Shortly after achieving independence from Britain in the early 1960s, Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form the nation of Tanzania in 1964. One-party rule came to an end in 1995 with the first democratic elections held in the country since the 1970s. Zanzibar's semi-autonomous status and popular opposition have led to two contentious elections since 1995, which the ruling party won despite international observers' claims of voting irregularities.
Population: 41,048,532
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 43% (male 8,853,529/female 8,805,810)
15-64 years: 54.1% (male 10,956,133/female 11,255,868)
65 years and over: 2.9% (male 513,959/female 663,233) (2009 est.)
Birth Rate: 34.29 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death Rate: 12.59 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
Infant mortality Rate:
total: 69.28 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 25
male: 76.24 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 62.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life Expectancy:
total population: 52.01 years
country comparison to the world: 206
male: 50.56 years
female: 53.51 years (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 6.2% (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.4 million (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 96,000 (2007 est.)
Ethnic Groups:
mainland - African 99% (of which 95% are Bantu consisting of more than 130 tribes), other 1% (consisting of Asian, European, and Arab); Zanzibar - Arab, African, mixed Arab and African
Religions: mainland - Christian 30%, Muslim 35%, indigenous beliefs 35%; Zanzibar - more than 99% Muslim
Languages: Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguja (name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (official, primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education), Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar), many local languages
note: Kiswahili (Swahili) is the mother tongue of the Bantu people living in Zanzibar and nearby coastal Tanzania; although Kiswahili is Bantu in structure and origin, its vocabulary draws on a variety of sources including Arabic and English; it has become the lingua franca of central and eastern Africa; the first language of most people is one of the local languages
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write Kiswahili (Swahili), English, or Arabic
total population: 69.4%
male: 77.5%
female: 62.2% (2002 census)
Government Type: republic
Capital: Dar es Salaam
Geographic coordinates: 6 48 S, 39 17 E
Time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
note: legislative offices have been transferred to Dodoma, which is planned as the new national capital; the National Assembly now meets there on a regular basis
Independence:
26 April 1964; Tanganyika became independent 9 December 1961 (from UK-administered UN trusteeship); Zanzibar became independent 19 December 1963 (from UK); Tanganyika united with Zanzibar 26 April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar; renamed United Republic of Tanzania 29 October 1964
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Currency: Tanzanian shillings (TZS)
Population below poverty line: 36% (2002 est.)
Transnational Issues:
Disputes - international:
Tanzania still hosts more than a half-million refugees, more than any other African country, mainly from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, despite the international community's efforts at repatriation; disputes with Malawi over the boundary in Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) and the meandering Songwe River remain dormant

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 352,640 (Burundi); 127,973 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (2007)

Illicit drugs:
targeted by traffickers moving hashish, Afghan heroin, and South American cocaine transported down the East African coastline, through airports, or overland through Central Africa; Zanzibar likely used by traffickers for drug smuggling; traffickers in the past have recruited Tanzanian couriers to move drugs through Iran into East Asia.

**Information retreived from CIA - The World Factbook: www.cia.gov