2019-12-09 Mon

Celebrated on December 9th, Tanzania Independence Day is Tanzania's National Day. The day celebrates the end of British rule in Tanganyika in 1961.

European colonialism in the region began after the visit of Vasco da Gama in 1498. The first European power to form colonies was Germany. However, the mainland came under British control and was ruled as Tanganyika, with Zanzibar remaining a separate colonial jurisdiction.

The political movement within Tanzania began in 1954, with the creation of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), led by Julius Nyerere, whose main objective was sovereignty for Tanganyika. British rule ended on December 9th, 1961, with Julius Nyerere becoming the first prime minister. Tanganyika became a democratic republic a year later on December 9th, 1962.

Following a revolution on Zanzibar in 1963, Zanzibar and Tanganyika merged on April 26th, 1964 with the country renamed Tanzania in October of that year. Tanzania is a combination of 'Tan' from Tanganyika and 'Zan' from Zanzibar, reflecting the origin of the country.

Tanzanian Independence Day is celebrated with a presidential address, a military parade, and performances by music groups. To celebrate the 45th Anniversary of the Independence, Tanzania Post issued a special Commemorative stamp 400 with the denominatonTanzanian shilingi.

The stamp depicts the National Uhuru Monument in the center with the name of the country and denomination value at the bottom.

Image Courtesy: https://stamps.tz.post/

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