Diplomatist Special Report - Tanzania Tanzania 2018 | Page 51

Zanzibar
A taste of Africa’s Spice Islands
Z
anzibar is composed of the Zanzibar Archipelago in
the Indian Ocean, 25–50 kilometres off the coast of
the mainland, and consists of many small islands and
two large ones: Unguja and Pemba. The capital is Zanzibar
City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre is
Stone Town, which is a World Heritage Site.
Zanzibar’s main industries are spices, raffi a, and tourism.
In particular, the islands produce cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon,
and black pepper. For this reason, the islands, together with
Tanzania’s Mafi a Island, are sometimes called the ‘Spice
Islands’. Zanzibar is the home of the endemic Zanzibar Red
Colobus Monkey, the Zanzibar Servaline Genet, and the
illusive Zanzibar Leopard.
Stone Town
Located on a promontory jutting out from the western
side of Unguja Island into the Indian Ocean, Stone Town
of Zanzibar is an outstanding example of a Swahili trading
town. This type of town developed on the coast of East
Africa, further expanded under Arab, Indian, and European
infl uences, but retained its indigenous elements, to form an
urban cultural unit unique to this region.
Stone Town retains its urban fabric and the townscape
remains virtually intact and contains many fi ne buildings that
refl ect its particular culture, which has brought together and
homogenised disparate elements of the cultures of Africa, the
Arab region, India, and Europe over more than a millennium.
The buildings of Stone Town, executed principally in
coralline ragstone and mangrove timber, set in a thick lime
mortar and then plastered and lime-washed, refl ect a complex
fusion of Swahili, Indian, Arab and European infl uences
in building traditions and town planning. The two storey
houses with long narrow rooms disposed around an open
courtyard reached through a narrow corridor are distinguished
externally by elaborately carved double ‘Zanzibar’ doors, and
some by wide verandas, and by richly decorated interiors.
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