Resource information
The name Tanzania is a portmanteau of
Tanganyika, the mainland, and Zanzibar, the nearby
archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The two united to become
the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964. With a surface area
of 947,300 square kilometers, Tanzania is comparable in size
to Nigeria and is slightly more than twice the size of the
U.S. state of California. Tanzania's population of
approximately 40.4 million (as of 2007) is the second
largest in East Africa, after Ethiopia's. Dar es
Salaam, the most populous city, contains approximately 2.7
million people and accounts for most commercial activity.
Swahili (or Kiswahili) and English are the two official
languages of Tanzania. A large number of local languages are
also spoken. In Zanzibar, Arabic is commonly used.
Agriculture remains the mainstay of Tanzania's economy,
accounting for one-quarter of gross domestic product (GDP)
and approximately 80 percent of employment. Tanzania is
endowed with mineral and natural resources, including gold,
diamonds, and several other precious and semiprecious
stones. The blue gemstone tanzanite is found only in
Tanzania. Tanzania accounted for almost two percent of world
gold production as of 2006. Tanzania has a long history of
hosting refugee's fleeing civil wars in nearby
countries. As of January 2008, there were more than 380,000
refugees living in Tanzania, predominantly from Burundi and
the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tanzania is an up-market
tourism destination. The country is endowed with a variety
of tourism assets, including seven United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
world heritage sites and numerous wildlife parks, beach
resorts, coral reefs, and spectacular scenic mountain views.
