Geography

The United Republic of Tanzania is a large country with a total area of 945,087 km2 of which 59,050 km2 is water. It is situated in East Africa bordering the Indian Ocean with a coastline of 1,424 km between Kenya and Mozambique. It also has borders with Malawi, Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. As well as the mainland, Mafia, Pemba and Zanzibar islands are also part of the country of Tanzania. 

The capital is Dar es Salaam but the legislative offices have been transferred to Dodoma which is planned as the new national capital. The population is around 37 million and the languages spoken are Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguju (name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (official, primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education), Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar), and over 160 local languages. 

The climate varies from tropical along the coast to temperate in the highlands and nights can be very cold in the mountains. There are just two seasons - wet and dry, the exact timing of which varies with distance from the ocean. 

The land formation includes coastal plains, a central plateau and highlands in the north and south and at 5,895 m Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest point on the continent of Africa. Tanzania is bordered by three of the largest lakes on the continent: Lake Victoria (the world's second largest freshwater lake) in the north, Lake Tanganyika (the deepest in Africa and the world's second deepest lake) in the west, and Lake Nyasa in the south-west.

Further details can be found at CIA Factbook.