National – Local – Ethnic or Religious Identity?

Tanzania is amongst other things known for its ethnic diversity. In 1987 it was established that Tanzania had 130 different African ethnic groups. Despite the ethnic diversity Tanzania is successful in acceptance and famous for being a country in peace. Peoples identity creation is a constantly evolving process and is therefore difficult to define and categorize. Despite that this essay aims to get an understanding of Tanzanians cultural integration. How do people define themselves in terms of their own identity? What matter the most, is it religion, the local or national community? How important is the ethnic inheritance in the urban society? Is it one or more of these categorizations that people have a stronger connection to. How important is the language and the ability to communicate with each other to maintain a peaceful stability? These questions where asked to inhabitants of the town Babati which is situated in the northern parts of Tanzania. The interviews took place during a three week long field study February – March 2010.