Tanzania

After gaining independence in 1964, Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged into the United Republic of Tanzania. The next three decades were characterized by one-party rule, which ended in 1995 with democratic elections. Zanzibar has retained a semi-autonomous status that has contributed to hotly contested elections and charges of voting irregularities. With a per capita income of only $700, Tanzania is the seventh poorest country in the world. Some 36 percent of the population live in abject poverty. [Page 1705]Only four percent of the land area is arable, yet 80 percent of Tanzanians are engaged in the agricultural sector, which provides around half of the Gross Domestic Product and 85 percent of all exports. The United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Reports rank Tanzania 164 of 232 countries on overall quality-of-life issues.

Industries are generally involved with processing agricultural productions or in producing light consumer goods. Natural resources include: Hydropower, tin, phosphates, iron ore, coal, diamonds, gemstones, gold, natural gas, and nickel; Tanzania has recently begun exploiting these resources. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are working with the government to reduce poverty and rehabilitate the economic infrastructure.

Bordering the Indian Ocean, Tanzania has a coastline of 1,424 kilometers and inland water resources of 59,050 square kilometers. The total area of 945,987 square kilometers includes the islands of Mafia, Pemba, and Zanzibar. Tanzania shares land borders with Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia. The coastal plains of Tanzania give way to a central plateau and to northern and southern highlands. While the coast enjoys a tropical climate, the highlands are temperate. Tanzania is subject to drought, and flooding may occur on the central plateau during the rainy season. Elevations range from sea level to 5,895 meters at Mount Kilimanjaro along the Kenyan border. Kilimanjaro, which is Tanzania's most distinctive geographic feature, is the highest point in all of Africa. The world-renowned mountain is bordered by Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Tanganyika, the second deepest lake in the world, and Lake Nyasa.

Like many of Africa's poorest countries, Tanzania's population of 37,445,392 is vulnerable to a number of environmental health hazards. With an adult prevalence rate of 8.8 percent, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has claimed 160,000 lives since 2003. Another 1.6 million people are living with the disease. While 73 percent of the population have access to safe drinking water, only 46 percent have access to improved sanitation. Therefore, Tanzanians are at very high risk for contracting food and waterborne diseases that include bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever and the water contact disease schistosomiasis. In some areas, the population is at high risk for contracting vectorborne diseases such as malaria, Rift Valley fever, and plague. Consequently, Tanzanians have a lower-than-normal life expectancy (45.64 years) and growth rate (1.83 percent), and higher-than-normal infant mortality (96.48 deaths per 1,000 live births) and death (16.39 deaths/1,000 population) rates. The fertility rate of five children each places women at great risk and taxes strained resources.

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