| Faces of Tanzania |
|
This sense of nationalism has served to keep the country at peace for over two decades, while most of its neighbors have been involved intermittently in catastrophically destructive civil and cross-border wars. Tanzanians have been able to resolve most internal problems without resorting to violence because of a shared language and lack of political or economic dominance by any ethnic group. The lingua franca shared by almost the entire population is Swahili, a coastal Bantu language strongly influenced by Arabic. The late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, the founding father of the East African nation, encouraged the adoption of Swahili for all Tanzanians in a concerted and successful effort to enable people from different parts of the country to communicate with one another and to encourage them to identify themselves as one people. The use of a single common language has greatly facilitated trade, political debate, nationalism, information dissemination, and conflict resolution. The most important for both business and government is the coastal city of Dar es Salaam. It hosts about 2.8 million people. During daytime, the heavy weight of traffic, office workers, busy merchants, street vendors and restaurateurs of the area lend it a frenetic and slightly claustrophobic air, but also underpins on the will and zeal of Tanzanians to help build their nation in whichever way they can. After nightfall, the area is relatively quiet as much of the city's nightlife is located in more residential districts away from the city's mainly commercial centre. Thus living up to its Arabic name, Dar es Salaam, ‘house of peace’. Music and dance are a strong part of Tanzanians. There is strong following of local bands that perform live such as Kilimanjaro, Twanga Pepeta and FM Academia. Taarab which was traditionally strong in Zanzibar has also found a niche but remains small compared both to dance music and "Bongo Flava", a broad category that represents the Tanzanian take on Hip Hop and R&B, which has quickly become the most popular locally produced music. This type of music is especially strong among the youth and it seems that its pull is reducing the interest in performing and hearing dance music. Traditional music, which locally is used to refer to tribal music is still performed but typically only on family oriented occasions such as weddings. In its entirety, Tanzania is a nation with warmth that wraps around you like the morning sunrise over the ocean shore, a nation with deep traditions that are tucked away deep in the wrinkles of the elephant that roams its savannah and a nation whose culture is rich with flavor. 
|
