Zanzibar
People & Culture
People | Languages | Religion | Festivals |
Cooking & Recipes | Music |
Art & Craft
People
The Arab influence on Zanzibar and Pemba
islands is evident in the people, who are a mix of Shirazia (from Persia),
Arabs, Comorians (from the Comoros Islands) and Bantu from the mainland, though
the latter predominate.
Asians are a significant minority especially in
the towns and cities. Europeans (either by descent or expatriate) are a smaller
minority.
The island of origin of the locals pretty much determines
what tribe they belong to. The Waunguja would emanate from Unguja Island, with
Wapemba tribe from Pemba Island and Watumbatu from Tumbato Island.
The
Hadimu and Tumbatu tribes were the indeginous people of Zanzibar, most Hadimu
live in the southern part the Island while the Tumbatu are predominantly found
in the North.
Listen
to Tanzania National
Anthem
Words of the
Tanzania
National Anthem
LANGUAGES
The official languages of Zanzibar are
Kiswahili and English. English is spoken by most of the islanders, and many
have a working knowledge of Italian and Arabic
It's extremely useful
for the traveller to have a working knowledge of Swahili, especially outside
the urban areas and in remote parts of the country.
The Institute of
Kiswahili and Foreign Languages
Opened in 1979, this institute teaches
Kiswahili to students from different parts of the world. The institute offers
courses at a beginner, intermediate and advanced level. The courses take a
period from three weeks to 2 months depending on the student's level of
understanding. The institute also runs a one week crash course for tourists
interested in the Kiswahili language.
For more information contact:
The
Director Institute of Kiswahili and Foreign Languages
P.O.Box 882 Zanzibar
Tanzania. Email:
takiluki@zanzinet.com
Tel: +255 242 230724 or +255 242 233337
Recommended Audio
Cassette
|
 |
Swahili (Teach
Yourself (Book and Cassette)) (amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
Joan Russell has created a
practical course in spoken and written Swahili that is both fun and easy to
work through. Based on the Council of Europe's Threshold guidelines on language
learning, the course contains 18 graded units of dialogues, culture notes,
grammar, and exercises; pronunciation guide; and Swahili-English and
English-Swahili vocabularies. |
Swahili Online Dictionary
Swahili
is the most widely spoken African language, with 50 million speakers in East
Africa and Central Africa, particularly in Tanzania (including Zanzibar) and
Kenya. The new 56,000-entry lexicon is now available online!
Other Websites
Languages of Tanzania
RELIGION
97% of Zanzibar's population practices
the Islamic faith. The remaining mix is a combination of Hindu and Christian.
Indepth
article about Religion in Zanzibar
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
Click to visit
our Festivals & Events section here
COOKING & RECIPES
When the wind blows in the
right direction, the fragrance of spice is deliciously strong, and you know you
are in Zanzibar, the Spice Island, with its cloves and cinnamon, lichee nuts,
cocoa beans, and coconut. A tiny island, it is a part of Tanzania, the name
deriving from a combination of the names of the two formerly separate states,
Tanganika and Zanzibar. (read more...)
Staple foods include; Ugali, rice,
bread, chapati (fried paste of wheat powder) Meat: Beef, chicken, goat, etc.
Fish: Tilapia (a freshwater fish) and other fish Vegetables
How You Can Present a Zanzibar Dinner
Beans and Groundnut Relish
Zanzibar Pilau
Supu Ya Kuku - Chicken Soup
M'Chuzi wa Nyama- Curry of Beef Zanzibar
Mango
Tartlets with Lime Curd and Tropical Nut Crust
MUSIC
Zanzibar's most world famous musician is
Freddie Mercury ...
Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara on September
5th 1946 in Zanzibar, to parents Bomi & Jer Bulsara, who were Parsees -
members of the Zoroastrian faith. (The Zoroastrian Fire Temple in Zanzibar is
located on Nyerere Road to the east of Zanzibar Stone Town, near Kilimani
cemetery.)
Zanzibar is at the heart of the distinctive Taraab, or sung
poetry, tradition. The goddess of this haunting style is Siti bint Saad, the
first East African singer to make commercial recordings, way back in 1928.
Tarabu, also called taarab or tarab, is the African-Islamic music
popular in the coastal towns of Tanzania and Kenya, and the island of Zanzibar.
Tarab is popularly known as Swahili wedding music, since tarabu musicians and
music are an essential part of these multi-day festivities.
Instruments
used include; Violins, Accordion, Double Bass, Cello, Tambourine,
derbouka
The Dhow Countries Music Academy Zanzibar (DCMA)
a
non-profit, non-governmental organisation, established in March 2001. It aims
to open a music school in Stonetown, Zanzibar in the year of 2002, providing
music lessons as well as instruments at minimal cost to anyone interested in
studying music or acquiring mastery of an instrument.
ART & CRAFT
Art lovers will find paintings by
several Zanzibar artists, including the popular Tinga Tinga painting style, and
contemporary views of Stone Town.
Zanzibar is famous for its' carved
chests and doors (each carving has a meaning).
During the 1800's,
special craftsmen in Zanzibar achieved a style and tradition of carving wooden
doors that can be found nowhere else in the world! Their special style combined
methods used in west India with Islamic decorative elements with Swahili
tradition. When a house was built in Zanzibar, the door was traditionally the
first part to be erected. The greater the wealth and social position of the
owner of the house, the larger and more elaborately carved his front door. Many
doors are studded with brass spikes.
At last count, there were 560
carved doors in Zanzibar. The oldest door discovered in Zanzibar is dated AD
1694.
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