Young Life Tanzania

Tanzania is located in East Africa, below Kenya and above Mozambique and Malawi. The Indian Ocean laps the eastern shores, while the Serengeti spreads from the northern region to the border where the snowy cap of Mount Kilimanjaro stands as the tallest point on the continent. Lake Victoria dips down into the northwestern region connecting Tanzania to Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, while the Congo lies just over the smaller Lake Tanganyika. This peculiar name was the country name before it gained its independence from Britain in 1960. It was then that Tanganyika and Zanzibar joined to compose the nation we know today as Tanzania.

Tanzania is predominantly Christian at 61.4% with some following Muslim practices (35%) as well as other folk religions. 47% of the population is under the age of 18. It is one of the world’s poorest economies in terms of per capita income. Despite this, they have a very high growth rate because of their large tourism industry as well as their natural resources consisting of diamonds, gold and iron. With the largest population in East Africa and the lowest population density, most of its inhabitants are squeezed into two major capitals: Dodoma, the official capital, where the National Assembly meets, and Dar es Salaam (“house of peace” in Arabic), the largest city and commercial center in Tanzania.