Tanzania: background information
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Some 80% of the population depend on subsistence level farming. |
Credit: WaterAid / Alex Macro |
Over 30 million people populate this East African state, four times the size of the UK.
Geographically, its diverse countryside and coastlines are unequivocally beautiful. The Ngorogoro Crater and Mount Kilimanjaro feature particularly, and there is a unique abundance and diversity of wildlife, especially within the Serengeti National Park.
The climate ranges from tropical near the coast to temperate in the highlands, whilst the land consists of coastal plains, a central plateau and highlands in the north and south.
Some 80% of the population depend on subsistence level farming, and Tanzania remains one of the poorest countries of the world (156 of 174 in the UN's Human Development Index), with huge external debt.