Tanzania: Facts & Stats

CULTURE

Traditions:

Tanzanian's Social fabric charm is the prime attraction for cultural and eco-tourism. The folklore, the traditional "ngomas" and the dancing styles vary from one tribe to another. When dancing, the Makonde vibrate their bottoms in "Sindimba" frenzy and the "Zaramo" bounce the undulating "Mdundiko" procession. The Maasai in their leaping dance going simultaneously with rhythmic chant of their deep voices which can scare even the lion.

The use of live snakes by the "Sukuma" such as embracing huge pythons and struggling with during the "Bugobogobo" dance turn such occasions into unforgettable scenes to a visitor. Each of the 120 tribes has its ngoma and dancing all of which styles are quite fascinating and sometimes sexy.

Various dressing styles are also rare attractions to a visitor. The Masai men put a light toga-like drape inadequately covering their lithe bodies while carrying traditional weapons such as spears, clubs and large knives. The Maasai women, on the other way, heavily load their necks, arms, legs and ears with jewelry ranging from beads to metal ornaments. Usual men smear their bodies with ochre mixed with animal fat and plait their hairs.

Celebrations:

‘Mwaka Kogwa’ is a traditional Shirazi (Persian) New Year’s celebration that takes place in Zanzibar. To bring good luck in the new year, a play fight takes place and all the men participating beat each other to vent their aggressions from the past year. As they do this, the village women dress up in their best clothes and sing traditional songs about family, love and joy. Then the mganga (traditional healer) lights a hut on fire and reads which way the smoke is burning to determine the village’s prosperity in the new year. As with all celebrations, there is a large feast at the end, which is a sign of happiness and prosperity.

With Muslims making up 35% of the population in Tanzania (mostly along the Swahili Coast and Zanzibar), Muslim holidays and celebrations are especially important. In all of Islam, Eid al-Fitr has to be the most important holiday/event. It signifies the end of the holy month of Ramadan, a month of fasting from sunrise to sunset.

After Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr marks four days of feasting and festivities, with family members and friends coming together to exchange gifts and alms for the poor. Festivities are usually accompanied by traditional Swahili taraab music and lots of dancing.

All Muslim communities throughout Tanzania also celebrate Eid al-Haj, the three-day annual festival of the haj (pilgrimage) to Mecca. This festival honors the prophet Ibrahim and focuses on the themes of sacrifice and faith. Each family sacrifices a goat or sheep, with one third given to the poor, another third to family and friends, and the final third kept by the family for a lavish meal. Gifts are exchanged and sermons and prayers abound. Any family member who has made the trek to Mecca is warmly welcomed home.

Alcohol:

National drinks:

• A good lager, Safari, is produced locally.
• Konyagi is a popular gin.
• A chocolate and coconut liqueur called Afrikoko.
• A wine called Dodoma, which comes in red or rosé.

Legal drinking age in Tanzania is 18.

Sports and Hobbies:

Filbert Bayi and Suleiman Nyambui have won medals at the Olympic Games, both in the 1980 Summer Olympics. Tanzania competes in the Commonwealth Games as well as in the African Championships in Athletics.

Football is widely played all over the country with fans divided between two major clubs, Young African Sports Club (Yanga) and Simba sports club (Simba).

Basketball is also played but mainly in the army and schools. Tanzania is proud of having one NBA player (Hasheem Thabeet) who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies. He is the first Tanzanian to play in the NBA.

Rugby union in Tanzania is a minor but growing sport.

moving to Tanzaniamoving to another countrylocal movelong distance movemoving a car
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1 2012 2013
Zipcode Finder
-- select state -- AlabamaAlaska ArizonaArkansas CaliforniaColorado ConnecticutDelaware District of ColumbiaFlorida GeorgiaHawaii IdahoIllinois IndianaIowa KansasKentucky LouisianaMaine MarylandMassachusetts MichiganMinnesota MississippiMissouri MontanaNebraska NevadaNew Hampshire New JerseyNew Mexico New YorkNorth Carolina North DakotaOhio OklahomaOregon PennsylvaniaRhode Island South CarolinaSouth Dakota TennesseeTexas UtahVermont VirginiaWashington West VirginiaWisconsin Wyoming TANZANIA AFGHANISTAN ALBANIA ALGERIA AMERICAN SAMOA ANDORRA ANGOLA ANGUILLA ANTIGUA AND BARB. ARGENTINA ARMENIA ARUBA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA AZERBAIJAN BAHAMAS BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BARBADOS BELARUS BELGIUM BELIZE BENIN BERMUDA BHUTAN BOLIVIA BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA BOTSWANA BOUVET ISLAND BRAZIL BRITISH IN. OCEAN TER. BRITISH VIRGIN IS. BRUNEI DARUSSALAM BULGARIA BURKINA FASO BURMA BURUNDI CAMEROON CANADA CANTON AND ENDER. IS. CAPE VERDE CAYMAN ISLANDS CENTRAL AFRICAN REP. CHAD CHILE CHINA CHRISTMAS ISLAND COCOS (KEELING) IS. COLOMBIA COMOROS CONGO COOK ISLANDS COSTA RICA COTE D'IVOIRE CROATIA CUBA CYPRUS CZECH REPUBLIC DEM. KAMPUCHEA DEM. YEMEN DENMARK DJIBOUTI DOMINICA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC DRONNING MAUD ISLAND EAST TIMOR ECUADOR EGYPT EL SALVADOR ENGLAND EQUATORIAL GUINEA ESTONIA ETHIOPIA FAEROE ISLANDS FALKLAND IS.-MALVINAS FIJI FINLAND FRANCE FRENCH GUIANA FRENCH POLYNESIA FRENCH SOUTHERN TER. GABON GAMBIA GEORGIA GERMANY GHANA GIBRALTAR GREECE GREENLAND GRENADA GUADALOUPE GUAM GUATEMALA GUINEA GUINEA-BISSAU GUYANA HAITI HEARD AND MCDONALD IS. HONDURAS HONG KONG HUNGARY ICELAND INDIA INDONESIA IRAN IRAQ IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAMAICA JAPAN JOHNSTON ISLAND JORDAN KAZAKHSTAN KENYA KIRIBATI KUWAIT KYRGYZSTAN LAOS LATVIA LEBANON LESOTHO LIBERIA LIBYA LIECHTENSTEIN LITHUANIA LUXEMBOURG MACAU MACEDONIA MADAGASCAR MALAWI MALAYSIA MALDIVES MALI MALTA MARTINIQUE MAURITANIA MAURITIUS MEXICO MIDWAY ISLANDS MOLDOVA MONACO MONGOLIA MONTSERRAT MOROCCO MOZAMBIQUE NAMIBIA NAURU NEPAL NETHERLANDS NETHERLANDS ANTILLES NEW CALEDONIA NEW ZEALAND NICARAGUA NIGER NIGERIA NIUE NORFOLK ISLAND NORTH KOREA NORWAY OMAN PACIFIC IS. TRUST TER. PAKISTAN PANAMA PAPUA NEW GUINEA PARAGUAY PERU PHILIPPINES PITCAIRN ISLANDS POLAND PORTUGAL PUERTO RICO QATAR REUNION ROMANIA RUSSIA RWANDA SAMOA SAN MARINO SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE SAUDI ARABIA SCOTLAND SENEGAL SEYCHELLES SIERRA LEONE SINGAPORE SLOVAKIA SLOVENIA SOLOMON ISLANDS SOMALIA SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA ST. HELENA ST. KITTS-NEVIS-ANG. ST. LUCIA ST. PIERRE ET MIQUELON ST. VINCENT AND THE GREN. SUDAN SURINAME SVAL. AND JAN MAYEN IS. SWAZILAND SWEDEN SWITZERLAND SYRIA TAIWAN TAJIKISTAN TANZANIA THAILAND TOGO TOKELAU TONGA TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TUNISIA TURKEY TURKMENISTAN TURKS AND CAICOS IS. TUVALU U.S. PACIFIC ISLANDS U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS UGANDA UKRAINE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UNITED KINGDOM United States of America URUGUAY UZBEKISTAN VANUATU VATICAN CITY STATE VENEZUELA VIETNAM WAKE ISLAND WALES WALLIS AND FUTUNA IS. WESTERN SAHARA YEMEN ARAB REPUBLIC YUGOSLAVIA ZAIRE ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE

You need help with:
Your move DATE is:
Moving FROM Zip:
Moving TO State:
Moving TO City: