Zanzibar is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean located 22 miles off the coast of Tanzania mainland. It has an area of about 600 square miles (1,554 square km). It is also known as the spice Island due to the presence of lots of amazing spices such as clove cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut and fruits. The climate is typically insular, tropical and humid with an average annual rainfall of 60 to 80 inches (1,500 to 2,000 mm). Rainfall is reliable and well-distributed in comparison with most of eastern Africa.

Northeast trade winds blow from December to March and southeast trade winds from May to October. The ‘long rains’’ occur between March and May and the ‘’Shot rains’’ between October and December. The language mostly spoken is highly Arabicized form of Swahili (Kiswahili).

Among the Arabs, the language of the home is usually Swahili, and use of pure Arabic is confined to scholars and recent arrivals from Arabia. Gujarat, Hindi, Urdu, and Konkani are spoken by the Asian communities and English and Swahili are widely used and understood. The stone town is renowned as the world heritage site due to its outstanding cultural values.

Zanzibar’s ecosystem is the home of the endemic Zanzibar red colobus, the Zanzibar servaline genet, and the extinct or rare Zanzibar leopard. Forested areas such as Jozani are inhabited by monkeys, bush pigs, small antelopes, African palm civets, forest duiker, 20 species of bats, 30 forms of snakes, insect pests such as coreid bug which attack coconuts, and various species of mongoose.

There are also many bird species and large number of butterflies in rural areas. Zanzibar is also blessed with fascinating beaches and amazing ocean creatures like dolphins. There are three main islands with permanent human settlements which are Zanzibar Island, Pemba Island and Mafia Island. There is also a fourth coral island, Latham Island that serves as an essential breeding ground for seabirds. There are also number smaller islets that surround these islands.

Most of the archipelago belongs to the Zanzibar semi-autonomous zones of Tanzania while the neighboring Mafia Archipelago and its associated islets are parts of the Pwani Region on the Tanzanian mainland. Zanzibar stone town is a fine example of the Swahili coastal trading towns of East Africa. It retains its urban fabric and townscape virtually intact and contains many fine buildings that reflect its particular culture, which has brought together and homogenized disparate elements of the cultures of Africa, the Arab region, India and Europe over more than a millennium.

The buildings of the Stone Town, executed principally in coralline ragstone and mangrove timber, set in a thick lime mortar and then plastered and lime- washed, reflect a complex fusion of Swahili, Indian, Arab and European influences in building traditions and town planning. The major buildings date from the 18^th and 19^th centuries and include monuments such as the Old Fort, built on the site of an earlier Portuguese church; the house of wonder, a large ceremonial palace built by Sultan Bargash; the Old Dispensary; St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Cathedral; Christ Church Anglican Cathedral commemorating the work of Dr. David Livingstone in abolishing the slave trade and built on the site of the last slave market; the residence of the slave trader Tippu Tipu; the Malindi Bamnara Mosque; the Jamat Khan built for the Ismail sect; the Royal cemetery; the Hamamni and other Persian baths. Together with the narrow winding street pattern, large mansions facing the seafront and open spaces these buildings form an exceptional urban settlement reflecting the longstanding trading activity between the African and Asian seaboards. In particular the Stone town’s is also marked by being the site where slave trading was finally terminated. Basically, the Stone Town of Zanzibar is an outstanding material manifestation of cultural fusion and harmonization.

For many centuries there was intense seaborne trading activity between Asia and Africa and this is illustrated in an exceptional manner by the architecture and urban structure of the Stone Town. In addition, Zanzibar has great symbolic importance in the suppression of slavery, since it was one of the main slave- trading posts in East Africa and also the base from which its opponents, such as David Livingstone, conducted their campaign. The buildings in the Stone Town still maintain their authenticity and continue to express the interchange of human values around the Indian Ocean rim. The local artisans are competent in both the traditional building techniques and the skills needed to produce quality construction materials namely laterite-sand, lime and coral stone. The Stone Town is not only an historic living town but also a commercial and socio- cultural center of the Zanzibar Archipelago.