TANZANIA          ...Serengeti - the wide open plains...

The Republic of Tanzania, formerly known as Tanganyika, is a  East African country situated just south of the Equator and is bordered by the Indian Ocean on the east and eight other nations: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo (Kinshasa), Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique. Tanzania was formed as a sovereign state in 1964 through the union of the theretofore separate states of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. The combined territories comprise 364,017 square miles (942,799 square kilometres), with mainland Tanganyika covering more than 99 percent of the total area. Mafia Island is administered from the mainland, while Zanzibar and Pemba islands have a separate government administration. Dodoma, since 1974 the designated official capital of Tanzania, is centrally located on the mainland. Dar es Salaam, however, remains the seat of most government administration, as well as being the largest city and port in the country.

The East African Rift System runs in two north–south-trending branches through Tanzania, leaving many narrow, deep depressions that are often filled by lakes. One branch, the Western Rift Valley, runs along the western frontier and is marked by Lakes Tanganyika and Rukwa, while the other branch, theEastern (or Great) Rift Valley, extends through central Tanzania from the Kenyan border in the region of Lakes Eyasi, Manyara, and Natron south to Lake Nyasa at the border with Mozambique. The Central Plateau, covering more than a third of the country, lies between the two branches.

Due to the historically low density of human settlement, Tanzania is home to an exceptionally rich array of wildlife. Large herds of hoofed animals—most spectacularly the wildebeest, as well as the zebra, giraffe, buffalo, gazelle, eland, dik-dik, and kudu—are found in most of the country's numerous game parks. Predators include hyenas, wild dogs, and the big cats—lions, leopards, and cheetahs. Crocodiles and hippopotamuses are common on riverbanks and lakeshores. The government has taken special measures to protect the rhinoceros and elephant, which have fallen victim to poachers. Small bands of chimpanzees inhabit Gombe National Park along Lake Tanganyika. Nearly 1,500 varieties of birds have been reported, and there are numerous species of snakes and lizards.

Tanzania is extremely heterogeneous, with more than 120 different indigenous African peoples as well as small groups of Asians and Europeans.  Swahili is the national language and the medium of instruction in the first seven years of primary education. English, the country's second official language (together with Swahili), is the medium of instruction at further levels of education and is commonly used by the government in official business. Most African Tanzanians speak their traditional tribal language as well.

The major food crops are corn, rice, sorghum, millet, bananas, cassava, sweet potatoes, barley, potatoes, and wheat. Corn and rice are the preferred cereals, whereas cassava and sweet potatoes are used as famine-prevention crops owing to their drought-resistant qualities. In some areas food crops are sold as cash crops. Peasants in the Ruvuma and Rukwa regions, for example, have specialized in commercial corn production, and in riverine areas, especially along the Rufiji, rice is sold.

Export cash crops provide the major source of foreign exchange for the country. Coffee and cotton are by far the most important in this respect, but exports of tea, cashew nuts, tobacco, and sisal are also substantial. Cloves are Zanzibar's main export. Once the source of over 90 percent of the world's cloves, Zanzibar now produces only about 10 percent of the international supply.