Tanzania borders in the northwest on Burundi and Rwanda, in the north on Uganda (partially bordered by Lake Victoria ), in the northeast on Kenya, in the east on the Indian Ocean, in the south on Mozambique, in the southwest on Malawi andZambia, in the west on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (border through Lake Tanganyika ).
According to naturegnosis, Tanzania is largely a highland 1,000–2,000 m above sea level with a coastal plain in the southeast. This widens to the south to 450 km and is traversed by wide alluvial plains. The coastal lowlands rise to a hilly country made up of younger sandstones, marls and limestone (up to 700 m above sea level). A 200-1,500 m high fracture step leads over to the inland highlands, wide hull areas, mainly made of gneiss and metamorphic slate. Their uniformity is interrupted by island mountains, some raised clods (Usambara, Uluguru), by elongated fractures of the East African rift system and by mighty volcanic effusions, the stumps of which the highest mountains ( Kilimanjaro 5 895 m above sea level) of the country. The East African Graben is in the central part a flood savannah, in the north an outflow-free thorn savannah area with salt lakes ( Natronsee ). The Unjamwesi Basin extends west of the East African Rift, the deepest part of which is filled by Lake Victoria(1,134 m above sea level). This extensive tectonic basin extends to the edge of the Central African Rift, in which Lake Tanganyika (773 m above sea level) lies. In the south-west of the country there is the Rukwagraben with the Rukwasee (about 800 m above sea level), the Njassagraben with the Malawi Lake (472 m above sea level) and Mount Rungwe (2,961 m above sea level).
Mbeya
Mbeya, Mbeja, capital of the region of the same name in southwestern Tanzania, 1,760 m above sea level, 385,300 residents; Catholic bishopric and center of an agricultural cultivation area (coffee, tea, vegetables, fruit, tobacco); Cement factory; Airport.
Arusha
Arusha [- ʃ a], Arusha, capital of the Arusha region in northeastern Tanzania, population 416,400.
Seat of a Catholic bishop; technical college. From 1967 to 1977 and since 1999 seat of the East African Community (EAC); Seat of a UN war crimes tribunal (Rwanda Tribunal); international conference venue; Commercial center of an agricultural area; Industrial site; Road junction at the southern foot of the Meru and the end point of the Tanga railway line.
North of Arusha is the Arusha National Park (137 km 2), which includes the Ngurdoto crater and the Meru. Here live v. a. Buffalo and others Large animals.
Zanzibar (city)
Zanzibar, capital of the Zanzibar region, located on the west coast of the island, with 501,500 residents; important as a trading center and port city. – The city was in the 18./19. Century center of the ivory and slave trade.
Mwanza
Mwanza, Muanza, capital of the region of the same name in Tanzania, on the south bank of Lake Victoria, 706,500 residents; Catholic Archbishopric and Anglican Bishopric, Research Institute for Tropical Diseases, Museum; Food industry, oil mill with soap factory, textile factory, boat building; important port, end point of the railway (from Tabora) with railway ferry to Kenya and Uganda; Airport.
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam [Arabic »House of Peace«], Dar es Salam, largest city and most important port in Tanzania, seat of government, on a sheltered bay on the Indian Ocean, 4.36 million residents.
Catholic Archbishop’s Seat; University (founded in 1961), college of politics, economics and administration, research institutes (Swahili, animal breeding), national museum (traditional art of Tanzania). Dar es Salaam has food, textile and shoe industries, aluminum rolling mill, petroleum refinery, cement factory, machine and vehicle construction, chemical industry; Starting point of several railway lines (Tansam and others) as well as the pipeline to Ndola (Zambia); Fishing port; international Airport.
Colonial architecture from German times has been preserved in the bank area, including Town hall, courts, former governor’s palace.
Founded in 1862 by the Sultan of Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam came under German colonial rule in 1885 and became the capital of German East Africa in 1891, Tanganyika in 1919, and was the capital of Tanzania from 1964–73.
