[4][5] Commonwealth countries, including Tanzania, often use the terms nationality and citizenship as synonyms, despite recognising their legal distinction and the fact that they are regulated by different governmental administrative bodies.

In order for a foreign national to become Tanzanian they must have resided in the territory for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand either Swahili or the English language and the customs and traditions of the society.

[15] General provisions are that applicants must be of the age of majority and have legal capacity; have good character; have the ability to contribute to the growth of the social and cultural advancement of the country; and intend to permanently reside in the territory.

[22][24] Re-acquisition of nationality that has been lost through renunciation by a woman who married a foreigner, may be granted at the discretion of the Minister of Home Affairs.

[28] It collapsed in 1977, but negotiations continued until 1984 on final dissolution because of an inability to reach agreement on the distribution of the organizations assets and liabilities.

[32] It also has developed policies to assist local business in facilitating trade and attracting foreign investments, through a common market system launched in 2010.

[35][36] Humans began settling in the region some ten thousand years establishing small villages throughout the eastern part of the Rift Valley.

[37] Between 1000 and 1300 AD Persian and Arab merchants began settling along the Swahili coast and offshore islands, establishing villages and Afro-Arab trade networks.

[40][41] In 1505, Francisco de Almeida seized the island and began construction of a trading fort at São Thiago.

[37][42] By 1830, Arab-Swahili merchants had networks running from the coastal towns to trading posts in Tabora and as far west as Ujiji and from Lake Tanganyika in the south to the Kingdom of Buganda in the north.

[44] In November 1884, Carl Peters was sent to the area by the Society for German Colonization and secured twelve treaties with local rulers granting Germany territorial rights to an area of around 2,500 square miles stretching from Usagara southward to the Nguru Mountains and then east to the Uzigua Forest in the current Pwani Region, before meeting the coast at Ukami, near Dar es Salaam.

In February 1885, Kaiser William I issued a decree acknowledging the annexations and gave Peters a charter to colonize and govern the area.

[37][45] Dar es Salaam was ceded to the Germans on 19 August 1885, and Britain agreed to Germany's establishment of a protectorate over the area between the Ruvuma River and the Kenyan border.

[45] In 1886 an Anglo-German agreement divided the territories controlled by the Sultan of Zanzibar between Britain and Germany, leaving the Sultan in control of the Lamu Archipelago, Mafia and Pemba Islands, and Zanzibar as well as a strip of land on the mainland coast from Kipini to Tunghi Bay near Mikindani, extending inland ten miles.

[46][47] In 1888, Germany was granted a fifty-year lease over the coastal strip by the Sultan of Zanzibar, giving it virtual control of the mainland territory of modern Tanzania.

By the end of 1916, Belgian and British forces established a military occupation for the territory north of the Tanganyika Railway.

[55][56] Britain officially began its mandate over Tanganyika on 20 July 1922 acquiring extraterritorial jurisdiction over British subjects in the territory.

[57][Notes 1] As a protected territory, Britain took responsibility for both internal and external administration, including defense and foreign relations.

[60][75] When Britain extended this status over a territory, it took responsibility for both internal and external administration, including defense and foreign relations.

[88] Marriage did not affect the status of a subject of the realm,[89] but under common law, single women, including divorcées, were not allowed to be parents thus their children could not derive nationality maternally and were stateless unless legitimated by their father.

[92] Under the terms of the Act, common law provisions were reiterated for natural-born persons born within the realm on or after the effective date.

[93] For those born abroad on or after the effective date, legitimacy was still required, and could only be derived by a child from a British father (one generation), who was natural-born or naturalized.

[99] Because of a rise in statelessness, a woman who did not automatically acquire her husband's nationality upon marriage or upon his naturalization in another country, did not lose her British status after 1933.

[100] The 1943 revision allowed a child born abroad at any time to be a British national by descent if the Secretary of State agreed to register the birth.

[103][104] Those who acquired Tanganyikan status ceased to be British; however provisions were made for persons, such as the large Indian population who might have been born in the territory but whose father was not or wives of persons who did not acquire Tanganyikan nationality, to retain their status as CUKCs or BPPs if they had been born, registered, or naturalised in a place which remained part of the British realm or a state protected by Britain.

The only exceptions were persons (and their wives) who were born, registered, or naturalised in a place that remained within the British realm after independence.

[66] After independence, nationality was acquired by persons born in the Sultan's dominions to Zanzibari parents, as long as the father did not have diplomatic immunity or was classed as an enemy alien.

[113] In 1980, refugees fleeing from violence in Burundi and Rwanda were granted the right to apply for Tanzanian nationality as a group.

[115] Though political developments in the country caused the constitution to be rewritten and amended, no changes were made to the nationality requirements or laws until 1995.

The draft proposals would recognise nationality based on birth to a Tanzanian and would replace the naturalisation scheme by reintroducing registration.