SUMMARY
The official name of Tanzania is United Republic of Tanzania. The country is named after Tanganyika, its mainland part, and the Zanzibar islands off its east coast. Tanganyika gained independence (from United Kingdom) in 1961 and Zanzibar in 1964. After independence for Zanzibar it merged with Tanganyika and formed the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Later the same year was renamed the United Republic of Tanzania. From independence until the mid 1980s Tanzania was a socialist one-party state led by the President Julius Kambarage Nyere. In 1977 the ruling party in Tanganyika (Tanganyika African National Union) and the ruling party at Zanzibar (Afro-Shirazi Party) merged and formed the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM).
Nyere was succeeded by Ali Hassan Mwinyi and under his administration Tanzania undertook both political and economic reforms. One of the most important was the decision to introduce multiparty democracy in early 1994, though the CCM never tolerated a true opposition movement to contest them in the elections, and retained its hold on power. During the rule of John Magufuli (2015-2021), civic space shrunk further as his regime became increasingly authoritarian. The government and the long-ruling CCM faced a crisis upon his death in office, as his vice president Samia Suluhu Hassan inherited power. The party had become increasingly unpopular, and Hassan lacked the personal popularity that Magufuli had been able to enjoy. Early attempts to portray herself as a reformer were quickly abandoned, as they appeared to both emboldened opposition within CCM and from the opposition.
As Tanzania held general elections in October 2025, Hassan appeared determined to secure an overwhelming electoral victory to shore up her legitimacy, no matter what. The main opposition party Chadema was barred from participating, and the elections themselves were immediately condemned as fraudulent. Demonstrations began on 29 October, the day of the election, in several cities across Tanzania, demanding free and fair elections and the resignation of the government. Although largely peaceful, the protests were met with violence from the security forces. At least 1,000 civilians were killed by the government in one-sided violence over the next few days, both as part of protests and through extrajudicial executions by government forces that roamed around to enforce a curfew and ban on any form of gatherings. A further 360 people died in violent protests, recorded in the VPP category of UCDP violence. It is very likely that many more people were killed, as unverified claims by the opposition and some NGOs put the death toll at somewhere between 3,500 and 10,000.
The government of Tanzania has been involved in the interstate, intrastate and one-sided categories of UCDP organised violence.
