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East Africa

Tanzania

Tanzania is a eastern African country of roughly 71.3M people, covering 947,303 km² with its capital at Dodoma. Its economy is worth about $79B in nominal terms, anchored by tourism, gold, agriculture.

Population
71.3M
Projected population, 2026
Source: UN World Population Prospects
Capital
Dodoma
GDP
$79B
Area
947,303 km²
Currency
Tanzanian shilling

Map

Interactive map of TanzaniaEast AfricaMap placeholder

Overview

Tanzania is a eastern African country of roughly 71.3M people, covering 947,303 km² with its capital at Dodoma. Its economy is worth about $79B in nominal terms, anchored by tourism, gold, agriculture.

Government

Tanzania operates as a presidential republic. Independence: 1961. Executive, legislative and judicial functions are exercised from Dodoma.

Economy

Nominal GDP is approximately $79B, or around $1,108 per capita. The currency in circulation is the Tanzanian shilling. Leading sectors are tourism, gold, agriculture.

Population

Tanzania has a projected population, 2026 of 71,270,317 people (United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects 2024 Revision, Online Edition — medium variant), a density of roughly 75 people per km². Values from 2024 onwards are medium-variant projections rather than live counts.

Cities

The largest urban centres are Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Dodoma. Dodoma serves as the seat of government.

History

Modern Tanzania took shape through pre-colonial states, the colonial partition of the late nineteenth century, and independence in 1961. Our History section covers each period in depth.

Languages

Widely used languages include Swahili, English. Official-language policy shapes schooling, courts and broadcasting.

Culture

Music, cuisine, film, textiles and sport in Tanzania form part of a fast-growing creative economy with an expanding export footprint.

Education

Primary enrolment is near-universal in most of the region; the constraints sit at secondary completion, technical training and higher-education funding.

Healthcare

Health spending across Africa averages about 5.7% of GDP. Tanzania's system combines public facilities, private providers and donor-funded programmes.

Business

Company registration, tax administration and access to finance are the practical determinants of doing business in Tanzania. See our Business section for sector reporting.

Investment

Investors typically look at tourism, infrastructure and consumer services. Regulatory clarity and FX access are the recurring diligence questions.

Tourism

Visitors come for landscape, heritage and city life. Entry requirements, seasonality and internal transport are covered in our Travel guides.

Transportation

Road remains dominant; rail, ports and aviation capacity vary sharply and are the focus of most current infrastructure investment.

Infrastructure

Electricity access, broadband coverage and logistics quality are the three infrastructure metrics most closely tied to Tanzania's growth outlook.

Statistics

Full time series for population, GDP, trade, inflation, internet usage, education, health, tourism, agriculture and climate are published in The360Africa Data Center.

Frequently asked questions

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