Tanzania history spans 3 million years — from human evolution, Bantu migrations, Swahili coast, German and British colonization, Tanganyika and Zanzibar union, to modern Tanzania.
Human Origins and Bantu (3 million BC - 1000 AD)
Olduvai Gorge — UNESCO site, fossils of Homo habilis 1.8 million years old. Bantu peoples migrated 1000 BC bringing iron working and agriculture.
Swahili Coast (700-1498)
Arab traders settled coast. Kilwa Kisiwani city-state — UNESCO, 12th-15th c. one of richest in Africa. Trade with Persia, India, China.
Portuguese and Omani (1498-1880s)
Vasco da Gama reached coast 1498. Portuguese rule 1500-1700. Omanis took control — Sultan Said moved Omani capital from Muscat to Zanzibar 1840. Slave trade flourished.
German East Africa (1885-1918)
Berlin Conference 1885 gave Germany Tanganyika. German East Africa established. Maji Maji Rebellion 1905-1907 — 75,000-300,000 Africans killed in scorched earth response.
British Mandate (1918-1961)
WWI — British took Tanganyika. League of Nations mandate. Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) founded 1954 by Julius Nyerere.
Independence and Union (1961-1964)
Tanganyika independent December 9, 1961. Zanzibar independent December 1963, revolution January 1964. Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar formed Tanzania April 26, 1964.
Modern Tanzania (1964-today)
Nyerere president 1964-1985 — Ujamaa African socialism. Multi-party democracy 1992. John Magufuli 2015-2021 (died in office). Samia Suluhu Hassan since 2021 — first female president. 65 million population. Serengeti, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar — major tourism.