Editing Tanzania (section)

==History==
{{main|History of Tanzania|History of Zanzibar}}

[[File:Olduvai stone chopping tool (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|right|A 1.8-million-year-old stone chopping tool discovered at [[Olduvai Gorge]] and on display at the [[British Museum]]]]

===Ancient===
Tanzania is one of the oldest continuously inhabited areas on Earth. The [[Olduvai Gorge]], in the [[Ngorongoro Conservation Area]], a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]], features a collection with remnants of tools that document the development and use of transitional [[technology]].

The indigenous populations of eastern Africa are thought to be the [[Hadza language|linguistically isolated]] [[Hadza people|Hadza]] and [[Sandawe people|Sandawe]] hunter-gatherers of Tanzania.<ref name="Genetics">{{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.1172257 |title=The Genetic Structure and History of Africans and African Americans |journal=Science |volume=324 |issue=5930 |pages=1035–44 |year=2009 |pmid=19407144 |pmc=2947357 |last1=Tishkoff |first1=S. A. |last2=Reed |first2=F. A. |last3=Friedlaender |first3=F. R.| last4=Ehret |first4=C. |last5=Ranciaro |first5=A. |last6=Froment |first6=A. |last7=Hirbo |first7=J. B. |last8=Awomoyi |first8=A. A. |last9=Bodo |first9=J. M. |last10=Doumbo |first10=O. |last11=Ibrahim |first11= M. |last12=Juma |first12=A. T. |last13=Kotze |first13=M. J. |last14=Lema |first14=G. |last15=Moore |first15=J. H. |last16=Mortensen |first16=H. |last17=Nyambo |first17=T. B. |last18=Omar |first18= S. A. |last19=Powell |first19=K. |last20=Pretorius |first20=G. S. |last21=Smith |first21=M. W. |last22=Thera |first22=M. A. |last23=Wambebe |first23=C. |last24=Weber |first24=J. L. |last25=Williams |first25=S. M.| bibcode=2009Sci...324.1035T |issn=0036-8075 }}</ref>{{rp|page 17}}

The first wave of migration was by [[South Cushitic languages|Southern Cushitic]] speakers who moved south from [[Ethiopia]] and [[Somalia]] into Tanzania. They are ancestral to the [[Iraqw language|Iraqw]], [[Gorowa language|Gorowa]], and [[Burunge language|Burunge]].<ref name="Genetics"/>{{rp|page 17}} Based on linguistic evidence, there may also have been two movements into Tanzania of Eastern Cushitic people at about 4,000 and 2,000 years ago, originating from north of [[Lake Turkana]].<ref name="Genetics"/>{{rp|pages 17–18}}

Archaeological evidence supports the conclusion that [[Southern Nilotic languages|Southern Nilotes]], including the [[Datooga people|Datoog]], moved south from the present-day South Sudan / Ethiopia border region into central northern Tanzania between 2,900 and 2,400 years ago.<ref name="Genetics"/>{{rp|page 18}}

These movements took place at approximately the same time as the settlement of the iron-making [[Bantu languages|Mashariki (Eastern) Bantu]] from West Africa in the [[Lake Victoria]] and [[Lake Tanganyika]] areas, as part of the centuries-long [[Bantu expansion]]. The Bantu peoples brought with them the west African planting tradition and the primary staple of [[yam (vegetable)|yams]]. They subsequently migrated out of these regions across the rest of Tanzania between 2,300 and 1,700 years ago.<ref name="Genetics"/><ref name="auto"/>

[[Eastern Nilotic languages|Eastern Nilotic]] peoples, including the [[Maasai people|Maasai]], represent a more recent migration from present-day South Sudan within the past 500 to 1,500 years.<ref name="Genetics"/><ref>{{cite book |first1=Phyllis |last1=Martin |first2=Patrick |last2=O'Meara |title=Africa |url=https://archive.org/details/africa00mart |url-access=registration |date=1995 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-20984-9}}</ref>

The people of Tanzania have been associated with the production of iron and steel. The [[Pare people]] were the main producers of sought-after iron for peoples who occupied the mountain regions of north-eastern Tanzania.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shoup |first1=John A. |title=Ethnic groups of Africa and the Middle East : an encyclopedia |date=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=978-1-59884-362-0 |page=67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GN5yv3-U6goC&pg=PA67}}</ref> The [[Haya people]] on the western shores of [[Lake Victoria]] invented a type of high-heat [[blast furnace]], which allowed them to forge [[carbon steel]] at temperatures exceeding {{convert|1820|C}} more than 1,500 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=17830304 |year=1978 |last1=Schmidt |first1=P. |title=Complex iron smelting and prehistoric culture in Tanzania |journal=Science |volume=201 |issue=4361
| pages=1085–89 |last2=Avery |first2=D.H. |doi=10.1126/science.201.4361.1085| bibcode=1978Sci...201.1085S |s2cid=37926350}}</ref>

Travelers and merchants from the [[Persian Gulf]] and India have visited the east African coast since early in the first millennium AD.<ref>{{cite book |first=Kevin |last=Shillington |title=Encyclopedia of African History 3-Volume Set |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=umyHqvAErOAC&pg=PA1510 |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-45670-2 |page=1510}}</ref> [[Islam]] was practiced by some on the [[Swahili Coast]] as early as the eighth or ninth century AD.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/7chapter5.shtml "The Story of Africa"]. ''BBC World Service''.</ref>

===Medieval===
Bantu-speakers built farming and trade villages along the Tanzanian coast from the outset of the first millennium. Archaeological finds at [[Fukuchani]], on the north-west coast of Zanzibar, indicate a settled agricultural and fishing community from the 6th century CE at the latest. The considerable amount of daub found indicates timber buildings, and shell beads, bead grinders, and iron slag have been found at the site. There is evidence for limited engagement in long-distance trade: a small amount of imported pottery has been found, less than 1% of total pottery finds, mostly from the Gulf and dated to the 5th to 8th century. The similarity to contemporary sites such as [[Mkokotoni]] and Dar es Salaam indicate a unified group of communities that developed into the first centre of coastal maritime culture. The coastal towns appear to have been engaged in Indian Ocean and inland African trade at this early period. Trade rapidly increased in importance and quantity beginning in the mid-8th century and by the close of the 10th century Zanzibar was one of the central Swahili trading towns.<ref>Horton, Mark and Middleton, Tom. "The Swahili: The Social Landscape of a Mercantile Community." (Oxford: Blackwell, 2010), 46.</ref>

Growth in Egyptian and Persian shipping from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf revitalised [[Indian Ocean trade]], particularly after the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] relocated to Fustat (Cairo). Swahili agriculturalists built increasingly dense settlements to tap into trade, these forming the earliest Swahili city-states. The Venda-Shona Kingdoms of [[Mapungubwe]] and Zimbabwe in South Africa and [[Zimbabwe]], respectively, became a major producer of gold around this same period. Economic, social, and religious power was increasingly vested in [[Kilwa Sultanate|Kilwa]], Tanzania's major medieval city-state. Kilwa controlled a number of smaller ports stretching down to modern-day Mozambique. [[Sofala]] became the major gold emporium and Kilwa grew rich off the trade, lying at the southern end of the Indian Ocean Monsoons. Kilwa's major rivals lay to the north, in modern-day Kenya, namely Mombasa and Malindi. Kilwa remained the major power in East Africa until the arrival of the Portuguese at the end of the 15th century.<ref>Campbell, Gwyn. "Africa and the Indian Ocean World from Early Times to Circa 1900." Cambridge University Press. 2019</ref>

===Colonial===
{{Main|German East Africa|Tanganyika Territory}}
[[File:City of Kilwa, 1572.jpg|thumb|left|A 1572 depiction of the city of [[Kilwa]], a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]]]

Claiming the coastal strip, [[Omani]] Sultan [[Said bin Sultan]] moved his capital to [[Zanzibar City]] in 1840. During this time, Zanzibar became the centre for the [[east African slave trade]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24157 |title=Slavery |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006131931/http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24157 |archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> Between 65 and 90 per cent of the [[Swahili people|Swahili]] population of [[Zanzibar]] was enslaved.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/548305/slavery/24157/Slave-societies |title=Slave societies |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=22 January 2014 |access-date=19 February 2014}}</ref>{{Clarify|date=November 2024|reason= By whom}} One of the most infamous slave traders on the East African coast was [[Tippu Tip]], who was the grandson of an enslaved African. The [[Nyamwezi people|Nyamwezi]] slave traders operated under the leadership of [[Msiri]] and [[Mirambo]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/9chapter3.shtml "The Story of Africa |BBC World Service"]. BBC.</ref> According to [[Timothy Insoll]], "Figures record the exporting of 718,000 slaves from the Swahili coast during the 19th century, and the retention of 769,000 on the coast."<ref>{{cite book |first=Junius P. |last=Rodriguez |title=The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalencycl01rodr |url-access=registration |date=1997 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-87436-885-7}}</ref> In the 1890s, slavery was abolished.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.enchantingtravels.com/travel-blog/zanzibar-map-history |title=On The Zanzibar Map: Spices, Slaves And A Bit Of History |date=17 February 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Wilhelm Kuhnert Schlacht bei Mahenge 2.jpg|thumb|Battle during the [[Maji Maji Rebellion]] against [[German East Africa|German]] colonial rule in 1905]]

In 1863, the [[Holy Ghost Mission]] established an early reception center and depot at Zanzibar. In 1877, responding to appeals of [[Henry Morton Stanley|Henry Stanley]] following his [[Henry Morton Stanley's first trans-Africa expedition|trans-Africa expedition]], and permission being given to Stanley by [[Muteesa I of Buganda|King Mutessa I of Buganda]], the [[Church Mission Society|Church Missionary Society]] sent missionaries [[Edward John Baxter|Edward Baxter]] and Henry Cole to establish inland missions.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Middleton |first1=Dorothy |title=Henry Morton Stanley |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Morton-Stanley |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=29 December 2022 |date=6 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Johnson, Hildergard Binder |title=The Locations of Christian Missions in Africa |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/213158 |journal=Geographical Review |year=1967 |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=168–202 |publisher=Taylor and Francis Ltd |access-date=29 December 2022 |doi=10.2307/213158|jstor=213158 |bibcode=1967GeoRv..57..168J }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Europeans In East Africa - View entry |url=https://www.europeansineastafrica.co.uk/_site/custom/database/?a=viewIndividual&pid=2&person=174 |access-date=2022-12-18 |website=www.europeansineastafrica.co.uk}}</ref> In 1885, Germany conquered the regions that are now Tanzania (minus Zanzibar) and incorporated them into [[German East Africa]] (GEA).<ref>{{Cite thesis|title=Early Political Discord in Kenya: European Settlers' Political Struggles in the East Africa Protectorate, 1902–1912|publisher=West Virginia University Libraries|first=Makhete|last=Fall|year=2016 |doi=10.33915/etd.5569|doi-access=free}}</ref> 

The [[Maji Maji Rebellion]], between 1905 and 1907, was an uprising of several African tribes in [[German East Africa]] against the colonial authorities, in particular because of forced labour and deportation of certain tribes. It was the subject of a bloody repression, which combined with famine caused 300,000 deaths among the population, out of a Tanganyikan population of about four million.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Iliffe |first=John |author-link=John Iliffe (historian) |date=1967 |title=The Organization of the Maji Maji Rebellion |journal=The Journal of African History |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=8 |pages=495–512 |doi=10.1017/S0021853700007982 |jstor=179833 |doi-access=free |number=3}}</ref>

The Supreme Council of the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|1919 Paris Peace Conference]] awarded all of GEA to Britain on 7 May 1919, over the strenuous objections of Belgium.<ref name="Ends" />{{rp|240}} The British [[Secretary of State for the Colonies|colonial secretary]], [[Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner|Alfred Milner]], and Belgium's minister [[plenipotentiary]] to the conference, {{ill|Pierre Orts|fr}}, then negotiated the Anglo-Belgian agreement of 30 May 1919<ref name="Belgium" />{{rp|618–9}} where Britain ceded the north-western GEA provinces of [[Ruanda-Urundi|Ruanda and Urundi]] to Belgium.<ref name="Ends">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQnpQNKeKKAC&pg=PA246 |title=Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez, and Decolonization |author=William Roger Louis |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2006 |access-date=19 September 2017 |isbn=978-1-84511-347-6}}</ref>{{rp|246}} The conference's Commission on Mandates ratified this agreement on 16 July 1919.<ref name="Ends" />{{rp|246–7}} The Supreme Council accepted the agreement on 7 August 1919.<ref name="Belgium">{{cite web |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1919Parisv07/pg_613 |title=PAPERS RELATING TO THE FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE, 1919 |publisher=United States Department of State |volume=7 |access-date=19 September 2017}}</ref>{{rp|612–3}} On 12 July 1919, the Commission on Mandates agreed that the small [[Kionga Triangle]] south of the [[Rovuma River]] would be given to [[Portuguese Mozambique]],<ref name="Ends" />{{rp|243}} with it eventually becoming part of independent Mozambique. The commission reasoned that Germany had virtually forced Portugal to cede the triangle in 1894.<ref name="Ends" />{{rp|243}} The [[Treaty of Versailles]] was signed on 28 June 1919, although the treaty did not take effect until 10 January 1920. On that date, the GEA was transferred officially to Britain, Belgium, and Portugal. Also on that date, "Tanganyika" became the name of the British territory. In the mid-1920s, the British implemented a system of [[indirect rule]] in Tanzania.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Liebenow|first=J. Gus|date=1956|title=Responses to Planned Political Change in a Tanganyika Tribal Group|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0003055400067496/type/journal_article|journal=American Political Science Review|language=en|volume=50|issue=2|pages=447–448|doi=10.2307/1951678|jstor=1951678 |s2cid=144390538 |issn=0003-0554}}</ref>

During [[World War II]], about 100,000 people from Tanganyika joined the [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]]<ref name="Heale">{{cite book |first1=Jay |last1=Heale |first2=Winnie |last2=Wong |title=Tanzania |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9UhNJxHg14wC |year=2010 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-0-7614-3417-7}}</ref> and were among the 375,000 Africans who fought with those forces.<ref name="MGT">[http://www.mgtrust.org/afr2.htm "African participants in the Second World War"]. mgtrust.org.</ref> Tanganyikans fought in units of the [[King's African Rifles]] during the [[East African campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]] in Somalia and [[Ethiopian Empire|Abyssinia]] against the Italians, in Madagascar against the [[Vichy French]] during the [[Battle of Madagascar|Madagascar Campaign]], and in Burma against the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] during the [[Burma Campaign 1944–45|Burma Campaign]].<ref name="MGT"/> Tanganyika was an important source of food during this war, and its export income increased greatly compared to the pre-war years of the [[Great Depression]].<ref name="Heale"/> Wartime demand, however, caused increased commodity prices and massive inflation within the colony.<ref>[http://www.content.eisa.org.za/old-page/tanzania-british-rule-between-wars-1916-1945 "Tanzania: British rule between the Wars (1916–1945)"]. ''eisa.org.za''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204203753/http://www.content.eisa.org.za/old-page/tanzania-british-rule-between-wars-1916-1945 |date=4 February 2015}}</ref>

In 1954, [[Julius Nyerere]] transformed an organisation into the politically oriented [[Tanganyika African National Union]] (TANU). TANU's main objective was to achieve national [[sovereignty]] for Tanganyika. A campaign to register new members was launched, and within a year, TANU had become the leading political organisation in the country. Nyerere became Minister of British-administered Tanganyika in 1960 and continued as prime minister when Tanganyika became independent in 1961.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mulenga|first=Derek C.|date=November 2001|title=Mwalimu Julius Nyerere: a critical review of his contributions to adult education and postcolonialism|journal=International Journal of Lifelong Education|volume=20|issue=6|pages=446–470|doi=10.1080/02601370110088436|s2cid=143740319|issn=0260-1370}}</ref>

===Modern===
British rule came to an end on 9 December 1961. [[Elizabeth II]], who had acceded to the British throne in 1952, continued to reign through the first year of Tanganyika's independence, but now distinctly as [[Queen of Tanganyika]], represented by the [[governor general]].<ref name="Abstract"/>{{rp|page 6}} Tanganyika also joined the [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]] in 1961.<ref name="auto1"/> On 9 December 1962, Tanganyika became a democratic republic under an executive president.<ref name="Abstract"/>{{rp|page 6}}

After the [[Zanzibar Revolution]] overthrew the Arab dynasty in neighbouring [[Zanzibar]], accompanied with the slaughter of thousands of Arab Zanzibaris,<ref name="Zanzibar">{{cite news |title=Unveiling Zanzibar's unhealed wounds |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8167390.stm |work=BBC News |date=25 July 2009}}</ref> which had become independent in 1963, the archipelago merged with mainland Tanganyika on 26 April 1964.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vpo.go.tz/document_storage/historical_overview.pdf |title=Background history of The Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar |publisher=Vice President's Office, United Republic of Tanzania |access-date=25 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125124815/http://www.vpo.go.tz/document_storage/historical_overview.pdf |archive-date=25 January 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The new country was then named the ''United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/united-republic-tanganyika-and-zanzibar-renamed-united-republic-tanzania|title=The United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar is renamed United Republic of Tanzania|publisher=South African History Online|access-date=10 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/united-republic-tanzania/history|title=United Republic of Tanzania : History|publisher=Commonwealth.org|access-date=10 February 2019|archive-date=23 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223235543/http://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/united-republic-tanzania/history|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 29 October of the same year, the country was renamed the United Republic of Tanzania ("Tan" comes from Tanganyika and "Zan" from Zanzibar).<ref name="factbook"/> The union of the two hitherto separate regions was controversial among many Zanzibaris (even those sympathetic to the revolution) but was accepted by both the [[Nyerere]] government and the [[Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar]] owing to shared political values and goals.<ref>{{cite web|language=es-ES|title=viajes a Tanzania|url=https://rutastanzania.viajes/|website=rutastanzania.viajes - ES}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

Following Tanganyika's independence and unification with Zanzibar leading to the state of Tanzania, President Nyerere emphasised a need to construct a national identity for the citizens of the new country. To achieve this, Nyerere provided what is regarded as one of the most successful cases of ethnic repression and identity transformation in Africa.<ref>[[Pierre Englebert]] and Kevin C. Dunn, "Inside African Politics" 2013: 81</ref> With more than 130 languages spoken within its territory, Tanzania is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in Africa. Despite this obstacle, ethnic divisions remained rare in Tanzania when compared to the rest of the continent, notably its immediate neighbour, Kenya. Furthermore, since its independence, Tanzania has displayed more political stability than most African countries, particularly due to Nyerere's ethnic repression methods.<ref>Henry Bienen and John Waterbury, "World Development Vol 17", 1989: 100</ref>

[[File:Arusha Declaration Monument.jpg|thumb|The [[Arusha Declaration Monument]]]]
In 1967, Nyerere's first presidency took a turn to the [[left politics|left]] after the [[Arusha Declaration]], which codified a commitment to socialism as well as [[Pan-Africanism]]. After the declaration, banks and many large industries were nationalised.

Tanzania was also aligned with China, which from 1970 to 1975 financed and helped build the {{convert|1860|km|mi|adj=mid|-long}} [[TAZARA Railway]] from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to Kapiri-Mposhi, Zambia.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jamie |last=Monson |title=Africa's Freedom Railway: How a Chinese Development Project Changed Lives and Livelihoods in Tanzania |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xeeDwcT51BcC&pg=PA23 |year=2009 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-35271-2 |page=199}}</ref> Nonetheless, from the late 1970s, Tanzania's economy took a turn for the worse, in the context of an international economic crisis affecting both developed and developing economies.

In 1978, the neighbouring Uganda, under the leadership of Idi Amin, [[Uganda–Tanzania War|invaded Tanzania]]. This disastrous invasion would culminate in Tanzania invading Uganda with the aid of Ugandan rebels and deposing Idi Amin as a result. However, the war severely damaged Tanzania's economy.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Through the 1980s, conservation oriented national parks such as [[Serengeti National Park|Serengeti]] and [[Kilimanjaro National Park|Kilimanjaro]], with [[Mount Kilimanjaro]] as the tallest freestanding summit on Earth, were included on the [[UNESCO World Heritage List]].

From the mid-1980s, the regime financed itself by borrowing from the [[International Monetary Fund]] and underwent some reforms. Since then, Tanzania's gross domestic product per capita has grown and poverty has been reduced, according to a report by the World Bank.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tanzaniagateway.org/docs/Tanzania_Country_Study_Full_Case.pdf |title=Tanzania's Economic Reforms&nbsp;– and Lessons Learned |first=Anna |last=Muganda |year=2004 |access-date=19 February 2014 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215310/http://www.tanzaniagateway.org/docs/Tanzania_Country_Study_Full_Case.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1992, the [[Constitution of Tanzania]] was amended to allow multiple political parties.<ref>[http://www.princeton.edu/~pcwcr/reports/tanzania1992.html "Tanzania 1992"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018235838/http://www.princeton.edu/~pcwcr/reports/tanzania1992.html |date=18 October 2014}}. ''princeton.edu''.</ref> In Tanzania's first multi-party elections, held in 1995, the ruling [[Chama Cha Mapinduzi]] won 186 of the 232 elected seats in the National Assembly, and [[Benjamin Mkapa]] was elected as president.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.content.eisa.org.za/old-page/tanzania-1995-national-assembly-election-results|title=Tanzania: 1995 National Assembly election results.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318222841/http://www.content.eisa.org.za/old-page/tanzania-1995-national-assembly-election-results|archive-date=18 March 2015}}</ref>

The presidents of Tanzania since independence have been [[Julius Nyerere]] (1962–1985), [[Ali Hassan Mwinyi]] (1985–1995), [[Benjamin Mkapa]] (1995–2005), [[Jakaya Kikwete]] (2005–2015), [[John Magufuli]] (2015–2021), and [[Samia Hassan Suluhu]] since 2021.<ref>{{cite web|title=Presidents Of Tanzania Since Independence|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/presidents-of-tanzania-since-independence.html|access-date=2021-06-02|website=WorldAtlas|date=25 April 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> After the long tenure of President Nyerere, the Constitution has a term limit: a president can serve a maximum of two terms. Each term is five years.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mgoya: Why I want presidential term limit scrapped in Tanzania|url=https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/mgoya-why-i-want-presidential-term-limit-scrapped-in-tanzania-1427938|access-date=2021-06-02|website=The East African|date=6 July 2020|language=en}}</ref> Every president has represented the ruling party [[Chama Cha Mapinduzi]] (CCM).<ref name="cfr.org">{{cite web|title=Magufuli is Transforming Tanzania's Ruling Party From a 'Benign Hegemon' Into a Malevolent One|url=https://www.cfr.org/blog/magufuli-transforming-tanzanias-ruling-party-benign-hegemon-malevolent-one|access-date=2021-06-02|website=Council on Foreign Relations|language=en}}</ref> President Magufuli won a landslide victory and re-election in October 2020. According to the opposition, the [[2020 Tanzanian general election|election]] was full of fraud and irregularities.<ref>{{cite web|title=Magufuli wins re-election in Tanzania; opposition cries foul|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/30/magufuli-wins-re-election-in-tanzania-says-electoral-commission|access-date=2021-06-02|website=www.aljazeera.com|language=en}}</ref>

On 17 March 2021, President [[John Magufuli]] died in office.<ref>{{cite web|date=18 March 2021|title=John Magufuli: Tanzania's president dies aged 61|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-56437852|access-date=18 March 2021|website=BBC News}}</ref> Magufuli's vice president, [[Samia Suluhu Hassan]], became Tanzania's first female president.<ref name=":7">{{cite web|date=18 March 2021|title=Samia Suluhu Hassan becomes President following death of John Magufuli|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-56444575|access-date=18 March 2021|website=BBC News}}</ref>