The United Republic of Tanzania is a founding Member State of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), having been one of the nine countries that formed the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) in Lusaka, Zambia, in April 1980. SADCC transformed into SADC with the signing of the SADC Treaty in Windhoek, Namibia, in 1992.
United Republic of Tanzania includes the Indian Ocean islands of Pemba and Zanzibar and the mainland territory, and is located on the east coast of Africa between the great lakes of the African Rift Valley system in the central part of the continent and the Indian Ocean. Tanzania has a common border with Kenya and Uganda to the north; Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west; and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south.
There are over 120 ethnic groups in the country, each with its own language or dialect. Indigenous Tanzanians make up 99 % of the population, while other ethnic groups include Asians, Europeans and Arabs. KiSwahili is the official, universally-spoken language in Tanzania. English, also an official language, is the language of commerce. Elections are held every five years, with the first multiparty election being held in November 1995. The President is the Head of State for a maximum of two terms in office.
Please refer to the latest SADC Statistics Yearbook
