Tanzania - interesting facts

Ancient legends, a lot of adventure novels, tribes and communities of different nationalities, who managed to keep their way of life and way to this day, attract, frighten, but still beckon us to Africa. The unique location between the Indian Ocean and the huge lake Tanganyika makes the United Republic of Tanzania an attractive country for tourists and travelers.

The most interesting about Tanzania

1. It is believed that the East African reef system - the largest fault in the earth's crust - is a kind of natural miracle of the world, here "new" lithospheric plates "appear". And this rift passes through the entire territory of Tanzania , towering over the whole country by the volcano Kilimanjaro .
2. By the way, the ice snow of Kilimanjaro feeds the population of not only Tanzania , but also several neighboring countries with good drinking water.
3. The name of the state - Tanzania - the fruit of the merger of two earlier states: Tanganyika and Zanzibar .
4. The official languages ​​in Tanzania are English and the local language of Swahili, but the question is that in English, less than 5% of the total population speaks less or less fluently.
5. About one third of the total area of ​​the Republic - national parks and reserves, but the water space occupies only 6% of the territory.
6. United Republic of Tanzania - by age very young country, people over 65 years old are only about 2.5%, and the average age is under 18 years.
7. The largest in the country, the island of Zanzibar is known for the fact that the famous musician Freddie Mercury was born here, and also on the skeleton conducted the procedure of burial of the heart of David Livingston.
8. Residents of the Masai tribe living in Tanzania consider a very long neck as the standard of female beauty. For this purpose girls from the very childhood on a neck wear metal bracelets, gradually increasing their quantity. As a result, the neck is constantly stretched, and the girl becomes all "more beautiful".
9. Scientists have not found the reason why in Tanzania, albinos are born six times more often than in other countries of the world.
10. The shortest war in history took place again on the island of Zanzibar and even got into the Guinness Book of Records. The war between the Sultan of Zanzibar and Great Britain lasted exactly 38 minutes.
11. On the territory of the Republic there are about 120 different peoples.
12. Lake Tanganyika, which is the western boundary of Tanzania, is considered the second largest in the world after Lake Baikal (Siberia, Russia).
13. The world's largest crater, Ngorongoro, is also in Tanzania, it is larger in area than many states, and this is an entire 264 sq km.
14. In 1962, an epidemic of laughter began in Tanzania, which lasted 18 months. It all started suddenly with a laugh at one of the schoolgirls in the village of Kashasha and spread to 14 schools, amounting to about a thousand people.
15. On the island of Zanzibar, the Tse-tse fly was completely destroyed, and the insect itself can not overcome the distance from the mainland.
16. In the United Republic of Tanzania, contrary to the usual, two capitals operate simultaneously: legislative and administrative.
17. In the northern part of Tanzania, Lake Natron is located, its average temperature is 60 degrees and the lake itself is very alkaline, consisting of sodium carbonate. Birds and animals falling into the "water" instantly die and turn into statues.
18. On the territory of Tanzania were found the remains of a man who is more than 2 million years old.
19. The last eruption of the now extinct volcano Kilimanjaro was over 200 years ago.
20. In Tanzania, ancient traditions are very honored, the cult of ritual healing is still strong here and everywhere you believe in witchcraft, be careful.