Country · Africa
Tanzania
United Republic of Tanzania
Tanzania is a country in Eastern Africa. Its capital city is Dodoma. About 56.3 million people live there, in an area of 945 087 square kilometres.
Dodoma has been Tanzania's capital since 1996. Dar es Salaam on the coast stayed by far the largest city all the same.
Picture credit: Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Mangapwani (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Mangapwani (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Tanzania?
Tanzania lies in Eastern Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the southern half of the world, roughly 668 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 1 424 km long.
It shares a border with 8 countries: Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.
How big is Tanzania?
Tanzania covers 945 087 square kilometres.
That is about 9.2 times the size of Iceland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 30th largest.
Spread out evenly, that is roughly 59.6 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Tanzania?
About 56.3 million people live in Tanzania.
That is the 25th biggest population in the world.
People here speak English and Swahili.
They pay with the Tanzanian shilling (Sh).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 52 years.
The land of Tanzania
The land in Tanzania sits on average 1 018 metres above sea level — high enough that much of it counts as mountain country.
Its coast runs for about 1 424 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 71 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Tanzania different?
A dish the country is known for: Ugali, Chips Mayai (Zege) and Mtori.
Websites from here often end in .tz.
Tanzania and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 7 live in Tanzania.
It takes up about 0.71 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa it is the 13th largest of 54 countries, and the 6th most populated.
That is close to the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Tanzania and its neighbours
DR Congo, its largest neighbour, is about 2.5 times bigger.
DR Congo has more people: 84.1 million against 56.3 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 14 live wild in Tanzania: Lion, African elephant, Chimpanzee, Giraffe, Zebra and Hippopotamus and more. The highest mountain we cover here is Mount Kilimanjaro, at 5 895 metres. The longest river is the Nile, running 6 650 km from source to mouth.
Lion
African elephant
Chimpanzee
Giraffe
Zebra
Hippopotamus
Cheetah
Leopard
African buffalo
Greater flamingo
Ostrich
Great white pelican
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Tanzania?
The capital of Tanzania is Dodoma. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Tanzania?
About 56.3 million people live in Tanzania, which makes it the 25th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Tanzania?
Tanzania borders Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia — 8 neighbours in total.
How big is Tanzania?
Tanzania covers 945 087 square kilometres, making it the 30th largest country in the world. That is about 9.2 times the size of Iceland.
Which continent is Tanzania in?
Tanzania is in Africa, in the part called Eastern Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
Last checked: · How these pages are made