Unguja (also referred to as "Zanzibar Island" or simply "Zanzibar", in grc, Μενουθιάς, Menuthias – as mentioned in The ''

Periplus of the Erythraean Sea The ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' ( grc, Περίπλους τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς Θαλάσσης, ', modern Greek '), also known by its Latin name as the , is a Greco-Roman periplus written in Koine Greek that describes navigation and ...

'') is the largest and most populated island of the

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

archipelago, in

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

History

Geography

Unguja is a hilly island, about long (north-south) and wide (east-west) at its widest, with an overall area of about . It is located in the northern half of the

Zanzibar Archipelago The Zanzibar Archipelago ( ar, أرخبيل زنجبار, sw, Funguvisiwa la Zanzibar) consists of several islands lying off the coast of East Africa south of the Somali sea. The archipelago is also known as the Spice Islands. There are four ...

, in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

, about south of the second largest island of the archipelago,

Pemba Pemba may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Pemba Island, in Tanzania * Pemba, Mozambique Pemba is a port city and district in Mozambique. It is the capital of the province of Cabo Delgado and lies on a peninsula in Pemba Bay. The town was found ...

. Unguja and mainland

are separated by the

Zanzibar Channel The Zanzibar Channel is a strait in south-eastern Africa, separating the island of Unguja (also known as Zanzibar) from mainland Tanzania. The channel is 120 km long and 29–37 km wide, with depth varying from a few dozen metres (in the ...

. Unguja is surrounded by a number of smaller islands and islets, with only two of them,

Tumbatu Tumbatu (''eneo la kale wa Tumbatu'' in Swahili) is historic Swahili settlement located on Tumbatu Island, Kaskazini A District of Unguja North Region in Tanzania. This site is a significant archaeological site that contains a large number o ...

and

Uzi The Uzi (; he, עוזי, Ūzi; officially cased as UZI) is a family of Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns and machine pistols first designed by Major Uziel "Uzi" Gal in the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the ...

, being inhabited. Other minor islands around Unguja include Bawe, Chapwani,

Changuu Changuu Island (also known as Kibandiko, Prison or Quarantine Island) is a small island northwest of Stone Town, Unguja, Zanzibar, Tanzania. The island is around long and wide at its broadest point. The island saw use as a prison for rebell ...

, Chumbe, Kizingo, Kwale, Latham, Mautani, Miwi,

Mnemba Mnemba Island is a single small island located about 3 km off the northeast coast of Unguja, the largest island of the Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania, opposite Muyuni Beach. It is roughly triangular in shape, about in diameter and about in c ...

, Mwana wa Mwana, Nianembe, Popo, Pungume, and Ukanga.

Politics

Unguja and the surrounding islands are divided into three

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

: Zanzibar Central/South (capital: Koani), Zanzibar North (capital: Mkokotoni), Zanzibar Urban/West (capital:

Zanzibar City Zanzibar City or Mjini District, often simply referred to as Zanzibar (''Wilaya ya Zanzibar Mjini'' or ''Jiji la Zanzibar'' in Swahili) is one of two administrative districts of Mjini Magharibi Region in Tanzania. The district covers an area of . ...

). Unguja belongs to

, which is defined by the Tanzanian Constitution as "a part" of

with a high degree of autonomy. The local Zanzibari government is based in Stone Town, on the west coast of Unguja.

Population

As of the 2012

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, the total population of Unguja was 896,721, mostly concentrated in the Zanzibar urban region. The main settlement on the island is

, which serves as a capital for Zanzibar and which includes the renowned historical city of Stone Town as well as other populated areas such as

Michenzani Michenzani is a large neighbourhood of Ng'ambo, the more modern part of Zanzibar City in Tanzania. It is located just across Creek Road, that separates the historical part of the city, Stone Town (to the west) and Ng'ambo (to the east). The pla ...

. Other major settlements on Unguja include Mbweni, Mangapwani, Chwaka, and Nungwi. People of Unguja mostly speak '' kiunguja'' ("the language of Unguja"), which is the

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

of the Swahili language that was used as the main model for the definition of standard Swahili.Kiunguja
/ref>

Economy

Unguja is the island of the Zanzibar Archipelago that has the most developed

tourism industry Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

. This accounts for a substantial part of Unguja's economy. Agriculture (including the production of

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spice ...

s such as cloves) and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

are other relevant activities. All along the east coast, most villages also rely on

seaweed farming Seaweed farming or kelp farming is the practice of cultivating and harvesting seaweed. In its simplest form, it consists of the management of naturally found batches. In its most advanced form, it consists of fully controlling the life cycle ...

Ecology

Notable mammal species on the island include the Zanzibar servaline genet,

African palm civet The African palm civet (''Nandinia binotata''), also known as the two-spotted palm civet, is a small feliform mammal widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Characteristics The African palm ...

, and

Zanzibar red colobus The Zanzibar red colobus (''Piliocolobus kirkii'') is a species of red colobus monkey endemic to Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago, off the coast of Tanzania. It is also known as Kirk's red colobus after Sir John Kirk, the Bri ...

. In June 2018, a leopard was caught on camera here, despite previously being considered extinct in Zanzibar for the past 25 years.

References

External links

Population growth 1988–2002

{{Authority control Zanzibar Archipelago Islands of Zanzibar