Tanzania 

Introduction

The United Republic of Tanzania (URT) consists of mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, which comprises the main island Unguja, together with Pemba and other small islands. It has a population of 39,384,223 and a total area of 945,090 sq km including the islands’ 1,651 sq km. 

In mainland Tanzania there are 25 urban councils and 97 district councils, three township and 10,075 registered village councils.

The contribution of local government of mainland Tanzania to the GDP of the mainland was about five per cent in 2005. 

Summary

Mainland Tanzania has embarked on a comprehensive reform programme for the public-sector, in which local councils have a key role. The ongoing reform aims to promote democratic, accountable and autonomous local government authorities, with wide discretionary powers and a strong financial base to be implemented by 2011. The reform supports an enhanced participatory planning framework, to ensure that locally expressed needs are integrated into local government decisions. Zanzibar is also embarking on a programme for local government reform.

 Download full profile of Tanzania (  193K PDF)