Tanzania

Tanzania’s over one hundred ethnic groups are mostly of Bantu origin. Others are the Nilotic, Cushitic, and Khoisan groups. Arab trade posts were established along the coast and in the island of Zanzibar as early as the 10th century. Germany declared Tanganyika its colony at the Berlin Conference in 1884. Britian took over Zanzibar, and in 1919 also Tanganyika as a trust territory, until independence in 1961 and 1963. In 1964, Zanzibar and Tanganyika merged to form the nation of Tanzania. Its first president was Julius Nyerere, one of the great leaders of Africa’s independence, and the artisan of ujamaa, an African expression of ‘familyhood’, emphasizing equality and justice (loosely translated as African socialism). Tanzania was deeply involved in the struggle in Southern Africa, hosting liberation movements such as the ANC and Frelimo (Mozambique), and caring for thousands of refugees. Since 1995, Tanzania has a democratic multiparty system. Economically it is a poor country, depending almost entirely on agriculture for subsistence and export of coffee, cotton, etc. Manufacturing industry and gold mining are beginning to develop. The Catholic Church is the oldest and largest church, representing about half of all the Christians. Other large churches are the Anglican, Lutheran, Baptist, Africa Inland, and Moravian churches, which together with several others, form the Christian Council. The Orthodox in Tanzania belong to the Patriarchate of Alexandria. Pentecostals number close to20percent of the Protestants and Independents. Other large groups are the Seventh-day Adventists, and the New Apostolic Church.