Zanzibar (Tanzania)

Zanzibar is an archipelago made up of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands, and several islets. It is located in the Indian Ocean, about 25 miles from the Tanzanian coast. Zanzibar Island occupies a total area of approximately 650 square miles. It is characterized by beautiful sandy beaches with fringing coral reefs, and the magic of historic Stone Town – said to be the only functioning ancient town in East Africa.
Zanzibar’s main industries are spices, raffia, and tourism. It is still sometimes referred to, with the islands Pemba and Mafia, as one of the Spice Islands (a term also associated with the Maluku Islands in Indonesia) because of the significance of its production of cloves (of which it used to be the world leader in the 1970s[citation needed]), nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper.

Zanzibar’s local people are an incredible mixture of ethnic backgrounds, indicative of her colourful history. Zanzibaris speak Swahili (known locally as Kiswahili), a language which is spoken extensively in East Africa. Many believe that the purest form is spoken in Zanzibar as it is the birth place of the language.