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Tanzania (945,087 sq km) is a very large country just south of the Equator. You could fit France, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland and the UK into it. Vast stretches of plains and plateaus contrast with spectacular relief features, notably Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro (5,895 metres), the world's second deepest lake, Lake Tanganyika (1,436 metres deep) and the Western and Eastern Rift Valleys. The Central Plateau, covering more than a third of the country, lies between the two Rift Valleys. There are great mountain ranges in the Southern Highlands and in the North-East, the Usambaras and Pares. West of Kilimanjaro are Mount Meru (4565m)and the still-active volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai and the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest caldera, or volcanic depression. Because of its numerous lakes, approximately 59,000 square km of Tanzania's territory consists of inland water, including Lake Victoria, the world's second largest freshwater lake.
Tanzania has a warm, equatorial climate modified by variations in altitude. Temperatures are fairly consistent throughout the year, but rainfall is highly seasonal. Roughly half of Tanzania receives less than 750 mm annually, the minimum required for most forms of crop cultivation. The Central Plateau is driest. Rainfall is heavier on the coast, in the islands, the highlands and around Lake Victoria.
The two most important factors influencing the pattern of human settlement are rainfall and the incidence of tsetse fly which carries a blood parasite that causes sleeping sickness in cattle and people. The insect does not pose a threat to areas of high rainfall and high population density. Thus the main population centres are in a horseshoe shape around the sparsely populated central plateau. The main cities are Dar-es-Salaam (approx 2.5 m), Mwanza (approx 0.4m), Arusha (approx 0.3m), Zanzibar City (approx 0.25m) and Tanga (0.22m). The Parliament (The Bunge) sits in the official capital, Dodoma, but DSM is still the commercial capital.
Roads are improving and in rural areas many are not tarred surfaces. There are few dual carriageways and no motorways. Slow train services run from DSM to Mwanza and Kigoma and south-west to Zambia. Most Tanzanians depend on the many bus services and, in towns, crowded minibuses. |
