The current population of the country is around 34 million people, made up of many ethnic groups. There are over 100 tribal groups most of them belonging to the Bantu classification of agricultural peoples. A few tribes belong to the cattle keeping Nilotic and mixed farming Cushitic groups. There is also a very small section of the population claiming Khoisan descent. Around half the population are Christians, with the other half Moslem, concentrated especially around the coast and Zanzibar & Pemba. A small number of the population still follows traditional beliefs.

Over the years, people of Arab, Indian and European origins have also settled in the country, but these are a minority.

From the end of the 19th century, the mainland was a colony of Germany and the Islands of Zanzibar a British Protectorate. After World War I, the mainland was mandated to the British as a trusteeship under the League of Nations, and later United Nations Organization. Unlike Kenya, Tanganyika was never a formal colony of the British Empire and was one of the first African countries to gain independence in 1961 under president Julius (Mwalimu) Nyerere. In 1964 Tanganyika and Zanzibar united to become the United Republic of Tanzania.

The commercial capital of Tanzania is Dar es Salaam at the coast and the administrative capital is Dodoma in the central region. Tanzania is a peaceful and stable country with a democratically elected government. The country held its third multiparty general elections in October 2005.