Zanzibar

Zanzibar An island off the East African coast which developed into a trading centre during the nineteenth century. It was coveted by several European powers in the age of imperialism, but in 1890 Germany gave up its claims to the British in exchange for the North Sea island of Heligoland. The British proceeded to govern through the Sultan and his traditional elites (indirect rule) and thus entrenched the rule of the privileged Arab minority over the African majority. This continued after independence on 10 December 1963. On 12 January 1964, however, the government was overthrown by the Afro-Shirazi Party under A. Karume. The revolution led to the exodus of around 90 per cent of the Arab population. Zanzibar was united with Tanganyika to form Tanzania on 26 April 1964, though Zanzibar retained extensive autonomy with a separate legal, executive, and legislative system. President Karume instituted a hardline Marxist regime, but was overthrown by M. A. Jumbe (b. 1920) in 1972. The latter continued in power until 1984, when he retired in favour of Mwinyi. When Mwinyi succeeded Nyerere as President of Tanzania, his position in Zanzibar was filled by S. S. Hamad (until 1988), Omar Ali Juma (1988–90), and Salmin Amour (1990–2000). Despite Zanzibar's autonomy, there were frequent tensions with the Tanzanian mainland. In 1993 the predominantly Muslim Zanzibar (briefly) entered the Islamic Conference, which caused an uproar in the rest of Tanzania with its religious diversity. Tensions often manifested themselves during the elections, as the ruling Tanzanian Revolutionary Party (CCM) clashed with the opposition Civic United Front. In 1995, when Amour was re-elected, and in 2000, when his successor from the CCM was elected ( Amani Karume), the CUF accused the CCM of large-scale electoral fraud to ensure its fragile hold over the island.