9 fun facts that will make you want to visit Tanzania
Tanzania has become a popular destination for travellers. While the Great Migration, Mount Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar Island might be the most popular places to visit there are so many more interesting facts that most people don´t know about this beautiful country. We have collected some fun facts that will make you want to visit Tanzania even more.
Highest Mountain
Tanzania, the largest country in East Africa, contains the highest mountain (Kilimanjaro) and the deepest lake (Lake Tanganyika) in Africa. It has one of the largest elephant populations in Africa, and current efforts – down to the Tanzanians themselves – to stop the poaching of elephants are very successful. In the past, losses have been catastrophic, worsened by the sale of stockpiled confiscated ivory.
Oldest ecosystems
The Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is one of the oldest ecosystems on the planet and little has changed in the park in over 1 million years. It boasts a diversity of flora and fauna that is unavailable anywhere else in the world.
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury, the famous late songwriter and vocalist for the rock band ‘Queen’ was born Farrokh Bulsara on September 5, 1946, in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
Largest Crab
Tanzania is the home to the largest crab in the world, the coconut crab. It is also apparently one of the tastiest crabs in the world.
Shortest war in history
The shortest recorded war in history was fought on 27 August 1896 in Tanzania between the United Kingdom and the Zanzibar Sultanate. The conflict only lasted between 38 and 45 minutes.
Jane Goodall
In 1960, Jane Goodall began the study of the behaviour of free-living chimpanzees in the Gombe National Park of Tanzania that still stands as the longest-running study of its kind in the world.
Most wild animals
With more than four million wild animals, including 430 species and subspecies, Tanzania has the largest concentration of animals per square kilometre in the world. Tanzania contains some 20% of the species of Africa’s large mammal population, found across its reserves, conservation areas, marine parks, and 17 national parks, spread over an area of more than 42,000 square kilometres (16,000mi²) and forming a stunning total of approximately 38% of the country’s territory. Wildlife resources of Tanzania are described as, “without parallel in Africa” and, “the prime game viewing country”.
Old Donyo Lengai
The Serengeti is home to the the Ol Doinyo Lengai; the only volcano on the planet that is currently erupting carbonatite lava. This mineral rich carbonate lava is washed down to the plains where it fertilizes the land.
Over 120 Tribes!
There are over 120 tribes and groups living in Tanzania each one unique.