Zany Tanzania Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lake Tanganyika

Lake Tanganyika is located on the western side of Tanzania. It is a 673 km (418 mi) long and 72 km (45 mi) wide lake that provides a natural border between Tanzania (east side of the lake) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (west side of the lake). Tanganyika is a word of Swahili origin that translates to "sail in the wilderness".

The name Tanganyika refers to the mainland portion of the land that now comprises the modern day Tanzania. It received the name following World War I after the British assumed control over the area which had been previously colonized by Germany. Tanganyika declared independence from Great Britain in 1961.

Answer: Zanzibar

Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the northeast coast of Tanzania. The islands were initially colonized by the Portuguese in the early 16th century. It was taken over by the Sultanate of Oman in 1698. The island became the Sultanate of Zanzibar in 1856 and would later become a protectorate of Great Britain in 1890.

In 1963, the United Kingdom dropped Zanzibar as a protectorate and the archipelago became an independent nation for a short time. Following a revolution in 1964, Zanzibar merged with the Republic of Tanganyika to become the United Republic of Tanzania that exists today.

The city in the photo is Stone Town, Zanzibar, birthplace of the late great singer Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara in 1946) of the British rock band Queen.

Answer: Kibo

Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain formation in Africa. It is located in northern Tanzania close to its border with Kenya. Mount Kilimanjaro is actually comprised of three dormant volcanoes. The tallest of these volcanoes is Kibo, which reaches a height of 5,895 m (19,341 ft) .

The second tallest is Mawenzi, which reaches a height of 5,149 m (16,893 ft). The shortest of these volcanoes is Shira, which reaches a height of 4,005 m (13,140 ft). Tourists can reach Mount Kilimanjaro via Kilimanjaro International Airport which is located 45 min southwest of the mountain area.

Answer: Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria, named after Queen Victoria, is the largest lake in Africa. The southern half of Lake Victoria sits within the borders of Tanzania. The northern half of Lake Victoria is controlled mostly by Uganda, with Kenya controlling a small part of the lake in the northeast corner.

The city of Mwanza sits along the southern coast of Lake Victoria. It is Tanzania's second largest city with over one million people living within Mwanza's metropolitan area. The photograph of the lake was taken at the Tunza Resort in Mwanza, Tanzania.

Answer: Dar es Salaam

The city of Dar es Salaam was established in the mid-1860s by the Sultan of Zanzibar prior to the arrival of the Germans. Its name is Arabic which roughly translates to "place of peace". Dar es Salaam became the capital of Tanganyika and later Tanzania after Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged. Discussion to move the capital began as early 1915, while the mainland area was still under German control.

The decision to move the capital was finally made in 1974, with the country selecting the town of Dodoma as the site of the new capital.

However, infrastructure for the new capital would not be completed until 1996, when the change was finally made official. However, Dar es Salaam remains Tanzania's largest city with a population of nearly 13 million residents.

Answer: Arusha

Arusha is Tanzania's third largest city with a population of over 400,000 people. It is located in northern Tanzania near Mount Kilimamjaro. Arusha serves as the headquarters of the East African Community (EAC), a multi-national organization launched by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda in 1967.

The organization was disbanded in 1977 due to tensions between the founding nations. The East African Community was reestablished in 2000. Rwanda and Burundi joined the EAC in 2007 and South Sudan joined the EAC in 2016.

The goal of the EAC is to unite the member nations into a single entity much like what the European Union is today. The structure in the photo is the Arusha Declaration Monument, which was completed in 1977. Mombasa is located in Kenya, Entebbe is located in Uganda and Juba is located in South Sudan.

Answer: Serengeti National Park

Serengeti National Park was established by the Tanganyikan government in 1951. It is located in northern Tanzania, east of Lake Victoria and west of Mount Kilimanjaro. The name Serengeti is derived from the local Maasai language, which roughly translates to "the place where the land runs on forever".

The Serengeti is a wide open plain and is filled with flora and fauna one would expect to find in movies like Walt Disney's "The Lion King". Hwange National Park is located in Zimbabwe. Etosha National Park is located in Namibia.

In 1931, South Africa opened the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. In 2000, this park was merged with Gemsbok National Park in Botswana to create Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

Answer: early humans

Olduvai Gorge is located in northern Tanzania, in the eastern portion of the Serengeti Plain. In 1913, a German geologist named Hans Reck discovered fossils in the area which he believed to be the remains of a human from the Pleistocene (Ice Age) era, however scientists at the time were skeptical about the find. British paleoanthropologists Mary and Louis Leakey routinely studied the Olduvai Gorge area beginning in 1935.

Their research eventually unearthed fossilized remains of several species of early humans.

The homonid species Paranthropus boisei (aka Zinjanthropus) was discovered by the Leakeys in 1959. A year later the homonid species Homo habilis was discovered in the same region.

Answer: Mafia Island

Mafia Island is an island located off the eastern coast of Tanzania that is home to over 46,000 people. Despite its name, Mafia Island is not connected (pun intended) with the infamous criminal organization. There is some debate as to the linguistic origin of Mafia Island's name.

Some people believe that the name for Mafia Island was derived from the Arabic word morfiyeh which translates to "group" or "archipelago". Others believe that the name for Mafia Island was derived from the Swahili phrase mahali pa afya, which translates to "a healthy dwelling-place".

Answer: Lake Malawi

Lake Nyasa (aka Lake Malawi) is located in the southwest corner of Tanzania. It serves as a natural border between Tanzania and the nation of Malawi, which was originally named Nyasaland before Malawi declared its independence from Great Britain in 1964.

The name Nyasa which simply means "lake" is a word that originated from the Yao language which is mainly spoken by people in the southern portion of Malawi. The lake was given the name Lake Nyasa by British explorer David Livingstone in 1859.