Country information Tanzania

The total surface area of Tanzania is 945,087 km² which makes Tanzania approximately 22.5 times larger than the Netherlands or the same size as France, Germany and Belgium combined. It is also the largest country in East Africa. The greatest north-south distance (Moshi-Songea) is over 1300 kilometres, the greatest east-west distance (Dar es Salaam-Kigoma) is over 1600 kilometres.

Landscape
The mainland of Tanzania has a very varied landscape. Very significant is the Great African Rift Valley, which originates in Turkey and runs via the Dead Sea and the Red Sea to Ethiopia and splits into an eastern and western section. The western arm of the rift enters Tanzania via Uganda; the eastern arm enters Tanzania via Kenya. After the arms of the rift leave Tanzania, they rejoin in Malawi, and end off the coast of Mozambique. The total length of the Great Rift Valley is more than 9700 kilometres.
As a result of the formation of the Great Rift Valley, several large lakes also came into being, including Lake Natron, Lake Manyara and Lake Tanganyika, where Africa's deepest point is found at a depth of 1430 metres.
Tanzania has many rivers, both large and small, though none of them are navigable. A number of rivers drain into salt lakes; the Pangani, Ruvu, Rufiji, and Rovuma flow into the Indian Ocean; the Kagera into the Mediterranean Sea, and the Malagarasi into the Atlantic Ocean. Because of its many rivers and lakes, Tanzania has more surface water than any other country on the African continent.
Due to the existing volcanism, Africa's highest mountain, the Kilimanjaro volcano (5895 metres), was formed on the border with Kenya. Tanzania has one more active (strato)volcano in the north near Lake Natron: Ol Doinyo Lengai, or ‘Mountain of God’. The mountain is 2890 metres high with eruptions in 1917, 1926, 1940 and 1966-67, and the crater has been filling with lava since 1983. Mount Meru is the fifth highest mountain in Africa.
Tanzania also features a fairly narrow coastal strip and a flat to gently undulating central plateau with an average height of 1,200 metres. The predominant landscape in Tanzania is savanna (e.g. in the Serengeti National Park); a landscape consisting mainly of grassland with a few trees here and there. The landscape also includes steppe and tropical forest.
The Ambori Caves form the largest cave system in East Africa, with ten caves providing access to a network of limestone tunnels estimated to be 200 km in length. The largest caves are thirteen metres high.

Highest mountains

Mount Kilimanjaro – 5,895 metres
Mount Meru – 4,566 metres
Mount Rungwe – 2,960 metres
Uluguru Mountains – 2,648 metres
Rubeho Mountains – 2,576 metres
Livingstone Mountains – 2,521 metres
Mbizi Mountain – 2,418 metres
Mahari Mountain – 2,373 metres
Usambara Mountains – 2,300 metres

LAKE VICTORIA (original name: Nyanza)
Lake Victoria owes its name to the explorer John Hanning Speke, who was the first European to see the lake in 1858 and named it after Queen Victoria of England.
The surface area of Africa's largest lake is 69,484 km², making it roughly the same size as the Netherlands and Belgium combined. Its maximum north-south length is 337 km; its maximum east-west width is 240 km. The total coastline is 3,220 km and the lake is surrounded by Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
The lake lies more than 1100 metres above sea level and is a maximum of 81 metres deep. Lake Victoria is an important source for the Nile and is itself fed by rainwater and by three large rivers: the Kagera, the Katonga and the Mara. The lake contains dozens of islands, of which Ukerewe is the largest, and also the Rubondo Island National Park, which is unknown to tourists. This park is home to the sitatunga, a type of antelope that is now almost extinct elsewhere.
On the lake lie several important port towns: Mwanza, Bukoba and Musoma. Lake Victoria is the second-largest freshwater lake in the world, after Lake Titicaca on the border of Bolivia and Peru in South America.
Fifty years ago, 80% of the lake’s fish population consisted of cichlids; now that figure stands at just 1%. Many of the 200 native cichlid species have been eaten by the introduced Nile perch, and the dumping of chemical waste and the decline in oxygen levels in the water have also had a devastating effect.

LAKE TANGANYIKA
Lake Tanganyika is, at 1,550 metres deep, the second deepest lake in the world, after Lake Baikal in Russia (1,637 m).
An estimated 1,000, mostly endemic fish species live in the gigantic lake. Kigoma is the largest city along the Tanzanian shores. Just above this city lies Gombe Stream National Park, at 52 km2 Tanzania's smallest national park and made famous by Jane Goodall's chimpanzee research project.

KILIMANJARO
The Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain on the African continent, actually has three peaks, of which Kibo is the highest at 5895 metres. The Mawenzi is 5149 metres high and the Shira is ‘only’ 3962 metres. The three peaks are actually three volcanoes, the last eruptions of which date back 100,000 years ago. The crater of Kibo is 200 metres deep and still contains active fumaroles (= steam and gas vents in a volcano).
On 6 October 1889, Kilimanjaro was first ascended by German climbers Hans Meyer and Ludwig Purtscheller.
The slopes of Kilimanjaro are very fertile and many crops grow up to 1400 metres. The lower parts of the mountain consist of savanna, and dense forest grows from 1800 metres upwards. Above 3000 metres, the frost line, not much more grows. The summit consists of snow and ice.
The Chagga people have inhabited the slopes of Kilimanjaro for many centuries. Kilimanjaro National Park covers an area of 760 km².

NGORONGORO CRATER
The Ngorongoro Crater is the largest intact caldera in the world, approximately 18 kilometres in diameter, covering an area of 260 km², with crater walls reaching a maximum height of over 600 metres.
The crater is inhabited by approx. 40,000 Maasai, who drove out the Mbulu and Datoga 200 years ago. In 1951, the crater area was incorporated into Serengeti National Park, and from 1978, UNESCO declared the crater a World Heritage site.
The crater is located in the Ngorongoro Game Reserve (8,000 km²) and an estimated 30,000 animals live in the crater. This makes it one of the most densely populated wildlife areas in the world.
The ‘shifting sands’ are a remarkable phenomenon. They are a type of dune, formed from ash around 30,000 years ago during an eruption of the Ol Donyo Lengai volcano. Each year, during the dry season, the 100-metre-long and 9-metre-high ‘dune’ of ash and sand moves approximately 17 metres in an easterly direction on average.

Holidays and Sightseeing
Tourism is a potential growth sector. On average, the tourism market has been rising by 7 percent in recent years. Revenues have multiplied tenfold and the number of tourists has quadrupled in the last decade.
The majority of tourists come from Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Israel. Zanzibar attracts more than 100,000 tourists annually and tourism is the biggest source of income after the production of cloves.
Tanzania has a number of world-famous natural attractions. The most important include Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, Serengeti National Park, and the Ngorongoro area. Less famous but certainly worth a visit are parks in the western and southern parts of the country, such as Selous Game Reserve.

The Kairakoo market in Dar es Salaam, the largest covered market in Africa, is also a remarkable sight.

Climate and Weather
Tanzania is situated close to the equator and therefore has a tropical climate, with an average difference between the highest and lowest temperatures of no more than five degrees. The coastal region is warm and humid almost all year round, with temperatures ranging between 22 and 30°C and humidity levels between 75 and 80%. In mountainous areas, including Kilimanjaro, the Usambara Mountains and the northern and southern highlands, temperatures can drop to as low as 12°C between May and August. Night-time frosts are also common in the mountainous regions, and the summit of Kilimanjaro is always covered in snow and ice. The warmest time of the year is generally from October to February; the coolest period is from June to October. In some inland areas, however, temperatures can rise to over 40°C.
The rainfall amounts are influenced by the prevailing monsoon winds. A large part of the country has two rainy seasons: October-November with the so-called little rains, and March-May with the so-called big rains. The rainfall varies greatly and is irregularly distributed across the country.
On average, around 750 mm of rain falls across the country annually. There are also areas where more than 1250 mm falls, while the dry areas, especially the Central Plateau, receive less than 500 mm per year. The Central Plateau also has only one rainy season, between December and May.

Source: Landenweb.nl