002)
Female: 52.67 years
Male: 50.76 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$610 (2001)

Infant Mortality

77.85 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.81 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.99 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

-0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which accounts for half of GDP, provides 85 percent of exports, and employs 80 percent of the work force. Topography and climatic conditions, however, limit cultivated crops to only 4 percent of the land area. Industry is mainly limited to processing agricultural products and light consumer goods. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and bilateral donors have provided funds to rehabilitate Tanzania's deteriorated economic infrastructure. Growth in 1991-2001 featured a pickup in industrial production and a substantial increase in output of minerals, led by gold. Natural gas exploration in the Rufiji Delta looks promising and production could start by 2002. Recent banking reforms have helped increase private sector growth and investment. Continued donor support and solid macroeconomic policies should support steady real GDP growth of 5 percent in 2002 and 6 percent in 2003. Inflation is holding at just under 5 percent to help keep this nascent economy stable..

Unemployment

N/A

Inflation Rate

5% (2001)

Industries

Primarily agricultural processing (sugar, beer, cigarettes, sisal twine), diamond and gold mining, oil refining, shoes, cement, textiles, wood products, fertilizer, salt

Exports

US$827 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$1.55 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$22.1 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

UK 22.0%, India 14.8%, Germany 9.9%, Netherlands 6.9% (2000)

Top Import Partners

South Africa 11.5%, Japan 9.3%, UK 7.0%, Australia 6.2% (2000)

Top Exports

Gold, coffee, cashew nuts, manufactures, cotton (2000)

Top Imports

Consumer goods, machinery and transportation equipment, industrial raw materials, crude oil

Debt - external

US$6.8 billion (2000)

Economic aid

US$963 million (1997)

Fiscal Year:

July 1 to June 30

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8a.m. to 12p.m., and 2p.m. to 4:30p.m.	Closed
Retail	8:30a.m. to 12p.m., and 2p.m. to 6p.m.	Saturday from 8:30a.m. to 12p.m.
Banks	8:30a.m. to 3p.m.	Saturday 8:30a.m. to 11:30a.m.
Government	8a.m. to 12p.m., and 2p.m. to 4:30p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Zanzibar Revolution Day	January 12	January 12	January 12
Chama Cha Mapinduzi Day	February 5	February 5	February 5
Festival of Sacrifice (Eid Al Adha)¹	February 12	February 2	January 21
Good Friday	April 18	April 9	March 25
Easter²	April 20	April 11	March 27
Union Day	April 28	April 28	April 28
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Birthday of Prophet Mohammad (Mawlid an Nabi)³	May 14	May 2	April 21
Peasants' Day (Saba Saba)	July 7	July 7	July 7
Start of Ramadan*¹	October 27	October 15	October 4
End of Ramadan (Eid Al Fatr)*²	November 26	November 14	November 3
Independence and Republic Day	December 9	December 9	December 9
Christmas Day*³	December 25	December 25	December 25

¹	Culmination of the Hajj or Holy Pilgrimage.
²	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
³	The Birthday of the Prophet Mohammad is celebrated on the twelfth day in the month of Rabi'l of the Islamic calendar.
*¹	Ramadan (the month of fasting) begins with the first appearance of the new moon in the ninth month of the lunar Islamic Hijra calendar, and lasts 30 days. Dates for the start of Ramadan will vary from country to country, depending on the first appearance of the moon.
*²	Feasting that officially marks the end of Ramadan, and commonly lasts for three days.
*³	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D. 320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press