Tanzania Basics

Before I signed up to live & work as a volunteer in the middle of Africa for 3 months I DID do a little research.  Sorry no fun photos yet. Just the facts m’am.

• Population: 38.4 million (UN, 2005)
• Capital: Dodoma
• Area: 945,087 sq km (364,900 sq miles)
• Comparative Area: Slightly larger than twice the size of California
• Major languages: English, Swahili (official) and numerous local languages
• Religions: 45% Christian, 40% Muslim, 15% indigenous beliefs 
• Life expectancy: 46 years (men), 46 years (women) (UN)
• Exchange Rate: 1 US Dollar = 1,320.10 Tanzanian Shilling 1 Tanzanian Shilling (TZS) = 0.0007575 US Dollar (USD)
• Main exports: Sisal, cloves, coffee, cotton, cashew nuts, minerals, tobacco
• GNI per capita: US $340 (World Bank, 2006)
• Internet domain: .tz
• International dialling code: +255
• Time difference: +3 GMT, 12:00pm noon New York = 7:00pm Dar Es Salaam  

Geography

Tanzania is a land of plains, lakes and mountains with a narrow, low-lying coastal. The bulk of the country is a highland plateau, some of it semi-desert and the rest savannah and scattered bush. The highest mountains – Meru (4556m/14943ft) and Kilimanjaro (Africa’s highest at 5896m/19335ft) – are in the northeast along the border with Kenya.

Climate

Summer: December – March
Winter: March – May
Located at an altitude of 5,000 to 7,600 feet, northern Tanzania’s dry sunny climate is nothing like the steamy African jungle of Tarzan movies. The weather is spring-like year round, with daytime temperatures in the 70s and 80s, evenings in the 60s. From June until August, temperatures are slightly cooler, ranging from the 50s to the mid-70s. The coastal and lowland areas tend to be more tropical in temperature.

Africa

Facts & Basics 

The world’s second largest and second most populous continent, has an amazing array of climates, cultures, and natural resources not to mention the wildlife and world leaders. Here are just a few of the basics about Africa.

• Population: 860 Million
• Regions: North, West, East, Central and Southern
• Countries: 54
• Highest Point: Mount Kilimanjaro at 19,563 feet
• Largest City: Cairo, Egypt, 9.2 million
• Languages: Approximately 1,800
• Religion: Christianity, Islam, numerous Indigenous Religions
• Wildlife (most popular): Mountain Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Elephant, Lion, Cheetah, Giraffe, Zebra, Hippopatomus, Warthog, Hyena 
• Mineral Resources: Gold, Diamonds, Uranium, Nickel, and Cobalt to name a few
• Popular Tourist Sites: Serengetti Safari, Cape Town, Pyramids in Egypt, Beaches of Seychelles
• Famous People: Nelson Mandella, Desmond Tutu, Kofi Anan, Charlize Theron
• Famous Films: Casablanca, Out of Africa, Constant Gardener

  

Map of Africa

Poverty in Africa

As rich in culture and resources, Africa remains underdeveloped. Most African nations suffer from military dictatorships, corruption, civil unrest and war, underdevelopment and deep poverty. The majority of the countries classified by the UN as least developed are in Africa. Numerous development strategies have failed to yield the expected results. Although some believe that the continent is doomed to perpetual poverty and economic slavery, Africa has immense potential.

Sustainable Development in Africa

In September 2000, the heads of state gathered at UN Headquarters and created The United Nations Millenium Declaration which set out to achieve 8 global goals to address poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion-while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability. The Millennium Project was commissioned by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2002 to develop a concrete action plan for the world’s billions of people in need.

Since then many well-known figures have joined in the fight for Africa. Angelina Jolie has helped as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. Oprah is opening The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. Bill & Melinda Gates are helping with a number of initiatives through the Gates Foundation. And Bono is on a ONE Campain crusade along with some of his other influential pals (George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandan) to “make poverty history”.

How you can help right now!

Trip to South Africa

South Africa Safari

In the winter of 2006 New York City was hit with a slew of snowstorms – which made it easy to schedule a luxury vacation to South Africa. The first couple of days were spent on safari at Gomo Gomo Game Lodge in Kruger National Park. Below are a couple of smiling lions. To view more images of animals in the wild click here.

Ten Years of Freedom

On April 27, 1994 the South African population voted for the first free general election making Nelson Mandela its official President. The date is now a celebrated as a national holiday, Freedom Day, a day that acknowledges the end of apartheid (the system in which South Africans were legally classified into a racial group and were geographically, and forcibly, separated from each other).

More than 10 years later many of the inequalities still exist between social classes and color lines. A United Nations Development Program study reports that in 2002 approximately 60% of the population earned less than R42,000 per year (about US$7,000), whereas 2.2% of the population had an income exceeding R360,000 per year (about US$50,000). Blacks made up over 90% of those living in poverty.

Here is picture of from my trip in 2006 to Stellenbosch, a college town outside of Capetown.

On the other side of the train tracks (a five minute walk) is a township, the term used to refer to the (often underdeveloped) urban residential areas that, under apartheid, were reserved for non-whites who lived near or worked in areas that were designated “white-only” and still exist today.

Black Economic Empowerment Legislation

Similar to America’s Affirmative Action legislation, South Africa established the controversial Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) legislation in 1993 to create a “majority rule” policy in both public and private sectors by setting quotas which has come under harsh critisism from both whites and blacks. At a lecture in Johannesburg in 2002, Archbishop Desmond Tutu attacked the policy claiming that attempts to boost black economic ownership were only benefiting an elite minority.

In response to the BEE, the government launched the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment legislation in 2004 which it hopes will distribute wealth across as broad a spectrum of South African society as possible. At the time of this posting there was no definitive information available to show the effects of the revised policy.