50 Interesting Facts About Tanzania

Last updated on April 18th, 2022

33. The minerals industry remains the core sector through which the government pays its bills. Gold is a major mineral and Tanzania is the third largest African producer of the mineral, after South Africa and Ghana.

34. Tanzania receives close to 5000 million dollars of aid from the world, most of it being paid by the UK and the US.

35. Ruaha National Park, the largest national park in Tanzania, is home to its largest elephant population.

36. Tanzania has seven (7) properties inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Mount Kilimanjaro Facts (has three volcanic cones, “Kibo”, “Mawenzi”, and “Shira”)

37. Mount Kilimanjaro is Tanzania’s poster boy. The iconic mountain is the highest peak in Africa and a place of amazing beauty.

38. Mount Kilimanjaro is a world in itself, with a staggering five different types of climatic zones, from hot tropical forests to arid snowcapped peaks. In comparison, the whole of the US has a total of 7 climatic zones.

39. Mount Kilimanjaro is a lone wolf and likes to stand alone. Geographically speaking, it is a free-standing mountain, meaning it’s not a part of any mountain range. In fact, it’s the tallest free-standing mountain in the world.

40. A German geologist named Hans Meyer was the first person to climb the Mount Kilimanjaro in October 1889.

41. Bernard Goosen from South Africa was the first person to scale to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro on a wheelchair. 

42. Kyle Maynard, who has no legs and no arms, became an inspiration for millions when in 2012 he crawled up to the highest peak of Mount Kilimanjaro without any prosthetics or help.

43. According to the Guinness World Records, the highest delivery point of the humble pizza is in Mount Kilimanjaro. The pepperoni pizza was delivered at 5897 m (19,341 ft.) after traveling 745 km over 4 days.

Facts about poverty in Tanzania

44. Tanzania may have untold geographical riches but remains submerged in poverty. Despite being surrounded by three of the largest lakes of the world, water scarcity has turned into a nightmare for rural areas. As of 2009, nearly one-third of the country had no access to clean drinking water.

45. Farms and cattle depend solely on rain and years of drought years bring mass starvation and famine. The 2010 Global Hunger Index ranks the food situation as “deeply alarming”.

46. Nearly 40% of the whole population lives in extreme poverty, and nearly 60% lives below the World Bank designated poverty line of $1.25 a day.

47. One of the key reasons for poverty is the low pace of urbanization. More than 80% of the population lives in rural areas, which lack basic civic amenities like electricity, sanitation facilities, and education.

Some strange facts about Tanzania

48. There are strange piles of magnetized volcanic ash, that travels across the desert at a pace of approximately 17 meters a year. The dunes are located near Olduvai Gorge within Ngorongoro Conservation Area, along the road to Serengeti National Park.

49. Zanzibar, Tanzania is home to the place where the shortest war in the history was fought. The war was fought between the British forces and Khalid bin Barghash. The war lasted between 38 and 45 minutes and the British succeeded.

50. Tracks of footprints formed some 3.6 million years ago were found in Tanzania. The footprints vary in size and suggest that they were formed by a group consisting of a male and two females.

Tanzania – country at a glance