Tanzania is home to the highest point in Africa – snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro, which can be climbed by walkers without mountaineering equipment – as well as to Olduvai Gorge, where some of the oldest human remains have been found. It also contains most of the Serengeti region, which hosts a dazzling array of animal, bird and plant life and sees the annual migration of 200,000 zebras and more than a million gnu and gazelles in search of water. Ever-increasing numbers of tourists are drawn to these attractions, as well as to the exotic Zanzibar and Pemba islands which lie off the eastern coast, with their exquisite beaches and blend of ancient Persian and African culture and architecture.
From the 16th century onwards, these islands changed hands between British and Portuguese colonialists and Arab kings. In 1964, following a rebellion by its African population against Arab rule, Zanzibar merged with the newly independent former British colony of Tanganyika to form the current United Republic of Tanzania, with Julius Nyerere as its first president.
