Page 6 - Tanzania Report

Republic of Tanzania

Introduction
Key Country indicators

Location
Country Profile
The Republic of Tanzania is endowed with Population 53,500,000
various water bodies, wetlands and diverse GDP US $ (billion) 45.6
river systems. It has a surface area of 945,040
The Republic of Tanzania
km of which 886,000 is in the mainland and GNI
2
2
2000 km is in Zanzibar. The ocean coastline Total land area 886,000 (Km )
2
is over 2,450 km and its Economic Exclusive Length of coastline 1,450 (Km)
2
Zone is estimated to be 223,000 km which Exclusive Economic Zone 223,000(Km )
2
2
supports the country’s fisheries and marine Continental shelf
fishery growing sector.
Mangrove 1,280 (Km )
2
Marine resources Coral reef 3,580 (Km )
2
Tanzania coastline is about 1,450km and Marine protected area %18.2 of territorial waters
stretches from the border with Kenya to the Source: (World Bank, 2017) World Green Book
boarder of Mozambique. Tanzania is known for
its rich biodiversity, marine environment and coastal resources. Its attractive coastal environment
includes estuaries, mangrove forests, coral reefs, sandy beaches, seagrass beds, cliffs. The coast line
is divided into 3: the indented coastline with off-lying reefs and islands; shallow bank coastline, little
indentions with off-lying large islands; indented coastlines with narrow self-infringing reefs with deep
oceanic waters to seaward (coastal and marine environmental problem of Tanzania, UNEP).

Tanzania’s climate can be described as
moderately warm tropical. This climate is
mostly affected by the seasonal moon winds.
The winds create two ocean currents, the
Mozambique current which flows southwards
and the East African coastal current which
flows northwards (UNEP)

Mangrove Forests

Mangrove forests cover over 115,500ha
of mainland Tanzania and they also cover
18,000ha of Zanzibar (Unguja Island 6,000
and Pemba Island). Tanzania has nine species
of mangrove forests which are rich in molluscs,
an important food source of protein for the

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