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Zanzibar Island Facts |
Zanzibar Island Overview |
Zanzibar Island Tourist Attractions Zanzibar Island Location Map | Zanzibar Island City Map |
Geography: the Zanzibar Island are two small broken away fragments of land form the Tanzanian mainland. Lined with beaches all around, the island is actually an archipelago. The islands are biologically diverse and also are surrounded by an extended coral reef. Most of the cultivation of the island is dedicated to growing coconuts and spices. The island has a tropical climate with no drastic weather swings.
History: the first residents to the Zanzibar Island arrived some 2000 years ago and were migrants from the Tanzanian mainland. The tiny island attained renown for being an ideal stop over for major trade routes. By the 12th and 15th centuries, trade was at an all time high with Arabia and Persia. The chief commodities traded were gold, ivory and wood. It also became the transit point and exporter of one of the worst trafficking in human history: slavery. The first Europeans to arrive at the island were the Portuguese who arrived in the beginning of the 16th century. Later the Omani Arabs took over control from the Portuguese. In the mean time, the island kept a constant slave supply to plantations worldwide. After the island broke away from the Omani Sultanate, it fell into the hands of the British and the Germans who carved up the territory of the island as per their requirements. Slave trade was forst banned in 1890 with the British taking the first step. Henceforth, they assumed a protectorate over Zanzibar Island. Zanzibar Island finally attained freedom in 1963 and was made a part of Tanzania.
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Economy: the island has a small but significant and stable economy. While most of the revenues are derived from the thriving tourism industry and its subsidiary industry like tour operations and hotels, fishing, canned fishes and the export of spices are substantial departments too.
Administration and Government: the Zanzibar Island is a composite of the two islands of Unguja and Pemba. The island’s capital is Zanzibar is Zanzibar City located in the Unguja Island. It is a part of the African nation of Tanzania. Even then, it has a President who is elected specially to take care of the internal affairs of the island. The Zanzibar Island also has its very own House of Representatives. This House of Representatives is comprised of 50 members appointed by the common electorate; they serve a term of 5 years in office.
The Zanzibar Island is fractioned into 3 parts to further the quality of administration. They are Zanzibar Central/South, Zanzibar North and Zanzibar Urban/West. The current President of the island is Amani Abeid Karume.
- Travel to Zanzibar Island – there are more airlines with flight services to the Zanzibar Island than you can ever imagine. Some of the airlines catering to the island are Air Tanzania, ZanAir, Oman Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways and Coastal Aviation. Aside of the air route, there are ferries plying daily that connect Dar es Salaam with Zanzibar and Pemba.
- Travel in Zanzibar Island – commuting within the Zanzibar Island is an easy affair. Also, there are plenty of easily accessible and convenient modes of travel. There are minibuses called ‘Dalla-dallas’ that keep the island’s important and prime destinations connected. The other modes of commuting are car, moped rentals, chauffeured cars, motorcycle rental and bicycle.
Society and Cultural Life: the island of Zanzibar is a predominantly African Muslim island with a long history of slavery. There are other ethnic races like Indians, Arabs and British, so Hinduism and Christianity are practiced on the island to small extent. The island’s customs and practices spring from the dominant faith. So, dressing conservatively will help you.
Educational Institutions: though primary and secondary education was relatively popular with sufficient means within the country, the scenario of higher education was non existent. Those interested had to leave the island to pursue their dreams. However, over the years, the government has taken significant steps and made necessary provisions for meritorious and enthusiastic students, so that they can further their dreams right within the islands itself. Some of the prominent names of the institutions for higher education are:
- Zanzibar University
- State University of Zanzibar
- Chukwani College of Education
- Zanzibar College of Education
- Karume Technical College
- Institute of Kiswahili and Foreign Languages (ISFL)
- The Nkrummah Teacher Training College (NTTC)
- College of Health Sciences
- College of Agriculture
- College of Hotel and Tourism Management
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