Population and Demographics

Population distribution in Tanzania is extremely uneven. Density varies from 1 person per square kilometre in arid regions to 51 per square kilometre in the mainland's well-watered highlands to 134 per square kilometre on Zanzibar. More than 80% of the population is rural. Dar es Salaam is the largest city and is the commercial capital; Dodoma, located in the centre of Tanzania is the new capital and houses the Union's Parliament. Zanzibar Town houses the Zanzibar Parliament.

The African population consists of more than 120 ethnic groups, of which the Sukuma, Haya, Nyakyusa, Nyamwezi, and Chagga have more than 1 million members. Other groups include the Pare, Sambaa or Shambala and Ngoni. The majority of Tanzanians, including such large ethnic groups as the Sukuma and the Nyamwezi, have Bantu origins. Groups of Nilotic or related origin include the nomadic Masai and the Luo, both of which are found in greater numbers in neighbouring Kenya. Two small groups speak languages of the Khoisan family peculiar to the people of the Kalahari in southern Africa. Cushitic-speaking peoples, originally from the Ethiopian highlands, reside in a few areas of Tanzania. Other Bantu groups were refugees from Mozambique.

Although much of Zanzibar's African population came from the mainland, one group known as Shirazis claims its origins to be the supposed island's early Persian settlers. Non-Africans residing on the mainland and Zanzibar account for 1% of the total population. The Asian community, including Hindus, Sikhs, Shi'a and Sunni Muslims, Parsis and Goans, has declined by 50% in the past decade to 50,000 on the mainland and 4,000 on Zanzibar. An estimated 70,000 Arabs and 10,000 Europeans still reside in Tanzania.

Tanzania is a religiously divided society. On the mainland, Muslims account for 35% of the population, an estimated 30% of the population is Christian, and 35% adheres to traditional faiths. On Zanzibar, by contrast, the population is 99% Muslim.

Facts and Figures

• Population: 37,445,392
• Age Structure:
  • 0-14 years: 43.7% (male 8,204,593/female 8,176,489)
  • 15-64 years: 53.6% (male 9,906,446/female 10,178,066)
  • 65 years and over: 2.6% (male 422,674/female 557,124)
• Median Age:
  • Total: 17.7 years
  • Male: 17.5 years
  • Female: 18 years
• Population growth rate: 1.83%
• Birth Rate: 37.71 births/1,000 population
• Death Rate: 16.39 deaths/1,000 population
• Net Migration Rate: -3.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population
• Sex Ratio:
  • At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
  • Under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
• Total population: 0.98 male(s)/female
• Infant Mortality Rate:
  • Total: 96.48 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Male: 105.64 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Female: 87.05 deaths/1,000 live births
• Life Expectancy at Birth:
  • Total population: 45.64 years
  • Male: 44.93 years
  • Female: 46.37 years
• Total Fertility Rate: 4.97 children born/woman
• HIV/AIDS:
  • Adult prevalence rate: 8.8%
  • People living with HIV/AIDS: 1.6 million
• Ethnic Groups:
  • Mainland:
    • African 99% (of which 95% are Bantu consisting of more than 130 tribes)
    • Other 1% (consisting of Asian, European, and Arab)
  • Zanzibar:
    • Arab
    • African
    • Mixed Arab and African
• Religions:
  • Mainland:
    • Muslim 35%
    • Indigenous beliefs 35%
    • Christian 30%
  • Zanzibar:
    • More than 99% Muslim
• Languages:
  • Kiswahili or Swahili (official)
  • Kiunguja (name for Swahili in Zanzibar)
  • English (official, primary language of commerce, administration and higher education)
  • Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar)
  • Many local languages
• Literacy:
  • Total population: 78.2%
  • Male: 85.9%
  • Female: 70.7%