The coastal area first felt the impact of foreign influence as early as the 8th century, when Arab traders arrived. By the 12th century, traders and immigrants came from as far away as Persia (now Iran) and India. They built a series of highly developed city and trading states along the coast, the principal one being Kibaha, a settlement of Persian origin that held ascendancy until the Portuguese destroyed it in the early 1500s. The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama explored the East African coast in 1498 on his voyage to India. By 1506, the Portuguese claimed control over the entire coast. This control was nominal, however, because the Portuguese did not colonize the area or explore the interior. Assisted by Omani Arabs, the indigenous coastal dwellers succeeded in driving the Portuguese from the area north of the Ruvuma River by the early 18th century. Claiming the coastal strip, Omani Sultan Seyyid Said (l804–56) moved his capital to Zanzibar in 1841. European exploration of the interior began in the mid-19th century. Two German missionaries reached Mt. Kilimanjaro in the 1840s. British explorers Richard Burton and John Speke crossed the interior to Lake Tanganyika in 1857. David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary-explorer who crusaded against the slave trade, established his last mission at Ujiji, where he was “found” by Henry Morton Stanley, an American journalist-explorer, who had been commissioned by the New York Herald to locate him. German colonial interests were first advanced in 1884. In 1886 and 1890, Anglo-German agreements were negotiated that delineated the British and German spheres of influence in the interior of East Africa and along the coastal strip previously claimed by the Omani sultan of Zanzibar. In 1891, the German Government took over direct administration of the territory from the German East Africa Company and appointed a governor with headquarters at Dar es Salaam. German colonial domination of the area ended after World War I when control of most of the territory passed to the United Kingdom under a League of Nations mandate. After World War II, The country became a UN trust territory under British control. Subsequent years witnessed Tanganyika moving gradually toward self-government and independence. In 1954, Julius K. Nyerere, a school teacher who was then one of only two Tanganyikans educated abroad at the university level, organized a political party—the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU). TANU-supported candidates were victorious in the Legislative Council elections of September 1958 and February 1959. In December 1959, the United Kingdom agreed to the establishment of internal self-government following general elections to be held in August 1960. Nyerere was named chief minister of the subsequent government.⁵⁰ Tanzania gained independence in 1961. Since that time it has been ruled by the Tanganyikan African National Union (TANU) and its subsequent incarnation Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). In the 1960s, Tanzania adopted a single-party political system that generated much academic interest and was touted as a possible model for other parts of the developing world. Through elections, individuals participated in a national event; listened to campaigns in the national language, engaged with the symbols of nationalism and gained an impression that their votes made a difference. As a result, Tanzania was remarkably politically stable. Tanzania, which began liberalising its polity in the 1990s, is currently regarded by donors as a promising case of political reform.⁵¹ One-party rule came to an end in 1995 with the first democratic elections held in the country since the 1970s. Zanzibar's semi-autonomous status and popular opposition have led to two elections since 1995, which the ruling party have won.

Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. The economy depends heavily on agriculture, which accounts for about half of GDP, provides 85% of exports, and employs 80% of the work force. Topography and climatic conditions, however, limit cultivated crops to only 4% of the land area. Industry traditionally featured the processing of agricultural products and light consumer goods. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and bilateral donors have provided funds to rehabilitate Tanzania's economic infrastructure and to alleviate poverty. Growth in 1991-2002 featured a pickup in industrial production and a substantial increase in output of minerals, led by gold. Oil and gas exploration and development played an important role in this growth. Recent banking reforms have helped increase private sector growth and investment. Continued donor assistance and solid macroeconomic policies supported real GDP growth of more than 5.2% in 2004.⁵²

GDP per capita is Intl $599. This falls within the range of $8,272 ( Libya) and $346 ( Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the countries of Africa (Table 11).

Table 11 GDP per capita (Intl $): countries of Africa, 2001