Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
People & Daily Life
TANZANIA'S PEOPLE
Tanzania is home to about 120 tribal groups, plus relatively small but economically signi-
ficant numbers of Asians and Arabs, and a small European community. Most tribes are very
small; almost 100 of them combined account for only one-third of the total population. As
a result, none has succeeded in dominating politically or culturally, although groups such
as the Chagga and the Haya, who have a long tradition of education, are disproportionately
well represented in government and business circles.
Tanzania's literary scene is dominated by renowned poet and writer,
Shaaban Robert (1909-62). Robert, who is considered the country's na-
tional poet, was almost single-handedly responsible for the development
of a modern Swahili prose style. An English-language introduction to his
work:
The Poetry of Shaaban Robert,
translated by Clement Ndulute.
About 95% of Tanzanians are of Bantu origin. These include the Sukuma (who live
around Mwanza and southern Lake Victoria, and constitute about 13% of the overall pop-
ulation), the Nyamwezi (around Tabora), the Makonde (Southeastern Tanzania), the Haya
(around Bukoba) and the Chagga (around Mt Kilimanjaro). The Maasai and several smaller
groups including the Arusha and the Samburu (all in northern Tanzania) are of Nilo-Hamitic
or Nilotic origin. The Iraqw, around Karatu and northwest of Lake Manyara, are Cushitic,
as are the northern-central tribes of Gorowa and Burungi. The Sandawe and, more distantly,
the seminomadic Hadzabe (around Lake Eyasi), belong to the Khoisan ethnolinguistic fam-
ily.
Tribal structures, however, range from weak to nonexistent - a legacy of Nyerere's abol-
ishment of local chieftaincies following independence.
About 3% of Tanzania's population live on the Zanzibar Archipelago, with about one-
third of these on Pemba. Most African Zanzibaris belong to one of three groups: the Hadimu,
the Tumbatu and the Pemba. Members of the non-African Zanzibari population are primar-
ily Shirazi and consider themselves descendants of immigrants from Shiraz in Persia (Iran).
The National Psyche
Partly as a result of the large number of smaller tribes in Tanzania, and partly as a result
of the
ujamaa
(familyhood) ideals of Julius Nyerere, which still permeate society, tribal
rivalries are almost nonexistent. Religious frictions are also minimal, with Christians and
Muslims living side by side in a relatively easy coexistence. Although political differences
flare, especially on the Zanzibar Archipelago, they rarely come to the forefront in interper-
sonal dealings.
