Tanzania is an East African country known for its vast wilderness areas. They include the plains of Serengeti National Park, a safari mecca (populated by elephants, lions, leopards, buffalos, and rhinos), and Kilimanjaro National Park, home to Africa’s highest mountain. Offshore lie the tropical islands of Zanzibar and Mafia, with a marine park home to whale sharks and coral reefs.
While statistics on religion are not available for Tanzania, religious leaders and sociologists estimate that Muslim and Christian communities are approximately equal in size, each accounting for 30 to 40 percent of the population, with the remainder consisting of practitioners of other world faiths, practitioners of indigenous religions, and people of no religion. The population as of 2016 was 55.57 million. The official languages of Tanzania are Swahili and English, though there are a total of 126 local languages.
Tanzania is divided into thirty regions (mkoa), twenty-five on the mainland and five in Zanzibar.
The message of revival and reformation reached Tanzania through our brethren from Kenya. We were also helped and continue to be so by our German brethren. The General Conference is printing Sabbath Bible Lessons in the Swahili language through the Rwanda Union, near Tanzania. Swahili is spoken throughout all East African countries.
The work has now progressed to the point where we need to establish a headquarters. We believe Dar es Salaam will be the best place for this. Dar es Salaam, or simply Dar, formerly known as Mzizima, is the former capital as well as the most populous city in Tanzania and a regionally important economic center. Located on the Swahili coast, the city is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Dar is a multicultural city, home to African Tanzanians, Arabic and South Asian communities, British and German expatriates, Catholics, Lutherans, and Muslims. This is an ideal place for our headquarters as it will facilitate our missionary work for the whole country.
We appeal to all of our Sabbath School members around the world to give generously to this project. Thank you in advance for your help. May God greatly repay your kindness toward His work in Africa.
Your brothers and sisters in the Tanzanian Mission