Tanzania (), officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a sovereign state in eastern Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Kenya and Uganda to the north; Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west ; Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south; and the Indian Ocean to the east. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa 's highest mountain, is in north-eastern Tanzania.
The United Nations estimated Tanzania's 2016 population at 55.57 million. The population is composed of several ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups.
Tanzania is a presidential constitutional republic and since 1996 its official capital city has been Dodoma where the president 's office, the National Assembly, and some government ministries are located. Dar es Salaam, the former capital, retains most government offices and is the country 's largest city, principal port, and leading commercial centre. Tanzania is a one party dominant state with the socialist-progressive Chama Cha Mapinduzi party in power.
Some prehistoric population migrations into Tanzania include Southern Cushitic speakers who moved south from Ethiopia ; Eastern Cushitic people who moved into Tanzania from north of Lake Turkana about 2,000 and 4,000 years ago; and the Southern Nilotes, including the Datoog, who originated from the present- day South Sudan - Ethiopiaborder region between 2,900 and 2,400 years ago. These movements took place at about the same time as the settlement of the Mashariki Bantu from West Africa in the Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika areas.
