Language

Tanzanians speak more than 120 languages, the majority of which are Bantu-based. After gaining independence, the government realized that this posed a challenge to maintaining national unity and designated Swahili as the official language. To increase its use, the government implemented it in all primary schools. Kiswahili was the obvious choice because it was widely spoken informally along the coast and because it did not originate from or belong to any specific tribe, making it the ideal language to aid in national unification.

English is widely understood because the vast majority of people have adopted Kiswahili and speak it well nowadays. Due to this linguistic circumstance, a large number of the 120 tribal languages are gradually dying out with each new generation. On the other side, Kiswahili has developed into a global tongue that is widely spoken across many borders. One of the top 10 world languages is Kiswahili. Kenya, Uganda, the DRC Congo, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique are just a few countries that now use it in addition to Tanzania.