Tanzanian Culture

Tanzania lies on the east coast of Africa, just south of the equator. It shares borders with Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, and the Indian Ocean. Tanzania also shares three great lakes—Victoria, Tanganyika, and Malawi—with its neighbors. The country is comprised of a wide variety of agro-ecological zones: low-lying coastal plains, a dry highland plateau, northern savannas, and cool, well-watered regions in the northwest and south

Over 100 languages are spoken in Tanzania, most of them from the Bantu family. After independence, the government recognized that this represented a problem for nationalunity, and as a result introduced the Swahili language into all primary schools to spread its use. Swahili is the national and official language. English as a second official language is widely spoken especially in major cities, to a lesser extend in rural areas. Arabic is spoken in Zanzibar and Pemba, to a lesser extent though. Tribal languages are widely spoken as well.

Tanzania is among few countries where religious harmony is prevalent; people of different religions live in harmony and inter religious marriages are common. The main religions are Christianity and Islam, another religions are Hinduism and traditional religions.