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Population distribution in Tanzania is extremely uneven. Density varies from 1 person per square kilometre (3 per sq. mi.) in arid regions to 51 per square kilometre (133 per sq. mi.) in the mainland's well-watered highlands to 134 per square kilometre (347 per sq. mi.) on Zanzibar. More than 80% of the population is rural. Dar es Salaam is the capital and largest city; Dodoma, located in the centre of Tanzania, has been designated the new capital, although action to move the capital has stalled.

The African population consists of more than 120 ethnic groups, of which the Sukuma, Haya, Nyakyusa, Nyamwezi, and Chagga have more than 1 million members. The majority of Tanzanians, including such tribes as the Hehe, Sukuma and the Nyamwezi, are of Bantu stock. Groups of Nilotic or related origin include the nomadic Masai and the Luo (Kenya), both of which are found in greater numbers in neighbouring Kenya. Two small groups speak languages of the Khoisan family peculiar to the Bushman and Khoikhoi peoples. Cushitic-speaking peoples, originally from the Ethiopian highlands, reside in a few areas of Tanzania. Other Bantu tribes were refugees from Mozambique.

Although much of Zanzibar's African population came from the mainland, one group known as Shirazis traces its origins to the island's early Persian settlers. Non-Africans residing on the mainland and Zanzibar account for 1% of the total population. The Asian community, including Hindus, Sikhs, Shi'a and Sunni Muslims, Parsis and Goans, has declined by 50% in the past decade to 50,000 on the mainland and 4,000 on Zanzibar. An estimated 70,000 Arabs and 10,000 Europeans reside in Tanzania.

Each ethnic group has its own language, but the national language is Swahili, a Bantu tongue with strong Arabic and later English borrowings, and another official language is English. Other spoken languages are Indian languages and Portuguese (both spoken by Mozambican blacks and Goans).

Population: 35,922,454
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2003 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 44.3% (male 7,988,898; female 7,938,979)
15-64 years: 53.1% (male 9,429,959; female 9,634,102)
65 years and over: 2.6% (male 405,803; female 524,713) (2003 est.)

Median age:
total: 17.5 years
male: 17.2 years
female: 17.7 years (2002)

Population growth rate: 1.72% (2003 est.)

Birth rate: 39.5 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)

Death rate: 17.38 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2003 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 103.68 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 93.78 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 113.29 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 44.56 years
male: 43.33 years
female: 45.83 years (2003 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.24 children born/woman (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 7.8% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.5 million (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 140,000 (2001 est.)

Ethnic groups: mainland - native African 99% (of which 95% are Bantu consisting of more than 130 tribes), other 1% (consisting of Asian, European, and Arab); Zanzibar - Arab, mixed Arab and native African

Religions: mainland - Muslim 35%, indigenous beliefs 35%, Christian 30%; Zanzibar - more than 99% Muslim

Languages: Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguju (name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (official, primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education), Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar), many local languages
note: Kiswahili (Swahili) is the mother tongue of the Bantu people living in Zanzibar and nearby coastal Tanzania; although Kiswahili is Bantu in structure and origin, its vocabulary draws heavily on a variety of sources, including Arabic and English, and it has become the lingua franca of central and eastern Africa; the first language of most people is one of the local languages.

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write Kiswahili (Swahili), English, or Arabic
total population: 78.2%
male: 85.9%
female: 70.7% (2003 est.)

• List of ethnic groups in Tanzania
• Europeans in Tanzania

This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2003 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.