The centrally located Chake-Chake is perched on a mound with a view to the west on a bay and the tiny Misali Island, where the tides determine when a dhow can enter the local harbour.

Pemba is, with the exception of a strip of land along its eastern coast, a very fertile place: besides clove trees, the locals grow mainly rice, coconut, bananas, cassava, and red beans (called maharagwe in the Swahili language).

Pemba is home to several dive sites, with steep drop-offs, untouched coral, and very abundant marine life.

Archaeological research on Pemba has shown its centrality to the Swahili coast trading system as early as 600 AD.

[10] According to the Arab geographer Yakut, in the mid-13th century there were two independent sultans ruling over parts of Pemba Island.

[11] On 24 June 2016, the Australian Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Darren Chester, said that a piece of aircraft debris was found on Pemba Island, possibly being from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

[18] Pemba is (with the exception of a strip of land along its eastern coast) highly fertile for agriculture which serves the global farming industry.

[citation needed] Most of the island, which is hillier and more fertile than Unguja, is dominated by small scale farming.

There is also large-scale farming of other crops, primarily rice, coconuts, and red beans (called maharagwe in Swahili), as well as cassava and bananas.