Product Description

This is a general study of Tanzania, the land and its people and history, and a look at contemporary life in the largest country in East Africa and one of the largest on the continent. It is also a general survery of the country's natural resources, crops and minerals, and economic potential. The book also includes some details on the East African Community and the proposed East Africa federation of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania which is supposed to be formed in 2013. Includes maps and photos.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #417799 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 172 pages

From the Publisher
This is a comprehensive survey of Tanzania, the largest country in East Africa.

It is also one of the largest in Africa. In fact, in terms of area, it is bigger than Nigeria, Africa's most populous country of about 130 million people today. By remarkable contrast, Tanzania has a population of about 40 million. Yet it is the most populous among the East African countries which form the East African Community. Others are Kenya and Uganda.

The book covers all the regions of Tanzania, including the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, and Mafia and their ethnic groups. The country also has numerous, smaller islands in the Indian Ocean and in its lakes.

Tanzania is one of the few African countries with more than 120 ethnic groups. It has about 130. Others are Nigeria with more than 250, the Democratic Republic of Congo with about 200, and Cameroon with about 150.

In addition to geography and history, the author also looks at life in Tanzania and the kind of resources the country has: an abundance of minerals and arable land and hydroelectric potential. It is one of the three largest producers of gold in Africa after South Africa and Ghana and more minerals have been discovered in recent years. It also has some of the most fertile land on the continent.

Included are appendices on the East African Community (EAC) and on prospects for an East African federation. The book also includes maps and photos.

Customer Reviews

Not bad
I give the book 4 stars because it is very inexpensive and probably adequate for most travelers. The book is also written by a native Tanzanian, which is nice. They edited and published it cheap though. You'll notice different fonts on different pages and some poor grammar and spelling in a few spots. Those are just aesthetic problems though.

The content of the book provides an adequate overview of Tanzania. It is a good way of learning some basics about the country if you are traveling there. Don't expect a ton of depth though. It is a short book, so many things are covered somewhat superficially. I was traveling to Tanzania to do counseling and wanted a book to help me understand the culture. It was not sufficient for my purposes, but is probably more than adequate for the average traveler. I definitely learned some things. I paired this book with a language course, the Lonely Traveler phrase book, and another book about AIDS in Northern Tanzania. Together, they told me enough about the culture and customs to get by without violating any major taboos.

Needs an editor and better layout
I cannot be quite as charitable as the previous reviewer. The author clearly knows his subject and provides a great deal of history, ethnography, and geography. I have been unable to find anything else written specifically about Tanzania that covers this ground. In that sense, it is valuable.

Reading it, however, is a tough slog. To cite four examples:
-There are numerous run on sentences, and the object of pronouns sometimes changes without warning, making the meaning unclear.
-A lengthy discussion of Tutsi and Maasai peoples shifts the focus without making the transition clear, then shifts back again.
-One long paragraph is repeated nearly verbatim on the same page, except for a change in a relevant fact.
-A long quotation from an Internet discussion group is so poorly formatted that much of the text extends beyond the printed page.

All this from the first half. This would be merely unfortunate if it were the first printing of what is clearly a niche book, but the title page says this is the third edition. The author could broaden his audience if he would hire an editor to fix these problems in a later edition. He has much to share with us.