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The State University of Zanzibar(SUZA)
American Councils for International Education administers the Undergraduate Swahili Overseas Flagship Program in partnership with The State University of Zanzibar(SUZA). SUZA is among the most recent institutions in Tanzania. It was established in 1999 and currently, the University consists of the Institute of Kiswahili and Foreign Languages (IKFL), Institute of Continuing Education (ICE), the School of Education, Arts and Sciences (SEAS) and Computer Centre (CC). The Institute of Kiswahili and Foreign Languages has been teaching Kiswahili, Arabic, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and German with Education for a number of years at certificate and diploma levels.
Host City
SUZA is located on the seaside city of Zanzibar, the heart of Swahili civilization and culture in East Africa. Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous territory of the United Republic of Tanzania. It comprises two main islands Unguja and Pemba including several other islets a few miles off the East African Coast. Unguja is the much larger and more populous of the two main islands and it is commonly referred to as Zanzibar. Zanzibar enjoys an autonomous status in many areas of governance and has a separate legal system from the mainland.
The Zanzibar islands have been central to the emergence and expansion of the Swahili culture whose mercantile civilization dominated the East African coast (popularly known as Swahili coast) from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique for more than 1500 years until the coming of British colonial rule in 1890. Shortly after independence from Britain in 1963, Zanzibar united with mainland Tanganyika in 1964 to form Tanzania following the Zanzibar revolution which overthrew the ruling Omani-dominated sultanate. Thus the new formed union became known as the United Republic of Tanzania.
The capital of Zanzibar, located on the island of Unguja, is Zanzibar City, and its historic center, known as Stone Town, is a UNESCO cultural World Heritage Site. Zanzibar is well known for its spices and because of this; it’s sometimes called the Spice Islands. Zanzibar with its beautiful beaches and resorts is also a popular tourist destination.
Although Zanzibar is a part of Tanzania post-revolution, most Zanzibari's feel separate and have a unique pride in their Zanzibari identities.
