Tanzania

From Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, to hot, arid plains and to islands in the Indian Ocean, modern Tanzania has a varied topography. Diamonds, phosphates, silver and gold mining are important sources of income for the country since only five percent of the land can be farmed. Cotton, coffee, tea and spices are the main agricultural products while the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba produce most of the world's cloves and clove oil. All of these natural resources leave Tanzania one of the poorest countries in the world. Its infant mortality rate is ten times that of Hungary, and that average life expectancy is quite low.

Arabs began settling the area in the eighth century A.D., followed by Portuguese explorations along the coast in the 1500s. In 1885, Germany began governing the area, known as Tanganyika, and ran it until it became a League of Nations Mandate. In 1961, the country gained independence and became part of the British Commonwealth a year later. The islands of Zanzibar and Pemba were added to the country in 1964 following the violent overthrow of' the Sultan. Fourty-five percent of Tanzanians are Christian, 35 percent are Muslim and the remainder follows traditional African religions.