A report on Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, East Africa, East African Community and Swahili language

Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region.

Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi (Repuburika y’Uburundi, ; Swahili: Jamuhuri ya Burundi; French: République du Burundi, or ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley where the African Great Lakes region and East Africa converge.

The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republics of Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda.

It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west.

The DRC is located in sub-Saharan Africa, bordered to the northwest by the Republic of the Congo, to the north by the Central African Republic, to the northeast by South Sudan, to the east by Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, and by Tanzania (across Lake Tanganyika), to the south and southeast by Zambia, to the southwest by Angola, and to the west by the South Atlantic Ocean and the Cabinda exclave of Angola.

It is bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and southeast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; Lake Tanganyika lies along its southwestern border.

Due to concerted efforts by the government of Tanzania, Swahili is one of three official languages (the others being English and French) of the East African Community (EAC) countries, namely Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Due to the historical Omani Empire and colonial territories of the British East Africa Protectorate and German East Africa, the term East Africa is often (especially in the English language) used to specifically refer to the area now comprising the three countries of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

It is a lingua franca of other areas in the African Great Lakes region and East and Southern Africa, including some parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Malawi, Mozambique, the southern tip of Somalia, and Zambia.

It is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, African Union, East African Community, COMESA, Southern African Development Community, and the Economic Community of Central African States.

Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan are members of the East African Community. The first five are also included in the African Great Lakes region. Burundi and Rwanda are at times also considered to be part of Central Africa.

The country does not have a de jure official language, although the national language is Swahili.

With its original speech community centered on the coastal parts of Tanzania (particularly Zanzibar) and Kenya—a seaboard referred to as the Swahili Coast—the Bantu Swahili language contains many Arabic loan-words as a consequence of these interactions.

Kiswahili, English and French are designated as the official languages of the EAC, with Swahili designated for development as the lingua franca of the community.

In addition, Burundi, along with Rwanda, joined the East African Community in 2007.

Tanzania is a member of many international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), East African Community (EAC), and Southern African Development Community (SADC) among many others.

Approximately 242 languages are spoken in the country, of which four have the status of national languages: Kituba (Kikongo), Lingala, Tshiluba, and Swahili.

Islam has been present in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the 18th century, when Arab traders from East Africa pushed into the interior for ivory- and slave-trading purposes.