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Zanzibar is a
semi-autonomous part of the United
Republic of Tanzania, in East
Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian
Ocean, 25–50 kilometres (16–31 mi) off the coast of the mainland,
and consists of numerous small islands
and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, informally referred to as Zanzibar),
and Pemba. Other nearby island countries and territories include
Comoros and Mayotte to the south, Mauritius and Réunion to the far
southeast, and the Seychelles Islands about 1500 km to the east.
Zanzibar was once a separate state with a long trading history within the Arab world; it united with Tanganyika
to form Tanzania in 1964 and still enjoys a high degree of
autonomy within the union. The capital of Zanzibar, located on the
island of Unguja,
is Zanzibar City, and its historic center, known as Stone
Town, is a World Heritage Site. Zanzibar's main industries are spices, raffia, and tourism.
In particular, the islands produce cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon
and pepper. For this reason, the islands, together with
Tanzania's Mafia Island, are sometimes called the Spice Islands
(a term also associated with the Maluku Islands in Indonesia).
Zanzibar's ecology is of note for being the home of the endemic Zanzibar Red Colobus and the (possibly extinct)
Zanzibar Leopard. |
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