Collective name for two islands in Tanzania: Unguja and Pemba. The capital of Zanzibar, located on the island of Unguja, is Zanzibar City.

The city’s old quarter, known as Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site. Although Zanzibar enjoys a high degree of autonomy, it is not a sovereign state: it remains part of Tanzania. The population of Zanzibar was 981,754 in the 2002 census, and its area is 1,651 km² (637 mi²).

Zanzibar’s main industries are spices (which include cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper), raffia, and tourism. Zanzibar is also the home of the endemic Zanzibar Red Colobus and the elusive Zanzibar Leopard.

The word “Zanzibar” probably derives from the Persian word, Zangi-bar (“coast of the blacks”). However, the name could also have been derived from the Arabic Zayn Z’al Barr (“fair is this land”). “Zanzibar” often refers especially to Unguja Island and is sometimes referred to as the “Spice Islands,” though this term is more commonly associated with the Maluku Islands in Indonesia. Pemba Island is the only island apart of Zanzibar that still produces cloves on a major basis which is the primary source of spice income for the islands.