History

It is imposible to tell of Tanzania's history without starting at the Olduvai Gorge or "The Cradle of Mankind". This gorge in the rift valley just west of Ngorogngoro Crater is the site of the most important prehistoric finds that has been the basis for much modern day understanding of how mankind lived. The walls of the gorge reveal volcanic ashes and stones inside which are artifacts of a prehistoric age estimated to be 2 million years old, and fossil remains of human ancestors found there date back 2.5 million years. Evidence also suggests that around 1.8 million years ago, the human ancestors hunted and ate mamouth.

In more recent history Tanzania was inhabited by local tribes, similar to the San of Southern Africa, but migration from the north all but wiped out the locals. Then the Bantu Africans migrated from West Africa and are now a dominant force over much of Africa. The Arab and Indian traders settled on the coastal areas and integrated into the communities. The differences between the coastal people and those in the interior is marked.

In the 16th century the Europeans started to arrive, the Portuguese to start with followed by the English and the Germans. In the late 1800's the Germans became the official colonisers are much of Africa was carved up. Queen Victoria bowed to a request from her German cousins and gave the land around Mt Kilimanjaro to the Germans so each could have a mountain. The islands of Zanzibar and Pemba maintained their own rule. After the end of WW1, the Germans handed over Tanganyika to the British who controlled the land as a protectorate.
In 1961 Tanganyika gained independence and was soon joined by the newly independent Zanzibar and Pemba, to form the Republic of Tanzania, under the leadership of Julius Nyerere.