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Land Area: 883,749 sq.km (881,289 sq.km mainland 2,460 sq.km Zanzibar), plus lakes totalling 59,100 sq.km area. Tanzania is the largest country in Eastern Africa.

Climate: Tropical on the coast, semi-temperate inland.

Elevation Extremes: Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m and Kilimanjaro, highest point 5,895 m.

Weather in Dar es Salaam: (Altitude 14 metres) Hottest month, January 23-320C; coldest month, July, 18-290C; driest month, September, 26 mm average rainfall; wettest month, April 263 mm average rainfall.

Location: Tanzania is located in Eastern Africa between longitude 290 and 410 East and Latitude 10 and 120 South.

It shares its borders with Burundi (451 km), Kenya (769 km), Malawi (475 km), Mozambique (756 km), Rwanda (217 km), Uganda (396 km) and Zambia (338 km). Its natural eastern border is the Indian Ocean with a coastline length of 1424 km. Tanzania is the largest nation in the East Africa, both in land area and population. The multi-border characteristic of Tanzania reinforces its accessibility, giving it competitive leverage over neighbouring countries, which possess less exposed boundaries.

Language: Culturally, Tanzania has been described as one of the most diverse countries in Africa and this is reflected in the fact that there are more than 120 local languages spoken in the country. English is the official language of education; administration and business while Swahili is the most widely used language.

Physiography: Tanzania terrain provides a diverse range of landscapes with different physical features. From a narrow coastal belt with tropical beaches, it rises to an extensive plateau covered by savanna and bush at an elevation of about 1000m. It has three major ports i.e. Dar es Salaam, Tanga and Mtwara and fresh water inland ports around Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa.

The People: Local people are native African 99% (of which 95% are Bantu consisting of more than 120 tribes) and the remaining 1% consisting of Asians, Europeans, and Arabs. The present population of Tanzania is well over 39.41 million. The major city is Dar es Salaam with a population of 2.68 Million. Dar es Salaam is also the main industrial center.

Population: 39.41 Million including 1.13 Million in Zanzibar.

Currency: Tanzanian Shilling (TShs).

Languages: Swahili and English

Main Religion: Christianity and Islam

Time: Three hours ahead of GMT