LOCATION, AREA, CLIMATE & POPULATION

Geographic coordinates:  Tanzania lies mostly between latitudes 1° and 12°S, and longitudes 29° and 41°E (The most Northerly point is Bukoba at 1°S and Mtalika at 12⁰ S is the most Southerly point. Kigoma at 29⁰ East of Greenwich is the most westerly point and Mtwara is the most easterly point along 41⁰ East of Greenwich).

Area: Tanzania has the surface area of 947,300 sq. km, out of which 885,800 sq. km is the land area and 61,500 sq. km areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways.

Land boundaries: Total length of land boundaries is 3,861 km, of which border with Burundi has the length of 451 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 459 km, Kenya 769 km, Malawi 475 km, Mozambique 756 km, Rwanda 217 km, Uganda 396 km and Zambia 338 km.

Coastline: 1,424 km.

Maritime claims: Exclusive economic zone not exceeding 200 nautical miles (nm) and territorial sea of up to 12 nm.

Climate: Varies from tropical climate along coast to temperate in highlands. As this country lies near the equator, the climate is hot and humid. Tanzania has two major rainfall regions. One is uni-modal (December–April) and the other is bi-modal (October–December and March–May). The former is experienced in southern, south-west, central and western parts of the country, and the latter is found to the north and northern coast. In the bi-modal regime the March–May rains are referred to as the long rains, whereas the October–December rains are generally known as short rains.

Terrain: Tanzania is mountainous in the northeast, where Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, is situated. Highlands in the southwest and to the north and west are the Great Lakes of, respectively, Lake Victoria (Africa's largest lake) and Lake Tanganyika (the continent's deepest lake); to the southwest lies Lake Nyasa. Central Tanzania comprises a large plateau, with plains and arable land.

Elevation extremes: The lowest point is Indian Ocean at 0 meter and highest point is Mount Kilimanjaro at 5,895 meter above sea level.

Natural resources: hydropower, gold, diamonds, coal, iron, uranium, nickel, chrome, tin, platinum, coltan, niobium, Tanzanite, the rare earths oxides and natural gas.

Land use: 10.8 percent of land area in Tanzania is arable, 39.5 percent under agricultural activities, 1.5 percent is under permanent crops and 38.9 percent forests and woodland.

Irrigated land: 1,840 sq km (2008)

Population: 44,484,857 (2011 Est.)