Tanzania’s principal exports are gold, coffee, cashew nuts, and cotton. Of these, gold—which provided more than two-thirds of the country’s export earnings in the early 2000s—is by far the most lucrative. Other exports include agricultural products and materials, gemstones, and textiles. Countries that receive Tanzania’s exports include Switzerland, India, South Africa, and China. Tanzania’s primary imports consist of machinery, transport equipment, and petroleum and chemical products; the majority of the country’s imported goods are received from countries such as India, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, China, and Switzerland.

Services

Tanzania’s rapidly expanding tourism sector continues to be a source of great economic promise. Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, serves as a major tourist attraction, as does the country’s network of national parks, reserves, and conservation areas, which together span some one-fourth of the country. Tanzania’s beaches and coral reefs are also attractive to tourists, and the government has increasingly marketed its coastline and encouraged diving and snorkeling there. Neighbouring Kenya supplies the vast majority of visitors to Tanzania, many of whom visit the country on short day trips. By the early 2000s, tourism accounted for almost one-fifth of the gross domestic product, while the services sector on the whole accounted for almost two-fifths.

Labour and taxation

Some four-fifths of the Tanzanian labour force is employed in the agricultural sector. Of that group, less than one-tenth belongs to unions. Labour laws in mainland Tanzania and in Zanzibar are particular to each area, and workers in Zanzibar are not allowed to join mainland unions. Although workers are permitted to form labour unions without authorization, many private-sector employers have adopted illegal policies that discourage the joining or formation of unions. The Trade Union Congress of Tanzania is the country’s only labour federation.

The value-added tax (VAT), the income tax, the excise tax, and imports duties contribute to the national revenue. The government is deprived of substantial tax income by informal-sector economic activity, which is not taxed; in addition, tax collection itself is not considered adequately efficient.

Transportation

Transport in Tanzania spans a wide spectrum, from the motorized means made possible by roads, seaports, airfields, and railways to the traditional carrying of loads by animals and people.

The road network extends to all parts of the country, but it is densest along the coast and southeast of Lake Victoria. Only a fraction of the roadways in Tanzania are paved. The Tanzam Highway, opened in the early 1970s between Dar es Salaam and Zambia, has significantly reduced the isolation of southern Tanzania. Another highway intersects it at Makambako and proceeds southward through the southern highlands to Songea. Government efforts have focused on rehabilitating the trunk road system, which deteriorated with a decline in the importation of maintenance materials during the economic crisis.

Dar es Salaam port, with its deepwater berths, handles the majority of shipping traffic at Tanzanian ports. The remainder goes primarily to Mtwara, Tanga, and the port of the city of Zanzibar. The Tanzania Coastal Shipping Line offers transport services along the coast; a passenger ferry operates between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar. In addition to these, there are also inland ports situated on Lake Victoria by which traffic with the neighbouring countries of Uganda and Kenya is conducted; inland ports on Lake Nyasa and Lake Tanganyika serve to connect Tanzania with points in Malawi, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Several airlines, including the national carrier, Air Tanzania, provide domestic and international service. There are numerous airports throughout the country, including international airports at Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, and Zanzibar; most scheduled international flights land in Dar es Salaam.

The railway system dates back to the pre-World War I German-built Central Railway Line, which bisects the country between Dar es Salaam and Kigoma, and the Tanga-to-Moshi railway. There is also a branch between these two lines, and another line connects Mwanza with Tabora on the Central Line. The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) rail line, running between Dar es Salaam and Kapiri-Mposhi on the Zambian border, was built with Chinese aid in the early 1970s. It provided the main outlet to the sea for Zambia’s copper exports prior to the political changes in South Africa in the 1990s that opened southern transport routes for Tanzania’s landlocked neighbour.

Constitutional framework

The Interim Constitution of 1965 established the United Republic of Tanzania through the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, until then separate and independent countries. A permanent constitution for the United Republic was approved in 1977 and amended in 1984 to include a bill of rights.

Zanzibar has a separate constitution, approved in 1979 and amended in 1985. The executive branch is composed of a president, elected by popular vote to a maximum of two five-year terms, and a cabinet called the Supreme Revolutionary Council. Zanzibar’s parliament, the House of Representatives, is made up of elected and appointed members. These political bodies deal with matters internal to Zanzibar. Since the union with Tanganyika, some segments of Zanzibari society have occasionally demanded greater autonomy from the mainland.

The president of the United Republic is the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. The cabinet of ministers is advisory to the president. Prior to 1995 it included two vice presidents: the prime minister, who is appointed by the president and acts as the leader of the cabinet, and the president of Zanzibar. Since then an amendment to the constitution, which was approved in 1994 and took effect after the 1995 general election, has rescinded the stipulation that called for the president of Zanzibar to serve as a vice president.

According to the 1984 constitutional amendments, most members of the unicameral National Assembly are directly elected. Many seats also are allocated to ex-officio, nominated, and indirectly elected members—including those seats reserved for women, representatives of mass organizations, and the president’s nominees. The National Assembly has a term of five years but can be dissolved by the president before this term expires.