Where is Tanzania?

Tanzania lies in East Africa, on the Indian Ocean, just below the equator. It borders eight countries and is almost four times the size of the United Kingdom, larger than Texas. Kilimanjaro stands in the north, and to the east runs the coast, with Zanzibar just offshore.

Tanzania on the map

The neighbouring countries

Tanzania borders Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. With the Congo it shares Lake Tanganyika, and the border runs through the water.

The great lakes

Three of Africa's largest lakes touch Tanzania:

1. Lake Victoria in the north west, shared with Uganda and Kenya
2. Lake Tanganyika in the west, along the border with the Congo and Burundi
3. Lake Malawi in the south west, which Tanzanians call Lake Nyasa

Where the safari parks are

The best known parks lie in the north: the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire and Lake Manyara. You reach them from Arusha and Moshi, at the foot of Kilimanjaro, where the airport is too.

In the south lie Nyerere, the old Selous, and Ruaha, quieter and further away. In the west, on Lake Tanganyika, lie Gombe and Mahale, home to the chimpanzees.

For most trips the north is where it starts. What each park has to show you is on our safari page.

Zanzibar is part of Tanzania

Zanzibar lies off the coast, 25 to 35 kilometres from the mainland. It belongs to Tanzania and governs itself to a large degree. More on that at where is Zanzibar.

How far it is

From the map to the route

Where you begin and which parks you link together decides how much time you spend in the vehicle and how much among the animals. How we do that, you can see in each of our itineraries.

View our itineraries