Tanzania is a nation in East Africa that is part of the African Great Lakes area. Its official name is the United Republic of Tanzania (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania). It is bounded to the north by Uganda, to the northeast by Kenya, to the east by the Comoro Islands and the Indian Ocean, to the south by Mozambique and Malawi, to the southwest by Zambia, and to the west by Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest peak, is located in northeastern Tanzania.
Many notable hominid fossils, including 6-million-year-old Pliocene hominid fossils, have been discovered in Tanzania. Between 4 and 2 million years ago, the genus Australopithecus roamed Africa, and the earliest remnants of the species Homo are located near Lake Olduvai. Following the 1.8 million-year-old ascent of Homo erectus, humans expanded over the Old World, and subsequently in the New World and Australia under the species Homo sapiens. H. sapiens also conquered Africa and assimilated the previous human species.
Later in the Stone and Bronze Ages, prehistoric migrations into Tanzania included Southern Cushitic speakers who moved south from present-day Ethiopia; Eastern Cushitic people who moved north of Lake Turkana between 2,000 and 4,000 years ago; and the Southern Nilotes, including the Datoog, who originated between 2,900 and 2,400 years ago from the present-day South Sudan–Ethiopia border region. These travels occurred about the same time when the Mashariki Bantu from West Africa settled in the Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika basins. Between 2,300 and 1,700 years ago, they spread over the remainder of Tanzania.
German authority in mainland Tanzania started in the late nineteenth century, when Germany established German East Africa. After World War I, this was replaced by British control. Tanganyika administered the continent, but the Zanzibar Archipelago remained a distinct colonial administration. Following achieving independence in 1961 and 1963, respectively, the two countries joined in 1964 to establish the United Republic of Tanzania. Tanzania joined the British Commonwealth in 1961 and is today a member of the Commonwealth as a single country.
Tanzania's population was estimated by the United Nations to be 56.31 million people, making it the second-most populated nation wholly south of the Equator. The population is made up of around 120 ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. Tanzania is a presidential constitutional republic, and its formal capital city has been Dodoma since 1996, where the president's office, the National Assembly, and other government departments are situated. Dar es Salaam, the historic capital, still houses the majority of government offices and is the country's biggest metropolis, main port, and key commercial center. Tanzania is a one-party state in practice, with the democratic socialist Chama Cha Mapinduzi party ruling.
Tanzania is steep and thickly wooded in the north-east, which is home to Mount Kilimanjaro. Tanzania is home to three of Africa's Great Lakes. Lake Victoria, Africa's biggest lake, and Lake Tanganyika, the continent's deepest lake, are located to the north and west, respectively. Lake Malawi is located to the south. With the Zanzibar Archipelago immediately offshore, the eastern coast is hot and humid. The Menai Bay Conservation Area is the biggest marine protected area in Zanzibar. The Kalambo Falls, situated on the Kalambo River near the Zambian border, is Africa's second-highest continuous cascade.
Tanzania's biggest religion is Christianity, however there are significant Muslim and Animist minority. Tanzania has over 100 distinct languages, making it the most linguistically varied nation in East Africa. Although Swahili is the national language, there is no de jure official language in the country. Swahili is used in legislative discussion, lower courts, and as a basic school medium of teaching. Although the Tanzanian government intends to remove English as the major language of teaching, it will be accessible as an optional subject in secondary and higher education. Swahili is spoken as a primary language by around 10% of Tanzanians and as a second language by up to 90%.