Area: 640 square miles                                                           Population: 330,000

Portuguese rule over this island lasted 150 years. During this time the town of Zanzibar was founded, ending with its recapture by the Arabs from Oman. The Iman of Muscat, Seyyid Said, became Sultan in Zanzibar in 1833. He transferred his main seat there in 1840 and extended his rule to the East African coastal strip from Lindi beyond Kilwa in the south, then Mombasa in the north as far as Lamu and Mogadishu. After his death in 1856, the Sultanate of Zanzibar separated from the Inamate in Muscat, but remained in the same dynasty with a common ruling regarding the succession to the throne. The agreement between the German Reich and Great Britain regarding the delimitation of their mutual interests in the so-called Heligoland/Zanzibar Treaty of 1890 robbed the Sultan of his influence over the African coast, but left the Island of Pemba and placed him under the protection of British rule. The independence granted the Sultanate on December 10, 1963 lasted only one month. Since January 12, 1964 Zanzibar is a republic which united on April 27, 1964 with Tanganyika to form the United Republic of Tanganyika-Zanzibar, known as Tanzania since November 3, 1964.

Monetary System

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