Tanzania's heart pulsates with the blood of close to 120 tribal groups, as well as Asians, Arabs, Europeans and others.
Despite the diversity in the indigenous gene pool, most tribes are very small, with almost 100 of them combined accounting for only one-third of the country's total population.
As a result none have succeeded in dominating politically or culturally, although groups such as the Chagga and the Haya, who have a long tradition of education, are often disproportionately well-represented in government and business circles.
The vast majority of Tanzanians, about 95%, are of Bantu origin. These include the Sukuma (who live around Mwanza and the southern Lake Victoria and constitute about 13% of Tanzania's overall population), the Nyamwezi (around Tabora), the Makonde (south-eastern Tanzania), the Haya (around Bukoba), the Chagga (around Mount Kilimanjaro), the Maasai and several smaller groups including the Arusha and the Samburu (all in northern Tanzania) are of Nilo-Hamitic or nilotic origin.
The Iraqw, who live in the area around Karatu and the north-west of Lake Manyara are Cushitic, as are the tiny northern-central tribes of Goroa and Burungi.
The Sandawe and more distantly, the Hadzabe (around Lake Eyasi) are considered to belong to the Khoisan ethno-linguistic family.
About 985.000 (3% of Tanzania's total population) live on the Zanzibar archipelago, about one-third of these on Pemba island. Most African Zanzibaris belong to one of these three groups: the Hadimu, the Tumbatu and the Pemba. Members of the non-African population are primarily Shirazi and consider themselves to be descendants from Shirazi in Persia.