History and Government
History: The present country came into being with the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964. There are over 120 tribes on the mainland, most of which migrated from other parts of Africa. The first European arrival was the Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, who visited the coast in the late-15th century, after which most of the littoral region came under Portuguese control. The Portuguese also controlled Zanzibar until 1699, when they were ousted from the island by Omani Arabs. In the late-19th century, along with Rwanda and Burundi, Tanganyika was absorbed into the colony of German East Africa, as a consequence of a deal between the British and Germans – one process in the European colonial carve-up of Africa.
Other than an anti-colonial rebellion in 1905 – known as the Maji Maji revolt, which was suppressed by German troops – Tanganyika was a fairly quiet part of the German empire, until the end of World War I. Then, following the German defeat, it was administered by the British under successive League of Nations and United Nations mandates. Tanganyika became independent within the Commonwealth in 1961, after a period of self-government during which the principal nationalist party, the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), emerged as the dominant political force. Its charismatic leader, Julius Nyerere, held the post of President from independence to 1985; he occupied the position of Chairman until 1990. In 1964, Tanganyika joined with Zanzibar and became Tanzania. Prior to that, Zanzibar had been a British protectorate (established in 1890) and an independent sultanate IN 1963.
