It is approximately centered on the island of Madagascar and includes about half of the east coast of Africa, from the Gulf of Aden in the north through the East African Rift Valley.

[2] The Arabian plate diverges to the north forming the Gulf of Aden.

The western boundary with the African plate is diverging to form the East African Rift, which stretches south from the triple junction in the Afar depression.

From 1.4–1.2 Ga the Kibaran orogeny fused the Tanzanian and Congo cratons.

[3] From 1000 to 600 Ma the super-continent Gondwana was formed and the Pan-African orogeny sutured the Tanzanian and Kalahari cratons.