Overview of the Nation

President:
Benjamin William Mkapa (1995)

Prime Minister:
Frederick Tluway Sumaye (1995)

Area:
364,879 sq mi. (945,090 sq km)1

Population (1999 est.):
31,270,820 (average annual rate of natural increase: 2.36%);
birth rate:  40.4/1000;
infant mortality rate: 95.3/1000;
density per sq mi.: 86

Capital and largest city (1988):
Dar es Salaam, 1,360,8502

Monetary unit:
Tanzanian shilling

Languages:
Swahili, English, local languages

Ethnicity/Race:
mainland: native African (95% Bantu, consisting of well over 100 tribes)
99%, Asian, European, and Arab 1%.
Zanzibar: Arab, mixed Arab and native African, native African

Religions:
Christian, 40%; Muslim, 33%

Literacy rate:
52%

Economic summary:
GDP/PPP (1997 est.): $21.1 billion; $700 per capita.
Real growth rate: 4.3%.
Inflation: 15%.
Unemployment: n.a.
Arable land: 3%.

Agriculture:
tobacco, corn, cassava, wheat, cotton, coffee, sisal, cashew nuts,
pyrethrum, cloves, bananas, fruits, vegetables, cattle, sheep, goats.

Labor force:
13.495 million; agriculture, 90%;
industry and commerce, 10% (1995 est.).

Industries:
agricultural processing, diamond and gold mining, oil refining, shoes, cement,
textiles, wood products, fertilizer, salt.

Natural resources:
hydroelectric potential, phosphates, iron and coal.

Exports:
$760 million (f.o.b., 1996):
coffee, cotton, sisal, manufactured goods,
minerals, cashew nuts, tobacco, tea.

Imports:
$1.4 billion (c.i.f., 1996):
machinery and transport equipment, crude oil, consumer goods.

Major trading partners:
Germany, U.K., U.S., Japan, Italy, Denmark, Kenya,
Netherlands, Hong Kong, E.U., China, India.

Member of Commonwealth of Nations