Plants of Tanzania (VI)

Tanzania is located on the African east coast. The name arose as the contraction of two previously independently administrated territories: Tanganyika (the mainland) and Zanzibar (an archipelago in the Indian Ocean not far from the coast). In terms of nature, the Tanzanian landscape is dominated by the wide plain and its savannahs. These habitats sustain thousands of plant and animals species, among which many of the large mammals we associate with the African continent. A desert-like climate is present in the centre of the country; to the north and southwest tropical forests grow due to a more humid climate. The highest mountain in Africa rises in the north of the country at an altitude of 5895 m: Mount Kilimanjaro!

The area we nowadays know as Tanzania has been inhabited by people for thousands of years. From savannah-nomads, primitive humans developed into farmers and breeders who gave rise to the first human civilisations in the world. Much later, there were contacts via ships from Arabia and later yet with Europeans. At the time of colonisation, the mainland fell into German hands. After World War I, the power came to the United Kingdom, which already administered the Zanzibar archipelago before. In 1961, the mainland became independent and by merging with the islands in 1964, Tanzania as we know it was born. The two most important languages are English on the one hand, and Swahili on the other, which due to century-long usage as East Africa’s lingua franca shows numerous loans from other local languages, Arabic, Portuguese, German, and English.